‘He has a great future ahead of him’: Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson backs Patrick Vieira to find a new club ‘very soon’, after the veteran manager replaced Arsenal legend at Selhurst Park
- Roy Hodgson replaced Patrick Vieira as Crystal Palace boss earlier this month
- The coach has opted for his predecessor to have a “great future” in training
- Palace face a triple relegation trip to Leicester on Saturday
Roy Hodgson has backed Patrick Vieira to become one of the Premier League’s best managers, though he is hesitant to phone the man whose job he took over at Crystal Palace.
Palace face Leicester on Saturday in the first of a six-point series between now and the end of the season, as Hodgson aims to steer the club towards safety.
“I had dinner with him when he took the job,” Hodgson said. I always admired him a lot as a player and I had the opportunity to admire him as a person and get to know him a bit.
“But of course, when you arrive at a job and someone just lost their job, unless it’s a close friend, it’s not an easy thing to do to pick up the phone.
Roy Hodgson has returned to his role as Crystal Palace manager for the remainder of the season.
It comes after Patrick Vieira was sacked despite keeping the Eagles 12th in the league table.
I don’t quite know what I would say to him. But I do know that Patrick Vieira has a great future ahead of him as a manager and there is no doubt that he will have another club very, very soon.
Vieira is now being linked with Leeds and some felt it was unfair that he was sacked, given Palace’s challenging run of games ahead of the international break.
Hodgson continued: “I can only hope that the experience he had here doesn’t affect his chances of doing very, very well in the next job because he has all the tools necessary to become a senior manager.”