Surely now Roy Hodgson’s race is run at Crystal Palace

As he stood in the dugout at the end of Crystal Palace’s humiliating 5-0 defeat at Arsenal, waiting for his players to trudge slowly off the pitch, Roy Hodgson carried the look of a man who knew it was over. There was a streak of pain across his face, the realisation that most careers, no matter how extensive, no matter how resilient, no matter how high their peaks, end in failure.

For sure, there have been several occasions before when the great survivor has bade farewell. There have been departure press conferences at Watford and Crystal Palace, when the assumption was that he was going to spend more time with his memories, not to mention catching up on his reading of the great American novel canon. Every time before, after saying he was off, the Frank Sinatra of management has bounced back, surprising everyone by his refusal to yield to chronology. For Roy 76 has long been the new 50.

This time, though, the omens are dark. This time it looks as though the end has finally been reached. At the end of this match, for all his press conference insistence on fighting on and working hard on the training pitch, he had the bearing of a man going through the motions.

Because in a game for which he needed his team to buckle down and respond, Hodgson was undermined from the kick off. As Arsenal systematically bullied, then toyed them into submission, Palace’s players hardly represented a bunch playing for their manager. There was no fight, no fire, no resilience. Never mind, the excellent Eberezi Eze apart, absolutely no creativity.

Hodgson, a man who has built a reputation on his organisation, on the rigidity of his defence, must have watched in pain as Arsenal – with George Graham in attendance – turned back the years and went oldschool at corners to score twice in the first half. On both occasions, his team resembled a damp paper bag, his centrebacks out-muscled, his goalkeeper, Dean Henderson, making Andre Onana look a model of resilience. He might have complained afterwards that his players felt they had been obstructed, but at the time, as he stood in the technical area, static, quiet, barely responding, his body language exuded defeat.

Watching from the directors box as the Arsenal goals kept coming, the Palace chairman Steve Parrish was seen rapidly keying a message into his mobile phone. Moments later, elsewhere in the stadium, Graham Potter, watching on with his children, was filmed consulting his own phone, as if the two were in direct communication. It was a fanciful thought: Potter has higher ambitions than are available at Selhurst. Besides, Parrish knows the best way to placate an increasingly despondent fanbase hardly lies in the direction of a former Brighton manager.

Not that the Palace supporters’ disquiet was directed at Hodgson. Even if things are growing distinctly uncomfortable in terms of league position, he has delivered far too much over the years to be blamed by followers who have much to be grateful for. Rather, the target of some direct and forceful criticism from the Palace section was Parrish and his fellow board members. “No shared vision. No structured plans,” read a series of banners held up as the fourth Arsenal goal was registered. “Wasted potential on and off the pitch. Weak decisions taking us backwards.”

Freeform verse is not a common sight at football stadiums. But the point was clear: change is needed at Selhurst. And for Parrish, the easiest and simplest way to get some zest back into the operation is to dispense with the man on whom he has so often called to firefight crises in the past.

Hodgson is not one to register complaint. If anyone does, he knows the score. And when it is 5-0, he is in no position to argue.

“I’ve been working in these modern times,” he said. “The fact is if a team isn’t doing as well as it should be doing someone needs to be held responsible. And that’s usually the manager.”

At Palace in the past when things have been going wrong, when the team is struggling, they have known what to do. They have called in Roy Hodgson. This time, that solution is not available. What happens next is intriguing indeed.

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