Hodgson targets ‘derby’ tonic as carousel spins
After the departure of Steve Cooper from Forest, there is an interesting potential candidate available for the next vacant Premier League job. Crystal Palace are known admirers of Cooper, while Roy Hodgson has tasted victory once in his past 10 matches – and that was away at Burnley. The positivity of securing a late draw at the Etihad after coming back from two goals down will be a boon for Palace’s manager but this needs to be built on and a home “derby” is a good place to do it, if he does not want his job to be under threat. Brighton are wicked opponents for a team in trouble but when a crisis arrives it is sensible to attack it head on. Victory will make many of Hodgson’s problems go away, otherwise the shadow of Cooper may start looming over him. Will Unwin
