Roy Hodgson has climbed a mountain - but Crystal Palace are complicating matters
What have Robert de Niro and Roy Hodgson got in common?
Both are proving they are still up to the job well into their Seventies.
Age is often a pain in the backside, and elsewhere, but can actually be just a number.
Never mind De Niro siring a seventh child at the age of 79, John Glenn returned to space at the age of 77 and Sister Madonna Bruder, a Catholic sister from Missouri, completed an Ironman race - a 2.4mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2mile run - after she had turned 82.
Still going at 92, she is known as the Iron Nun.
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Aged 80, Yuichiro Muira scaled Mount Everest although he had to be airlifted from the Advanced Base Camp instead of descending on foot.
This led to one ex-mountaineer-turned-pundit claiming Muira’s efforts should not go into the record books as a climb is only ‘complete’ if you go up and come down under your own steam.
Which is a bit harsh on an octogenarian who has just scaled an 8,849-high peak.
At the age of 75, Hodgson might not have scaled Everest but he has climbed some sort of mountain at Crystal Palace, taking them from their desperate struggles in the Premier League foothills to halfway up the slope in the space of two months.
Yet still, there is far from unanimity when it comes to discussion about whether or not Hodgson’s return to Palace should be confirmed on a permanent basis.
Well, as permanent as a basis can be at a club that has had nine managers in 10 years.
The suggestion is that Steve Parrish might ask Hodgson to extend his stay for a year and be in charge while mentoring Paddy McCarthy, who has been working as a coach under Roy, with a view to the 39-year-old former Palace defender taking over at the end of next season.
Hodgson interacts with Wilfried ZahaBut why complicate matters? Assuming Hodgson wants to continue - and he has yet to confirm that - then give him a proper deal, as would be appropriate for someone who has done the job he has done since late March.
The counter-argument goes that Hodgson is not going to be long-term and that whoever is identified as a long-term project leader should be recruited - a Graham Potter or a Paulo Fonseca, in the unlikely event they would sign up.
But Potter, Fonseca or whoever would know that a short spell of poor results would most likely lead to the abrupt end of a so-called long-term project.
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And what then? Get Roy back for another fire-fighting gig?
For such an esteemed and well-travelled coach, Hodgson - apart from a couple of Scandinavian honours - has not actually won much.
But perhaps, at a golden age - operating without the pressure of his managerial career being on the line - Hodgson has found a golden touch.
That is why Parrish and Palace should do all they can to convince him to carry on.
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Here is the conclusion of the Independent Regulatory Commission’s investigation into Jurgen Klopp’s actions during Liverpool’s game against Spurs at Anfield three weeks ago.
“… Mr. Klopp is a high-profile figure, who is required to lead by example. He has a history of breaches, most recently in November 2022. The assertions that Mr Klopp made against Mr Tierney (the referee) were unacceptable …”
So for your sins, you serial offender, we are going to come down hard on you … you cannot stand on the touchline for a game against Aston Villa.
Jurgen Klopp is in hot water at the moment (PA)That will teach you.
Managers will continue to abuse officials, managers will continue to behave like hooligans in the technical area as long as the punishments are as pathetic and as flimsy and as risible as the latest one-handed to Klopp.
Apparently, Klopp was sorry for the actions and words during and after the Spurs match.
On the quiet, he must have been laughing his head off.
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In the good old days, a dressing room would have a board on the wall and the manager would pin up newspaper cuttings that he thought might motivate his players.
They were normally clippings of reports that suggested his team did not have a chance in the fixture ahead of them.
If coach Simone Inzaghi wanted to collect and post some clippings that might make his Inter men angry, he would have to wade through a vat of them.
Yes, Manchester City are brilliant but the way most pundits and most bookies (some have Pep Guardiola’s team as 1-7 favourites to win in Istanbul) are talking, you would think they are playing a Champions League final against Il Cane e L’Antra*.
Ahead of tonight’s trip to Serie A champions Napoli, third-placed Inter have, across all competitions, won eight matches on the spin.
They are carrying some serious form at the moment but their greatest weapon could be the clippings.
So if you want some help, Simone, buy an English paper.
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Maybe I’m being a bit of a misery - in fact, I know I’m being a bit of a misery - but is anyone else not that bothered if we don’t see what goes on in the dressing room after a match?
Anyone else feel it would be better if some mystique remained?
Pablo Fornals celebrates in front of the West Ham fans (Getty Images)After all, do we really need to watch and hear West Ham players serenading Jarrod Bowen with a ditty about him ‘sh*****g Dani Dyer’?
No. Some things should be kept in-house. And that is one of them.
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When Mauricio Pochettino manages the World XI for Soccer Aid 2023 at Old Trafford on June 11, perhaps he can tap up squad members Gabriel Batistuta, Francesco Totti and Roberto Carlos … after all, on the evidence of the past few months, they couldn’t do any worse than some of the characters he will be asked to manage at Stamford Bridge.
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Mikel Arteta has introduced a chocolate Labrador to the Arsenal training ground. Apparently, the dog is known as ‘WIN”.
Presumably, it doesn’t wear a choke collar.
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TWEET OF THE WEEK: @Hunty32 “Cool as an oven.”
Posted above a video of his emphatic penalty, Sheffield Wednesday’s Jack Hunt comments on the spot-kick in a shoot-out against Peterborough that took his team to the League One play-off.
After the most astonishing two-legged tie, is there anyone out there who doesn’t agree with the play-off system?
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