From Fulham heroics to England embarrassment – The highs and lows of Roy Hodgson´s managerial career

Roy Hodgson’s hiatus from football is over after the 70-year-old manager signed a two-year contract at Crystal Palace, succeeding Frank de Boer following the Dutchman’s sacking on Monday.

The experienced coach has been out of the game since England were eliminated by Iceland in Euro 2016’s round of 16.

But for every disappointment he endured with England and other sides, there have been plenty of highlights during a long and distinguished career.

From having a major influence on Scandinavian football to enduring a difficult spell with Liverpool; we identify Hodgson’s highs and lows…

Roy Hodgson has been appointed as the new manager of Crystal Palace FC

#southlondonandproud pic.twitter.com/hl6fhsaesc

— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) September 12, 2017

THE HIGHS

Scandinavian success

After a modest playing career in England, Hodgson became manager of lowly Swedish side Halmstad in 1976 and went on to produce one of the most remarkable feats in the country’s football history, guiding the team to the league title a year after narrowly escaping relegation. They won the title again in 1979.

Hodgson later took over at Malmo in 1985 and led them to five consecutive league titles, writing his name into the folklore of the club and league, while he also masterminded a European Cup victory over Inter in the first round of the 1989-90 edition.

Hodgson and his friend Bob Houghton, who is credited as being responsible for securing him the Halmstad job, are often said to have revolutionised Swedish football with their implementation of zonal marking and high-intensity strategies, and both remain revered figures.

Switzerland at the World Cup

In 1992, Hodgson and Uli Stielike swapped positions at Neuchatel Xamax and Switzerland, giving the Englishman his first national team job. He was an instant success, with the Swiss losing just one match on their way to qualifying for the 1994 World Cup, finishing second behind only eventual finalists Italy in Group 1. 

Switzerland had not reached a major competition since 1966 in England and they were then drawn into a favourable group alongside hosts United States, Romania and Colombia.

Hodgson guided them through the group as runners-up before a 3-0 defeat to Spain ended their World Cup dream, but Switzerland were by no means disgraced.

Steadying the ship at Inter

Hodgson was brought to Inter early in the 1995-96 season with the club rooted to the bottom of the Serie A table and in dire form, and the Englishman orchestrated a decent campaign which culminated in a seventh-place finish.

He stayed for another season and left after seeing further improvement in the form of a third-placed finish and then-president Massimo Moratti was mightily grateful for the job he did.

Speaking in 2010, Moratti said: “Roy Hodgson was an important person in the development of Inter Milan to the point we have reached today. He saved us at the right time. When he came we were in trouble and things appeared dark. He didn’t panic, he was calm and made us calm. Disaster was averted at the most important time. Everyone at Inter will remember him for that and his contribution. He is considered by us all as an important person in our history. He left an endowment to this club that’s important in our history.”

Fulham take on Europe

Much like Inter, Fulham were also struggling when Hodgson took over as manager in the 2007-08 season, but by the end of the following campaign things were very different at Craven Cottage, as he took them to seventh, their highest ever finish in the Premier League. 

That meant Europea League football came to the Cottage in 2009-10 and, against the odds, Fulham went all the way to the final, defeating the likes of Basel, Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus, Wolfsburg and Hamburg along the way.

Eventually Atletico Madrid halted them in the final, with Quique Sanchez Flores’ men running out 2-1 winners, but Hodgson’s achievement with Fulham remained an impressive one and secured him a big move to Liverpool.

The Club confirms that Roy Hodgson has resigned. The Club wishes Roy all the best for the future.

— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) July 1, 2010

THE LOWS

Bristol City “disaster”

After initially following Houghton to Bristol as assistant manager in 1980, two years later Hodgson succeeded his friend and took the top job himself.

However, at the time Bristol were mired in financial trouble and Hodgson lasted four months in the job before being dismissed after a poor run of results.

Hodgson, speaking to BBC Sport in 2012, painted a bleak picture of the situation: “Bristol City was nothing short of a disaster in that we had only been there for a matter of weeks before the banks started to pull the rug from underneath the club. My job when I eventually took over, as caretaker manager, was quite simply to carry on in the aftermath of all the players leaving the club and just fulfilling the fixtures.”

Listless Liverpool

Following his heroics at Fulham, it was no surprise to see Hodgson courted by bigger clubs and Liverpool duly came calling in July 2010 after parting company with Rafa Benitez.

But his time at Anfield looked doomed almost from the start, when it was revealed the club’s hierarchy had rejected the application of club legend Kenny Dalglish in favour of Hodgson, who also faced accusations of not being able to handle Liverpool’s star players.

Although he appeared to have steadied things just before the turn of the year with a run of victories, Hodgson and the club parted ways in early January, ending a turbulent period for the manager.

2014 World Cup woes

After rebuilding his reputation with West Brom in the wake of his Liverpool struggles, Hodgson landed arguably the biggest job of his career, as he replaced Fabio Capello as England manager in May 2012, on the eve of an unspectacular Euro 2012 campaign which ended with a 4-2 penalty shoot-out defeat to Italy in the quarter-finals.

Despite that, Hodgson was given the benefit of the doubt and remained in charge, with England subsequently cruising to World Cup qualification unbeaten, but little went right in Brazil.

England failed to win any of their three group games and were dumped out before the knockout phase for the first time at a World Cup since 1958. Still Hodgson clung on to his job, however.

Euro 2016 embarrassment

Qualification for Euro 2016 was also pretty simple for Hodgson’s England, winning all of their matches, and he received praise for beginning to bring through some of the country’s younger talent.

But the team only just scraped through their group at the finals, with performances receiving criticism for a lack of style and perceived unpreparedness. 

And the final nail in the coffin for Hodgson’s time in charge of England came with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Iceland in the first knockout round, which prompted the manager to step down ahead of his contract expiring.

Roy Hodgson confirms he is to leave his post following #ENG‘s exit from #Euro2016. pic.twitter.com/DKofcW29kQ

— England (@England) June 27, 2016