In this most barmy of seasons, of course 75-year-old Roy Hodgson was going to pause his retirement to bring goals and smiles back to one of the Premier League's lowest scorers. At this point, nothing is surprising any more.
Palace turned on the style on Easter Sunday, recovering from a goal down to thrash Leeds 5-1 at Elland Road. Victory moved Palace back to their favourite position of 12th, and crucially put a six-point margin between themselves and the relegation zone.
They are now scoring freely under Hodgson, having been the joint second-lowest scorers in the division when Patrick Vieira was sacked last month. The seven goals in Hodgson's first two games are as many as Palace netted in their 15 League fixtures before that.
Vieira got more than a tune out of Palace last term, but this season he fielded 17 different attacking combinations in his 27 League matches, including six in their first six games. Personnel changed; players' positions changed. Chopping and changing made consistency and momentum almost impossible.
It should be acknowledged that Palace’s winless streak between New Year’s Eve and April Fools’ Day was a nightmarish run of games for Vieira’s side. The Frenchman would have been forgiven for harbouring some bitterness about being axed before an 11-game run-in that featured meetings with all eight sides lower than Palace in the table at the time.
That said, Hodgson has implemented a number of changes that have helped Palace to tally merited wins over Leicester and Leeds in their past two games.
Vieira did not trust Eberechi Eze to start in midfield due to his perceived lack of defensive work, but Hodgson has played two workhorses alongside him, in Cheick Doucoure and Jeffrey Schlupp.
Eze now has a licence to bomb forward and combine with Michael Olise and Jordan Ayew — a trio of talented playmakers who are not clinical finishers but thrive on confidence. Despite the absence of injured talisman Wilfried Zaha, Leeds could not contain them.
“I’m enjoying it,” Eze said about Hodgson’s return as manager. “I’m still learning and still growing into the role. I have still got loads of improvement to go, especially defensively, but I’m enjoying it and I hope it continues.”
Olise, meanwhile, has morphed into a conventional right-winger this season — his free-kicks deadly, his crosses a striker’s dream. Vieira deserves some credit. But against Leeds, Olise also drifted inside, linking up with Eze and Ayew to bamboozle Javi Gracia’s defence.
When Olise, Eze and Ayew combine with striker Odsonne Edouard in close proximity, defences cannot cope with Palace’s intricate attacks.
Ayew scored twice, Eze and Edouard once each, and Olise registered a hat-trick of assists in Sunday’s second-half resurrection at Elland Road. When Zaha is back, they could become even slicker.
Early days, but Palace seem to have turned a corner under Hodgson. Now can they keep it up?
