Roy Hodgson is under increasing pressure as Crystal Palace manager after a 5-0 defeat at Arsenal prompted fans to protest about the running of the club.
Palace’s ultras group, the Holmesdale Fanatics, held up a banner in the 89th minute at the Emirates Stadium which took aim at the direction of the club. It read: “Wasted potential on and off the pitch. Weak decisions taking us backwards.”
Another banner from fans took more explicit aim at the ownership, reading: “No shared vision, no structured plan, Parish out, Yanks out”.
Palace were trailing 3-0 at that point and then conceded twice in as many minutes during stoppage time to conclude another miserable afternoon.
Defender Joachim Andersen, meanwhile, was caught on TV cameras having an exchange with fans at the final whistle as he went to acknowledge their support.
Chairman Steve Parish watched the game from the directors box alongside fellow general partner John Textor, loans manager Mark Bright and sporting director Dougie Freedman.
It is not the first time this season supporters have turned on the club. There were similarly angry scenes after Palace lost 2-0 to Bournemouth in December, with Hodgson then stoking further controversy in a post-match television interview when he suggested fans had been “spoilt” by their time in the Premier League — a remark he later apologised for.
Hodgson had been targeted with chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing” by travelling fans at Goodison Park during Palace’s 1-0 defeat in their third-round replay against Everton, after Eberechi Eze was replaced in the 64th minute with the side trailing.
Palace now have just two wins from 16 games across all competitions. A 10-day gap until their next game, a home fixture against Sheffield United, would offer an opportunity to bring in a new manager should Palace decide to make a change. The Athletic previously reported that the club admire former Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper, while former Wolves head coach Julen Lopetegui could also be a possible replacement.
When asked whether he felt under pressure following the Arsenal loss, Hodgson suggested the question should be directed to the board and said fans had a right to express their discontent.
“The fact is when the team isn’t doing as well as it should be doing, someone needs to be held responsible and that is always the manager,” he said.
“The (chants) on Wednesday were understandable because they wouldn’t have been able to understand why we took Eze off, they probably thought I was making a strange decision to take Eze off and not someone else, but we had our reasons for that which I’ve explained in some detail and no doubt that message has got across.
“Today, it’s a different type of message, it’s quite a detailed one, it’s aimed at probably everybody in the club it seemed. All I can say is they’re probably entitled to their opinion. I do understand their frustration, even anger and disappointment, that things haven’t gone better.”
(Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
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