One former Liverpool manager was reportedly targeted by a missile immediately after full-time in his team’s defeat on Wednesday night.
Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace side sank to a wretched 0-2 home defeat by Bournemouth which saw the final whistle met with vociferous boos from many Eagles fans at Selhurst Park.
As per The Athletic, as the coaches made their way towards the dressing rooms straight after the game, an object was allegedly thrown towards the 76-year-old, although it didn’t strike its intended target and there were no reports of any injuries. The Metropolitan Police are investigating the incident.
Hodgson had bitten back at the heckling home support when speaking to Amazon Prime Sport afterwards, claiming that the south Londoners’ fan base had been ‘spoiled’ in recent years.
However, as stressed by Nick Wright for Sky Sports, the Palace boss ‘sought to add context to his comments in his press conference afterwards and it should be noted that he was speaking to Amazon in the heat of the moment’.
While it’s understandable that Palace fans would’ve been discontent at their team’s performance and result last night, it’s most unwelcome to hear reports of an act of idiocy from whoever may have thrown a projectile at Hodgson just after full-time.
There’s no issue with supporters making their feelings clear by booing a sub-par display, but to target a person with a flying object is totally unacceptable and completely crosses the line.
Having managed at a very high level for much of his 47-year career, Hodgson deserves far better respect than some imbecile lobbing a missile at him, if indeed those alarming reports are true.
In one example of the kind of ironic situations that football so often likes to throw up, Liverpool have the opportunity to inflict further misery on their former manager when they take on Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday lunchtime.
We’re obviously hoping the Reds can make it three Premier League wins in a row at the weekend, in the process going top of the table for a few hours at least, but we certainly don’t want it to be accompanied by any personal hostility (verbal or physical) towards the 76-year-old.