Roy Hodgson has made a shock return to management as interim Bristol City boss after the Championship club sacked Gerhard Struber.
The former England and Liverpool boss, 78, whose last job in management ended when he left Crystal Palace in February 2024, takes over until the end of the season.
Hodgson returns to Bristol City for a second stint 44 years after an ill-fated four months as manager in 1982 in the old fourth division. The Robins were the first English club he ever managed.
Bristol City, who are winless in their last six, say Struber was dismissed along with assistant Bernd Eibler because “recent performances have not met expectations”.
The club sit 16th in the Championship, nine points adrift of the play-off places with seven games to play.
Hodgson will meet the squad on Monday and take charge of his first game against Charlton on Easter Friday, live on Sky Sports.
“I have had great conversations with the board and I am really excited by the opportunity to help until the end of the season,” said Hodgson.
“We will get straight to work and look for a positive performance on Good Friday.”
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Bristol City were beaten at home by West Brom last weekend
Hodgson has been brought in to “set the standards and the values at the club”, according to Bristol City chief executive Charlie Boss, himself only appointed last month, as they search for a new sporting director and next permanent head coach.
“I would like to thank Gerhard and Bernd for their hard work over the past nine months and we wish them all the best,” Boss said. “Roy’s appointment is about more than the results of the next seven games.
“Roy is a vastly experienced coach who has achieved and won at the highest level. He will support me, our players and our football staff as we build towards achieving our potential.
“We are in the process of appointing a sporting director who will have a direct input into the recruitment of a new permanent head coach.”
Hodgson the oldest active coach in PL and EFL
Hodgson becomes the oldest head coach in the Championship – 20 years older than the closest to him in age, Sheffield United’s Chris Wilder and Wrexham’s Phil Parkinson.
The former Palace manager is also 15 years older than the previous oldest across the whole EFL, Swindon Town’s Ian Holloway and Bristol Rover’s Steve Evans.
Everton’s David Moyes, the oldest Premier League manager, is 16 years younger than Hodgson.
Analysis: The ultimate unfinished business? Not quite…
Sky Sports’ Ron Walker:
“16,038 days since he departed Bristol City in April 1982, his first managerial appointment in his native England, Roy Hodgson is back at Ashton Gate.
“It might be a stretch to call this unfinished business. But there is certainly a level of sentimentality which has dragged the 78-year-old back into management for a seven-game stint, just over two years after the end of what had appeared to be his swansong role at Crystal Palace.
“Given he only managed the club for four months all those years ago and lost half of his 22 games in charge, that feeling likely owes far more to a longing for one more spell in the game than rose-tinted memories of his first spell.
“From Bristol City’s perspective, there is no sentimentality involved whatsoever.
“Previous incumbent Gerhard Struber was sacked despite remaining largely popular with the club’s support, who placed the responsibility for a run of one win in nine at the feet of a board who had sanctioned the sale of top scorer Anis Mehmeti and key centre-back Zak Vyner in January, as they entered the last six months of their contracts.
“There is no doubt it was a body blow to their season, with the Robins one point outside the top six and Struber has made his feelings known to that point publicly, but the Austrian must take some responsibility for their current slide too.
“A 5-1 thumping in Stoke at the start of November provided a hint of what was to come and by the time of the two players’ departure, City had taken just 21 points from their previous 17 games.
“The club felt increasingly listless, with little hope of the required summer rebuild going ahead. Something had to change.
“Fans hoped that would come from the top, whether through Steve Lansdown’s long-anticipated sale of the club going ahead, or a more ambitious transfer policy to return the Robins to the play-off push they successfully mounted last season.
“The board had another view. Struber becomes the latest big personality to depart Ashton Gate after speaking out against the board – but the appointment of the oldest manager in the Football League, even on a temporary basis, does little to give the impression that a coherent plan does exist.”
