Season Preview: Hodgson proves doubters wrong with Crystal Palace revival job

When Roy Hodgson was appointed Crystal Palace manager in September, the Eagles were rock bottom of the Premier League, losing their first four matches without scoring.

Things appeared to go from bad to worse under Hodgson after the 70-year-old lost his first three matches, including defeats to both Manchester clubs at a combined score of 9-0.

Since then, however, Palace have been immense under Hodgson and the former England manager has answered his critics in emphatic fashion. A six-game unbeaten streak to end the season saw Palace finish 11 points clear of the bottom three in 11th place.

Any success Palace will have next season will depend on whether they can keep hold of star man Wilfried Zaha or if Hodgson is capable of building a team that isn’t so heavily reliant on him.

SUCCESS – WILFRIED ZAHA

It’s a shame that Zaha was not able to start 10 of Palace’s Premier League matches this season, as Hodgson’s side would likely have finished even higher up the table.

There is arguably no single player more important to their team than Zaha in the Premier League, illustrated by the fact Palace lost all 10 of the league matches the Ivory Coast international failed to start.

It’s hard to imagine there will not be strong interest in Zaha during the summer as his performances have been outstanding this season. He finished the campaign with five goals and one assist in his last six appearances, picking up the WhoScored Man of the Match award on three occasions.

FLOP – CHRISTIAN BENTEKE

Things got so bad for Christian Benteke this season than Hodgson preferred to start two wingers in attack rather than Palace’s club-record signing.

The suggestions coming out of Selhurst Park are that Hodgson has ran out of patience with Benteke and wants to sell him this summer. It’s hardly a surprise.

Benteke has looked a shadow of his former self this season, only managing to score three times. Furthermore, only Mohamed Salah (23) missed more clear-cut chances in the Premier League this season than Benteke (20).

Grade - B