Roy Hodgson is something of an unlikely hero!
Back in December some though it a foolish move to appoint Roy, after all they cited the fact that he`d been out of English football for too long and could be considered something of a dinosaur in the modern Premier League world.
Well this morning I bet Roy has awoken with a big smile on his face, safe in the knowledge that an end of season finish that brought us twelve points out of fifteen has silenced the critics.
Sadly, Roy appears to be too modest a man to celebrate the achievement preferring to think about those who didn`t quite make the leap to survival remarking,
“We are delighted with what we`ve done in the last few weeks – even though we left it late and left ourselves a mountain to climb.”
“But I am always aware that when we win somebody else has lost. I feel sympathy for Steve Coppell and Alex McLeish, who are good friends and good managers but who have gone down with their clubs today.”
Sad but there again someone had to suffer the hurt and I personally am quite pleased it wasn`t us.
Thankfully, Roy does feel an immense satisfaction for a job well done but in his post match interview chose not to celebrate too much remarking,
“We deserved to stay up. It is a massive relief. We kept plugging away and got our rewards.”
“I am delighted for the chairman, the players and the fans. It has been a tough four months since I arrived but we did it.”
“I wish I could wave a magic wand and for us to finish in the top six but I am happy with this.”
“It`s not really an occasion for celebration, although I`m delighted for everybody at the club.”
“You used to have a glass of wine and smoke a cigar – before my wife stopped me smoking that it.”
“I think there might be a party planned but I might just stay in and watch Match of the Day.”
“Some people will say we`ve been lucky but I felt there might be something going for us.”
And as for that period after the Danny Murphy goal and the final whistle, Roy saw it very much as we did, explaining,
“I thought the last few minutes lasted half an hour and wouldn`t want to go through that too many times.”
“If you think I looked clam then I can only think it was the Valium. I wanted the referee to blow the final whistle as soon as Danny had scored.”
But the last word has to be on us maintaining our Premier League status with Roy remarking,
“Do we deserve to stay up? I think we do. I said from the day I arrived in December that we could do it.”
Roy Hodgson, a gentleman and a scholar of the game of football.
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