DANNY MURPHY MEETS ROY HODGSON: I underestimated the FA Cup and what it means to people. I saw it as a distraction

Pictures of Mick Jagger and other famous locals adorn the corridors of the charming Petersham Hotel in Richmond, selected as a convenient meeting place by another nearby resident, my former boss and one of English football’s most-respected grandees, Roy Hodgson.

Punctual as ever, Roy walks into the lounge at 11am with a warm embrace for his old captain, and an apology. His hair is a bit longer than usual, he explains, because his barber’s appointment in Soho was cancelled at late notice due to staff illness.

It’s Roy being his polite best. The man is looking splendid for 77, distinguished locks and all. He mentions he had flu earlier in the winter but there is no way of telling. He spends  the next two hours discussing football and life with the same energy, passion and wisdom he displayed in six decades as a manager.

Adjusting to retirement doesn’t appear to be problematic, although he confesses to wanting to do more with his wife, Sheila, in their new-found leisure time.

‘I’ve always had a low boredom threshold,’ he accepts. ‘Though not as low as my friend Rodney Marsh. He was described to me as the most intelligent man you’ll meet who could lose interest in the click of a finger!

‘I’m nowhere near that but I want to do more things to fill out my life. We have a gym in our place. It gives a bit of shape to the day. UEFA are using me a bit for the technical reports. I’ve been to Leverkusen and I agree to do things for the LMA (League Managers Association).

‘We say we’re going to travel more but things keep getting in the way. I’ve got to try to keep the diary free from April to July. I don’t know if I ever binged on football outside of my work. I haven’t gone to many matches this season though Ray (Lewington, his former No 2) and myself have been invited to Fulham v Liverpool.

‘I read a lot, but I don’t think I’ve ever read a football book. I’m still being pushed to write mine but I’ve been resisting that for 15 years.’

I was proud to be Roy’s skipper during three tumultuous seasons between 2007 and 2010, when he took Fulham from the brink of relegation to a Europa League final against Sergio Aguero’s Atletico Madrid.

My excuse to call and set up an interview is Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final between Fulham and Crystal Palace — a proper Roy Hodgson derby between two clubs where he is absolutely adored.

He’d received many requests in the build-up but agreed to do this one. I don’t mention it to be big-headed but to illustrate the loyalty that Roy always shows his players.

It’s why his managerial career over 48 years between 1976 and 2024 is in many ways unparalleled. Along the way, he won championships in Sweden and Denmark, reached a European final with Inter Milan, led the national teams of England, Switzerland, the UAE and Finland, and worked here for Bristol City, Blackburn, Liverpool, West Bromwich Albion, Crystal Palace and Watford.

Palace were his boyhood team — he grew up close to Selhurst Park and went to his first match aged six — but insists he will be steadfastly neutral given his connections to both protagonists.

‘Fulham and Palace have their own strong characteristics,’ he assesses. ‘Fulham is posher, in a more expensive area, while you can’t take the south London element out of Palace. I remember a Fulham game when we were losing, a man yelled out, “Get Diomansy Kamara on”.

‘When I asked Kamara to warm up later on, the same voice shouted again almost apologetically, “I didn’t mean it Roy”. That was Fulham!

It wouldn’t have happened at Palace but there was plenty of humour there, too. When I first left the club in 2021, I received all sorts of lovely retirement gifts, gold watches and God knows what.

‘When I went back in 2023 after Patrick Vieira had been manager, the first person I bumped into was James Tomkins, a player I got on really well with. He laughed and said, “Good to see you again but weren’t those retirement presents enough?”

With so many big clubs already eliminated, this year’s FA Cup represents a great opportunity for Fulham or Palace to win what would be a first major trophy in their history. In that sense, I felt a bit guilty pairing them together when I did the draw on television with Denis Irwin.

Roy’s view on the progression of each club is fascinating, given his recent history. He’ll have managed many of the Palace players on show for the lunchtime kick-off, including key figures Eberechi Eze, Marc Guehi and Jean-Philippe Mateta.

Mateta’s presence is particularly welcome after he was kicked in the head by Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts in the last round and required 25 stitches to his left ear.

‘We always saw potential in JP but wondered if he could piece the strength, technique and decision-making together,’ explains Roy.

‘To be fair to him, if I picked Christian Benteke or Odsonne Edouard ahead of him, JP would always come and tell me, “You should play me!” I knew he was different and in the last year under Oliver Glasner, he’s hit the form he’d always half-promised.

‘Guehi has an understated excellence. You look at him during a match and think he’s doing OK, keep it going. Then, when the final whistle blows and you realise he’s done well for 90 minutes. He rarely makes mistakes.

‘Marc wasn’t afraid to speak but wasn’t a barker on the pitch. His partner, Joachim Andersen, would be the one to speak up. Of course, they’ll be against each other in this game.

‘When we missed Michael Olise and Eze through injury, a lot of our results depended on whether we could defend well enough. Now Eze is fit and has got Adam Wharton, Daniel Munoz and an in-form JP as extra weapons. It’s made such a difference to Palace’s attacking qualities.’

Fulham are still the higher-ranked club, though, four places and six points above the Eagles in the table.

‘I’ve been impressed by (manager) Marco Silva,’ adds Roy. ‘He was a pain as a competitor and would drive me wild on the touchline, but as I got to know him over the years, he is very good company.

‘He takes his role as a leader seriously. He realises his job is to get the best out of his players and come off the field as winners, not to showcase a philosophy simply to try to look good.

‘I like the balance he finds between defending and attacking. He’s not hidebound to playing only one way at any cost.

‘You could say the same about Glasner. You can’t say Palace are a team restricted to playing out from their own six-yard box or kicking it down the field to chase a second ball. They can adapt their style. It was a bitter-sweet draw for me. My first reaction was, “What a shame”, because I’d love to have seen them play each other in the final. But on the positive side, one of them is guaranteed to be at Wembley for the semi-final and they have a chance of going all the way.

‘They should be rubbing their hands because Manchester City are the only early favourites left in the competition. All the other quarter-finalists are in their ball-park.’

As I hear him speaking with such passion about the FA Cup, I have to remind Roy of the time he left me out of a replay against Bristol Rovers because we were battling to stay in the Premier League. I was fuming and punched the walls at home as I listened on the radio to us going out on penalties.

We did escape relegation, so Roy was probably justified, but nearly 20 years later, he can see my point of view!

‘I probably did underestimate the Cup and the importance it has for people,’ he says candidly. ‘I found myself far too often thinking in terms of it being a distraction from the league.

‘We saw what happened when Newcastle won the Carabao Cup. My father was from Newcastle so I’ve always appreciated it as a crazy football city. I was pleased for Eddie Howe. I met him for a long chat at the Gaucho after he’d left Bournemouth and appreciated his love for football and his intensity in wanting to understand it.

‘I knew he had everything to be a top manager. Marco and Oliver have also been the right choices for Fulham and Palace. It would undeniably mean an awful lot to fans at those clubs to win a first trophy. It’s just a pity for me it can’t happen to both!’