Roy Hodgson ‘narrowly avoids being hit by a MISSILE thrown by a fan’ as mood sours at Selhurst Park… as Crystal Palace boss snaps back at ‘SPOILED’ supporters and says they should show more ’empathy’
Roy Hodgson called Crystal Palace fans 'spoiled' and said they needed to show more 'empathy' after he narrowly avoided being hit by a missile thrown at him near the tunnel.
Although the irate supporter missed Hodgson with the thrown object, it was a sign of how the mood has deteriorated at Selhurst Park this season.
A 2-0 home defeat to Bournemouth means Palace have won just four of their opening 15 games this season, dropping them to 14th in the table.
Informed of the rocket fired, Hodgson said afterwards that it was 'news' to him, but his anger quickly turned to the supporters.
“The fans have been spoiled here lately,” Hodgson, who was mocked by fans at the end for being “bloody useless,” told Amazon Prime Video.
Roy Hodgson accused Crystal Palace fans of being 'spoiled' after he was almost hit by an object thrown in his direction by a fan following Wednesday's 2-0 defeat to AFC Bournemouth
A mass exodus of home fans took place when Wales striker Kieffer Moore made it 2-0, and Hodgson is well aware of the growing discontent in south London, which will not have been helped by his comments on TV.
'It was a very sad evening for us. Tonight was not the performance that the Crystal Palace fans, or us, wanted to see,” Hodgson added.
'The fans are what we play for. At the moment we are producing some lean dishes for them. We're trying to change it.
'The fans have been spoiled here lately. The fact is that expectations are high, hence the booing.
'But the fact is that the fans here have been spoiled lately, they are used to us doing really well at home and getting good results and this year we haven't been able to do that.'
Marcos Senesi headed past Palace keeper Sam Johnstone at the back post after 25 minutes
Palace's players and management booed at half-time and full-time after the defeat
Palace fell behind after a goal from Marcos Senesi and nodded in after Luis Sinisterra's pass.
Anger was aimed at players and Hodgson at half-time and matters deteriorated further when Moore scored a second to ice the match.
“I'll be honest, I wish I had answers but I know we have a match very soon so it's very important that we try to put this performance right and make sure the next one is a better one,” said the disappointed defender said Marc Guehi.
'That first half wasn't good enough and we definitely needed a response.
“The fans let us know and there were definitely some positives, but overall it wasn't the best. We have to get rid of this quickly.'
Crystal Palace have a chance to make amends and pull off a statement victory when they host title-chasing Liverpool at Selhurst Park on Saturday afternoon.