16 February 2024 , 09:02
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Crystal Palace players were ‘visibly shaken’ after seeing Roy Hodgson taken ill at the club’s training ground on Thursday morning.
Hodgson missed a press conference after being admitted to hospital following an incident at the Beckenham training ground. Palace released a statement in the evening to confirm the 76-year-old was in a stable condition and recovering following tests.
The worrying scenes came as Palace held talks with former Eintracht Frankfurt manager Oliver Glasner to take over the reins from Hodgson. Chairman Steve Parish is concerned Palace could be dragged into the relegation zone following a run of three wins in 17 Premier League games.
It has been a stressful time for club employees and the Daily Mail reports that players were left ‘distressed’ and ‘visibly shaken’ by events. Hodgson arrived at the training ground around 9.30am and the health scare occurred at 11am while he was taking training.
A statement from the club on Thursday night read: “Following news that Roy Hodgson was taken ill during today’s training session, we can confirm that he is now stable and is currently undergoing tests in hospital. Everybody at the club sends their best wishes to Roy for a speedy recovery.”
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The report states that Hodgson will give serious consideration to walking away from the sport indefinitely once he is discharged from hospital. Whatever happens, he won’t be in the dugout for Monday’s crucial match against Everton, with his assistants Ray Lewington and Paddy McCarthy expected to take charge.
Glasner has agreed a deal in principle with Palace to succeed Hodgson, who was on the brink of being sacked before his worrying health scare. The 49-year-old Europa League winner has been out of work since leaving Frankfurt at the end of the 2022/23 season, but could take over in the coming days, depending on Hodgson’s situation.
Roy Hodgson could retire from football after his health scare (Sebastian Frej/Getty Images)Hodgson first managed Palace between September 2017 and May 2021 and returned for his second spell in March 2023 on a short-term deal to replace Patrick Vieira. He was kept on for the 2023/24 season after steering them to an 11th place finish, but has endured a difficult campaign, winning just six of his 24 matches.
Palace were beaten 3-1 by Chelsea at Selhurst Park on Monday, having led 1-0 at half-time through Jefferson Lerma’s strike. Speaking afterwards, Hodgson did not sound concerned about his job security.
“It’s a bad period but it’s been caused by the injury situation,” he said. “It’s 14 games [left], a lot of matches and a lot of points and I think we’ve shown enough. So I don’t have any concerns, but there is no complacency and points are very necessary to get away from the relegation zone. This group of players are good enough and tonight gave me even more faith and belief.”
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