Former Liverpool manager explains reason for comeback at age 78

Roy Hodgson has been appointed as interim head coach of Bristol City until the end of the Championship season, with the 78-year-old tasked with leading the Robins through their final seven games

Roy Hodgson has taken charge of Bristol City(Image: Getty Images)

Roy Hodgson maintains he hasn't returned to Bristol City "for a ride," but rather to fulfil the role the Robins board has entrusted him with as interim head coach until the conclusion of the Championship season.

The club announced on Friday, during the March international break, that former Liverpool manager Hodgson, 78, had been appointed on a temporary basis following Gerhard Struber's dismissal from Ashton Gate after merely nine months in charge.

City's new manager previously spent four months at the helm in south Bristol back in 1982, before going on to manage the likes of Inter Milan and England. Nevertheless, he has been absent from management for over two years, having departed Crystal Palace in February 2024.

While this meant his appointment last week arrived as something of a shock, it was the nature of the vacancy in BS3 that attracted the 78-year-old, who was initially approached about the role by former Premier League CEO and current Reds board member Richard Scudamore.

"I think it was the fact that it was a short-term project, a short-term appointment after the club made their decision to change," Hodgson responded when questioned about what persuaded him to accept the position at his inaugural press conference on Monday. "I think they were looking for someone to step in and were prepared to do a job for seven games.

"Of course, that appealed to me, because I have retired from the real maelstrom of working as a professional coach again. But I thought that I could manage five weeks, and I might even look forward to the five weeks, which has been the case so far.

Hodgson is a former Liverpool manager(Image: Getty Images)

"I can only thank the board and Charlie for thinking of me and asking me to come in."

At present, City has merely seven fixtures remaining this season. The Robins are currently positioned 16th in the Championship, 12 points behind the play-off spots and 12 above the drop zone, having failed to secure victory in any of their previous six matches, across all competitions, under Struber.

While Hodgson will be charged with guiding the Reds through that final sequence of fixtures following the March international break, those in senior positions at Ashton Gate have more pressing matters than the run-in.

City is seeking a sporting director. The individual appointed to such a position will oversee the recruitment process for a new head coach ahead of the 2026/27 season. Continuing in his role beyond the conclusion of the present campaign isn't on Hodgson's agenda, with his attention firmly on the forthcoming five weeks, rather than a prolonged spell in the dugout or within the hierarchy at the HPC.

When questioned whether he could be Robins' head coach beyond the campaign's end, the former England manager smiled: "No. I'm too old. I've never been a sporting director, to be honest," he acknowledged when questioned about whether the role above manager might appeal to him. "I don't really know what is even required of a sporting director.

"When Richard Scudamore first got in touch with me to ask if it could even be a possibility and put me in touch with Charlie, who then pursued it, it was always on the basis that we'd like you to come in and work like we think you do work for this five-week period. Then, at the end of it, I hope that they will have found their new sporting director, found their new manager, and the club will go from strength to strength; that's my hope.

"I hope to get some enjoyment from being here to re-energise myself a little bit by being back on the grass with the players, something that has always been what I've wanted to do, because I must say, I didn't come into football to do press conferences.

"I came into it to do work with players, and I made it clear to them today that I hope we're going to enjoy our time working together, but I also made it clear early on that, unfortunately, the only way we're going to get any enjoyment is if we become better and win matches.

"I think I made that fairly clear as well: I'm not here just for a ride, I'm here because I hope I'll be able to do what Charlie and the board have brought me here to do."