It is honestly just a coincidence that on the same day that I highlight an interview with Lee Clark on the PFA website, Roy Hodgson pops up there too. It’s an interesting read but doesn’t really tell us anything new.
Hodgson gives the impression of the experienced veteran of football management when he says that we shouldn’t pay any attention to the league table until 12 games have gone. I bet plenty of his colleagues – sacked when sitting in the relegation zone early in the season – wished their chairman had the benefit of Roy’s wisdom. It is difficult to see him getting ruffled by our two defeats, though, especially when they have come against Chelsea and Aston Villa, which is never an easy place to go as Roy explains.
He repeats an answer we’ve heard before when talking about the extra games we’ve played this season. When he said that it would be difficult to field the same starting eleven in successive matches once the Europa League kicks in, a few fans were quick to criticise. But I think he’s being eminently sensible. He knows that it is the Premier League that pays the bills and should be the priority. That doesn’t mean that I think, as some do, we should make wholesale changes for Sofia with Wolves at the weekend in mind, but it’s probable that we’ll see a lot more rotation as the season goes on.
