Crystal Palace players ‘were all for’ Patrick Vieira exit at Selhurst Park
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Crystal Palace had ‘a little bit of bad spirit amongst the camp’ under Patrick Vieira, which has diminished since the appointment of Roy Hodgson, Daily Express journalist Ryan Taylor has suggested to GIVEMESPORT.
The Eagles have found themselves dicing with their Premier League status earlier this season; however, they have now put together an impressive string of results and have risen to 12th in the table.
Crystal Palace latest news – Roy Hodgson’s impact
Since being appointed at Selhurst Park for a second spell in charge, Hodgson has led Crystal Palace to three consecutive victories in the Premier League over Leicester City, Leeds United and Southampton, as per Sky Sports.
The Eagles have been clinical in front of goal, scoring nine times across the trio of wins, while some of their key attacking stars, including Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise, have returned to form at a handy time for the south London outfit.
The former scored a brace against Southampton last Saturday and earned himself a spot in BBC pundit Garth Crooks’ Team of the Week. The 65-year-old said about Eze: “Eberechi Eze, who has been flirting with stardom for some time, who destroyed Southampton. Nine points in three games under Roy Hodgson has virtually secured the Eagles’ position in the Premier League.”
Next up for Hodgson’s men is a home match against strugglers Everton this weekend, where achieving three points could take Crystal Palace level on points with Chelsea.
What has Ryan Taylor said about Roy Hodgson and Patrick Vieira?
Daily Express journalist Ryan Taylor thinks there was more to Hodgson’s predecessor Vieira getting sacked by Crystal Palace than just a bad run of results.
Taylor told GMS: “I think reading between the lines and what we’ve seen in the past few weeks. To me, it does probably suggest that the players were sort of all for Vieira going. At the time, I wasn’t sure that was the case, but I’ve read a few stories about there was a lot of training ground fights and things like that under Vieira. There was a little bit of a bad spirit amongst the camp and there was a lot of incidents off the field and things like that behind the scenes that haven’t been brought to light, but now it’s just about playing football.”
How good an appointment has Roy Hodgson been for Crystal Palace?
Hodgson has done a fine job of steadying the ship at Selhurst Park and has quickly silenced some of the doubters who were quick to question his appointment.
In fairness, you could see where the trepidation was coming from, given that he is 75 years old and was brought in primarily as a short-term fix in a relegation battle.
Nevertheless, his impact at the Eagles has been enormous, as he has afforded key attacking players the license to go and play with freedom, which has worked a treat.
Even if he is unlikely to stay at the club beyond this season, Crystal Palace supporters will appreciate that Hodgson has managed to help the Londoners out of a rut and allay fears over potentially dropping into the Sky Bet Championship.