Roy Hodgson is now firmly into the final three months of his Crystal Palace and could be replaced by current AS Roma technician Paulo Fonseca.
According to the Mail Online, the Portuguese is on the Eagles’ shortlist for their new boss should Hodgson bring his four-year spell at Crystal Palace to an end in the summer.
With his tenure in Italy potentially being drawn to a close, he would be the perfect successor at Selhurst Park.
Should Roy Hodgson be offered a new contract at Crystal Palace?
Definitely!
No, he needs to move on.
Fonseca, 48, has already managed to accumulate plenty of experience within the game despite being 25 years Hodgson’s junior.
He has overseen spells at FC Porto, Braga, Shakhtar Donetsk and now Roma, amongst many others, and has lifted a number of trophies including the Portuguese Cup and SuperCup, as well as three Ukrainian league titles.
Whilst the somewhat lower reaches of the Premier League would present a unique challenge to Fonseca, it would be useful to note that he has never been relegated from any league. One of his notable achievements specifically saw him transform Portuguese relegation candidates Paços de Ferreira into contenders for the UEFA Champions League places in Liga NOS.
That was an achievement that led to him being labelled as “incredibly intelligent” by Roma president Jim Pallotta upon the Portuguese’s appointment at the Stadio Olimpico.
When compared to Hodgson, the current AS Roma manager also has a far better record.
In all of the clubs that he has overseen, Fonseca has managed to rack-up a 53% win rate whilst the current Palace manager’s rate sits at a more modest 44%.
Should Palace wish to take the next step and potentially challenge in the top-half of the Premier League table instead of regularly just avoiding relegation, Fonseca could well be the man to mastermind that.
Steve Parish must make sure that if he elects to see Hodgson’s contract expire at Selhurst Park, that he makes a move for Fonseca sooner rather than later.
AND in more news, take a closer look at Wilfried Zaha’s excellent performance against Everton…