Crystal Palace‘s 1-0 victory over Watford has relegated Roy Hodgson‘s side on Saturday, May 7, 2022, to put a bad stain on the 45-year-old managerial career of the English coach.
Recall that on 25 January 2022, Watford decided to appoint Roy Hodgson as a replacement for coach Claudio Ranieri when the club was already in the relegation zone. The club brought in the 74-year-old English tactician with the hope that he could use his experience to rescue the club from being relegated.
How Roy Hodgson performed at Watford
At the end of the 2020-2021 season, Crystal Palace decided to part ways with Roy Hodgson after serving as the club’s manager for over four years. When he departed the club, Crystal Palace and the club’s fans sent him off like the club’s hero.
Afterward, many thought the 74-year-old English tactician who has coached over 24 teams across Europe would use Crystal Palace’s sent forth party to say farewell to coaching. But he decided to give the job a chance again when Watford appointed him as the club’s coach.
Under his reign at Watford between January 25 and May 7, 2022, Roy Hodgson led Watford to 15 Premier League games which are enough games to turn the fortunes of the club around.
However, Hodgson took Watford on a very terrible run that made it clear that the club would be relegated weeks before Crystal Palace defeated them 1-0. The defeat helped to confirm Watford’s exit from the Premier League ahead of the 2022-2023 season.
Under the watch of the veteran coach, Watford recorded just one victory. Two of the other 14 Premier League games ended in a draw while the remaining 12 games ended in defeats.
After such an abysmal run, Watford was left on the 19th spot with 22 points in 35 games. They recorded just 6 wins, four draws, and 25 defeats from the beginning of the season to when they were relegated.
Though the relegated team still has Premier League games against Everton on May 11, Leicester City on May 15, and Chelsea on May 22, the outcome of the games will not change the fact that Watford will play in the Championship in the 2022-2023 season.
Roy Hodgson who has earlier announced that he would retire from coaching permanently after the 2021-2022 season, said it became obvious that Watford would go down after their 2-1 defeat at the hands of Burnley on April 30.
“When those last two goals went and we were 12 points behind with four games to play, I think only someone who has got no idea what football is about would believe we could still do it because the four games we’ve got are tough ones and the other teams have got plenty of games to get the points they need”, Roy Hodgson told Sky Sports after Watford’s 1-0 defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace on Saturday, May 7, 2022.
“We were resigned to that last week and that makes today’s performance even more commendable. Many teams would have shrugged their shoulders and said ‘we can’t do much more, especially after the penalty which I think is a decision we’re entitled to contest.
“But we kept going, we remained competitive until the end and we made Crystal Palace know they’ve been in a game and that was a good effort from our team.”
After relegating #WatfordFC Roy Hodgson takes a lap of honor from the Palace fans. He did not go and thank the travelling Hornets pic.twitter.com/t3wjkVyIlo
— Ryan Thrussell (@RyanThruss) May 7, 2022
Which club will join the two relegated teams?
Now that Norwich City and Watford have been relegated, one more team has to join them to make it three relegated teams for the 2021-2022 season.
As it stands, 18th placed Everton (32 points in 33 games), 17th placed Leeds United (34 points in 34 games), 16th placed Burnley 34 points in 35 games) or even 15th placed Southampton (40 points in 36 games)
Based on the number of games played and the points the aforementioned teams have the potentials to gather, 15th placed Southampton, and 18th placed Everton have the potential of escaping relegation. Hence, the final battle for survival could end up being between Burnley and Leeds United.
For instance, if Arsenal defeats Leeds United tonight, they will be left with 34 points in 35 games. And if Everton manages to beat Leicester City tonight, Everton will have 35 points in 34 games, one point above Leeds, and a game in hand advantage.
So, all things being equal, Leeds United still has to play against Arsenal, Chelsea, Brighton, and Brentford are more likely to go down than Everton they still have games against Leicester City, Watford, Brentford, Crystal Palace, and Arsenal.
Hence, Norwich City, Watford, and Leeds United will be relegated from the Premier League in the 2021-2022 season.
