It’s safe to say the surprise impending return of Roy Hodgson as Crystal Palace manager caught us a little off-guard when looking at our 2023 predictions.
These predictions were published on January 3 of 2023. They make for interesting reading now. Here is how we fared in 2022.
10) Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest and Southampton will be relegated
It’s not particularly outlandish, granted. Southampton are bottom on a five-game losing streak and have not even done the 9-0 thing so far this season. Nottingham Forest are in the relegation zone with the worst goal difference in the division. Bournemouth are only superficially clear of danger, mired as they are in that rabble of teams from 13th down who are separated by five points.
Three from those eight will fall into the Championship after Unai Emery dragged Aston Villa away from the fight and Crystal Palace earned themselves a little breathing space. Julen Lopetegui will clear the lowest of bars for Wolves, Leeds will have just enough and Everton and West Ham will barely sustain themselves on a diet of transfer inspiration, managerial change and/or sheer narrative. Nathan Jones won’t be able to sufficiently improve Saints, Forest’s defence will undermine any hope of survival and Bournemouth will slip into trouble as Scott Parker nods sagely while lifting the Champions League trophy.
9) The holy British coaching trifecta won’t manage in the Premier League for the first calendar year since 1993
Between them, Harry Redknapp, Roy Hodgson and Sam Allardyce have either taken it in turns or shared the burden of managing in the Premier League for every year of the past three decades.
Redknapp took the responsibility upon himself between 1994 and 2001 with West Ham, joined for a couple of years by Roy Hodgson at Blackburn. Sam Allardyce then assumed the mantle, taking it single-handedly at Bolton between 2001 and 2006, before carrying it in unison with Hodgson (Fulham) as he moved to Newcastle and Blackburn until 2010.
Then it was Hodgson’s turn to ride the top-flight wave solo, carrying the flag at Liverpool and West Brom in 2011. He and Allardyce (West Ham) saw 2012 through before the latter shouldered the duty alone until 2016, flitting from the Hammers to Sunderland, Crystal Palace and Everton.
Hodgson (Crystal Palace) and Allardyce (Palace, Everton and West Brom) scrapped together through 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021, with Hodgson filling in the gaps of 2019 at Selhurst Park and 2022 with…
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