Roy Hodgson has stepped back into the pressure cooker of English football after making his return to management at 78 years old

English football has regained one of its greatest servants after Roy Hodgson made his coaching comeback this week. And the game is all the better for having one of the brightest managerial minds of the past 30 years back.

The former England, Liverpool and Inter Milan chief has signed on to lead Bristol City as interim boss for the rest of this season. And it will be his job to help salvage some success from the campaign after the Robins started this term in such bright fashion.

Hodgson has taken over the team as a short-term replacement for Gerhard Struber, who was fired on Friday. Bristol City sit 16th in the Championship with only a handful of games remaining, though the play-off places aren’t mathematically out of reach just yet.

The development has come as a particular shock after Hodgson appeared to retire for good when he left Crystal Palace a little more than two years ago. However, Mirror Football takes a look at some of the signs suggesting he would struggle to keep his distance from football for long.

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Health scare

Hodgson’s last deployment at Selhurst Park came to an unfortunate end after he was taken ill during a training session in February 2024. He was accompanied to the hospital by Palace chairman Steve Parish in a move that prompted his replacement.

READ MORE: Roy Hodgson makes shock return to management at 78 after Championship club sack bossREAD MORE: England reveal two pre-World Cup opponents in Florida training camp

“Following news that Roy Hodgson was taken ill during today’s ­training session, we can confirm that he is now stable and is currently undergoing tests in hospital,” read a Palace statement at the time. “Everybody at the club sends their best wishes to Roy for a speedy recovery.”

It wasn’t long before confirmation arrived that Hodgson was in a stable condition, though further details on the health scare were scant. Nonetheless, Hodgson soon stepped down from his role as manager and was replaced by Oliver Glasner, who was among those tipped to replace him at the time if he was fired anyway.

As a result, it was widely assumed Hodgson was retired from the job after such a frightening episode. That was until a certain Championship admirer with a lot still to play for this season came calling.

Managerial comeback

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Bristol City have demonstrated their taste by appointing Hodgson on a short-term deal until the end of the season. The Robins may be 12 points off the play-off spots with only seven games to play but it’s hardly mission impossible just yet.

After two years out of the game, there are valid questions to be asked as to whether the ex-West Brom and Watford chief is still up to the task. However, the club clearly has faith in his ability to make an impact in numerous areas of the club during his short-term spell.

“Roy’s appointment is about more than the results of the next seven games,” said Bristol City’s chief executive officer, Charlie Boss, in a statement announcing Hodgson’s arrival. “Over the remainder of the season, he will help us set the standards and values at the club that we will need to be successful going forwards.

“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.”

Wife’s honest take

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Amid the chaos that comes with a return to coaching at 78, one who will be feeling its impact the most is Hodgson’s wife of more than 50 years, Sheila. However, it was actually his better half who helped convince him to return to the sport the first time he packed it in.

After a disappointing Euro 2016 campaign, Hodgson stepped down as England manager and went into hibernation for a year. He took over boyhood club Palace in 2017 and enjoyed a particularly bright spell in charge, which may never have come to fruition were it not for Sheila’s encouragement.

“We’ve been married 46 years,” said Hodgson in 2018 when discussing his wife and the move back into football. “There have been moments when we have discussed that together. There have been moments when we’ve thought, well, is this the moment now to do something else?

“Well, we tried that for a year. And she came to the conclusion that she better let me back in for a little bit longer.”

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The F1 bandwagon has arrived in Suzuka for round three of the 2026 F1 World Championship. The first two weekends of the season have been dominated by Mercedes, with George Russell winning the opening race in Melbourne before his teammate Kimi Antonelli took his maiden grand prix victory in China last time out. Russell leads the way in the drivers’ standings, four points ahead of Antonelli whilst Mercedes are over 30 points ahead of Ferrari at the summit of the constructors’ standings.

The FIA have made a rule tweak to qualifying coming into this weekend, which will see the permitted energy recharge per lap reduced from nine megajoules to eight. This should see the amount of energy saving the drives are required to do around a lap reduced. There has also been some spotlight over the Mercedes front wing following the race in China. Championship leader Russell believes other teams are playing games to try and affect Mercedes’ dominance in these early stages of the season.

“That is just how sport goes on to be honest,” Russell said. “That has always been the case. We have worked so hard to get ourselves in this position, and the best team should come out on top. We have obviously had four years of struggle. There have been two other teams over four years who have dominated and won.

“Just because we are sort of back on top, I do not think it is quite right, everybody is trying to slow us down, especially when you are two races in. It is a big old season, so things will change. We have already seen Red Bull is overweight and some things we saw in the press last week, McLaren have not brought an upgrade to the car. They are still running their Bahrain package. We should not forget these things. We do have an advantage right now, but I think we have just really hit the ground running and done a great job. We hope it continues.”

Defending constructors’ champions McLaren will be hoping for a better weekend than China a few weeks ago, where neither Lando Norris nor Oscar Piastri started the main race due to unrelated power unit-related issues on both cars. Piastri was fastest in second practice yesterday, with Norris fourth.

Max Verstappen has taken the last four pole positions and wins at the Japanese Grand Prix but it would be a major shock if that run continued this weekend, considering Red Bull’s struggles at the start of this season. The Dutchman was involved in some drama before the weekend has even got going, demanding a journalist “get out” of a press conference coming into this weekend.

With the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekends next month cancelled as a result of the war in the Middle East, this is the final race for five weeks until we reach Miami at the start of May. Conditions are set fair for qualifying so the session should be a dry one. Qualifying begins at 6am GMT.

Ulster are in a strong position in the race for the last eight of the URC, sitting in third position on 42 points

Ulster are back in action on Saturday in the United Rugby Championship, looking to bounce back from defeat on home soil last weekend.

Richie Murphy’s side were beaten 26-19 by provincial rivals Connacht at the Affidea Stadium eight days ago. They have the chance to get right back to winning ways in Italy this weekend as they take on Zebre.

Ulster are in a strong position in the race for the last eight of the URC, sitting in third position on 42 points.

Zebre find themselves rooted to the bottom of the URC, with just 12 points after 13 games.

Here is everything you need to know about the game..

When is the game?

The game is on Saturday, March 28th at 7.45pm

Where is the game?

The game takes place at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, in the city of Parma, Italy

Is the game on TV?

Yes the game is live on Premier Sports

Is the game being streamed?

Yes, the game can be streamed at Premier Sports or on URC.tv

Team news

Ireland Triple Crown winning stars Stuart McCloskey and Nick Timoney return for Ulster, with James Humphreys set to make his first start.

Ulster: McIlroy; Kok, Hume, McCloskey, Z Ward; Humphreys, McKee; O’Sullivan, Herring, McAllister; Henderson, Hopes; McCann, B Ward, Timoney.

Replacements: James McCormick, Angus Bell, Scott Wilson, Matthew Dalton, Juarno Augustus, Nathan Doak, Ben Carson Ben Moxham

Betting odds

Zebre 2/1

Ulster 4/11

Draw 50/1

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Antonelli became the youngest driver to take an F1 pole position in China and is emerging as a serious threat to Russell in the championship – they start the race separated by four points, less than the margin between first and second places in a grand prix.

Russell, who was complaining of a lack of rear grip throughout qualifying, was quicker than Antonelli in the difficult first sector of the lap but lost out over the rest.

“Really strange session,” the Briton said. “We were both very fast all weekend. We made some adjustments after final practice and in this qualifying we were nowhere so we have to try and understand.”

Piastri, meanwhile, was pleased with the obvious progress McLaren have made this weekend, during which they have for the first time been in the mix with Ferrari as the closest challengers to Mercedes.

“We have looked good all weekend,” said the Australian, who is yet to start a grand prix this season after a crash on the reconnaissance lap in Australia and a battery failure in China before the start.

“We don’t have the pace to match Mercedes still but we are getting closer.”

THE ‘7 Stiles walk’ in Long Preston is a hidden gem. A beautiful stretch of riverside walking combine with some great views towards Pendle Hill and the Deeps.

Long Preston is my favourite venue for my Beginners Navigation Course.

The walk starts at the Maypole, however park at the train station and walk up and cross the road at the Maypole. Head east (away from the Maypole) up the lane until it reaches and passes the Primary School. Follow the lane as it bends right and head towards the (original) Norman church of St Marys. The entrance is to the right and the church is well worth visiting with its lovely stain glass windows. It is also worth exploring the large, well-kept graveyard.

Long Preston map

If you visit the church head (out of the small gate at its east end) along the lane for 250 m until it reaches a river (Long Preston Beck). Before arriving at the beck there are some stables on your right and with horses in the field. Just past the beck a stile (and a footpath sign) on your left leads to a lovely section of riverside walking.

After nearly half a mile there is a stile and then a gate before the path opens out again. The circular wall above you is the Long Preston water supply, if you can see in, it always looks worryingly empty particularly during the summer months! The path continues along the riverside through open fields, before a ladder stile leads to a narrow path and then a meeting of two rivers. The river to the right comes from the moors and tumbles steeply down whilst the Beck itself carries on up towards Settle.

Cross both rivers via two footbridges and head for the diagonal path to your left skirting the slope to the west. This is the only climb of the walk. At the top of the path pass through a gate and take the second stile on the left. The first leads in to New Pasture Plantation.

More walks:

The stile is the first of eight stiles as you make your way back towards Long Preston village (however the walk is called seven stiles locally!). The initial section is over a flat field but after the second stile the path drops, steeply at times towards the village. The views over Long Preston and beyond to Pendle Hill and the Forest of Bowland are gorgeous, particularly in the low winter light in the morning or at sunset. The final stile leads to a quiet lane, turn left and stroll back to the Maypole.

Long Preston Beck

It is possible to take an alternative route at New Pasture Plantation if you want to avoid the stiles by sticking to the farm lane and turning left at the tarmac road after half a mile and head downhill.

* Fact Box:

Distance: Roughly three miles

Height to Climb: 50m (165 feet)

Start: SD 834582. Park down by the railway station and walk up to the green outside the Maypole or start with a coffee in the pub and use their car park.

Difficulty: Easy. A short half day, perfect for the winter months.

Refreshments: The Maypole is an excellent pub, the only one open in Long Preston at present.

The route description and sketch map only provide a guide to the walk. You must take out and be able to read a map (O/S Explorer 2) and in cloudy/misty conditions a compass (essential on this walk). You must also wear the correct clothing and footwear for the outdoors. Whilst every effort is made to provide accurate information, walkers head out at their own risk.

* Jonathan runs Where2walk, a walking company based in the Yorkshire Dales:

He has written three books on walking in the Dales; ‘The Yorkshire 3 Peaks’, ‘The Dales 30’ mountains and the long distance path ‘The Bracken Way. Buy them direct from Where2walk

Jonathan runs Navigation Training Courses. The next Beginners Course of 2026 is on Saturday April 18 from Long Preston, near Settle. See photo!

You can now buy Dales 30 Guide Book, T-shirts and branded caps from the NEW Dales 30 website. Start the challenge today.

Where2walk.co.uk features hundreds of walks with descriptions across Yorkshire and beyond, from easy strolls to harder climbs. Visit the website for details of all these walks, guiding days and navigation.

The latest rugby news stories from Wales and beyond

Here are your rugby morning headlines for Saturday, March 28.

Taulupe Faletau suffers cruel blow

Cardiff are sweating on the fitness of Wales legend Taulupe Faletau after he was forced off with an apparent shoulder injury in their defeat to the Sharks.

The No. 8 was making his first start since New Year’s Day, having endured an injury-hit campaign. A calf problem kept him out of the Six Nations, with a knee injury preventing him from playing in the autumn.

The 35-year-old was going well, only to be forced off after 45 minutes. You can see how all the players rated here.

He left the pitch in Durban using his jersey as a temporary sling for his arm – begging the question whether he will feature in Cardiff’s remaining matches this season. Faletau’s future at the Welsh region beyond this season is unclear and this could yet prove to be his last appearance for Cardiff if the worst is confirmed.

The Wales legend has been beset by a series of cruel injuries in recent years, particularly arm issues. He suffered a broken arm in Wales’ World Cup victory against Georgia in October 2023, before fracturing his shoulder in his comeback match six months later.

The Blue and Blacks have five guaranteed matches left, plus whatever comes in the way of further knockout matches in the United Rugby Championship and Challenge Cup.

As well as Faletau, Cardiff lost second-row Josh McNally and prop Corey Domachowski in the first-half to injury.

“It was tough to lose those players early on and that put us under pressure,” said Cardiff coach Corniel Van Zyl. “There were two actions we probably could have dealt with better and they ended up scoring twice.

“The pressure of those early changes meant we couldn’t bring fresh legs at the end, and that makes a difference in a tight game like that. It was close at the end, but we just came up short.”

Cardiff set for English invasion

Around 50,000 English rugby supporters are expected to take over Cardiff’s Principality Stadium today as Bristol Bears play Harlequins at the iconic rugby venue.

Bristol bring a top Gallagher Prem clash to the Wesh capital for the second year running after the success of last year’s first ‘Big Day Out’ occasion against Bath.

Louis Rees-Zammit starts for Bristol at full-back, with former Wales under-20s star Aidan Boshoff named on the wing.

There is also strong Welsh interest in the Harlequins team, with Jarrod Evans starting at outside-half and rising young talent Bryn Bradley at 12. The match kicks off at 3.30pm at the Principality.

Bristol: Rees-Zammit; Ravouvou, Moroni, Williams, Boshoff; Jordan, Randall; Genge, Oghre, Kloska; Dun, Owen, Luatua, Harding (c), S. Grondona.

Replacements: Gwilliam, Woolmore, Chawatama, Taylor, B. Grondona, Marmion, Janse van Rensburg, Ibitoye.

Harlequins: Benson; Isgro, Murley, Bradley, David; Evans, Townsend; Kerrod, Walker, Jones; Treadwell, Williams, Petti Pagadizabal, Kenningham, Dombrant (c).

Replacements: Riley, Hobson, Delgado, Green, Carr, Driscoll, Grant, Kerr.

International accused of jersey scam

A current Tonga international has been accused of scamming people out of money through the sale of match-worn jerseys.

Tau Koloamatangi, who has played for Waikato, Otago and Super Rugby outfit Moana Pasifika, has been accused of taking payment for the sale of jerseys before ceasing any contact with buyers. The former New Zealand U20s international has reportedly been listing jerseys for sale through social media and online marketplace websites.

He is then alleged to have blocked some buyers after receiving payment, as revealed by an investigation by the New Zealand Herald.

The majority of the jerseys are understood to be from Tests he has played in. The paper also claim he has allegedly taken old listings and pretended they were his.

The Herald said they had spoken to multiple people who feel helpless after not receiving the jersey they paid for, leaving them thousands of NZ dollars out of pocket.

One person they interviewed had paid NZ$1650 – around £714 – for an All Blacks jersey they did not receive, while another said they had paid NZ$2250 – roughly £974 – for a 2023 World Cup Springbok jersey that did not arrive.

The Herald did say they had tried to reach Kolomatangi without any success, although he has reached out to alleged victims – providing at least one with a refund.

Gloucester looking for final piece after Morgan and Lake signings

Gloucester head coach George Skivington admits a loosehead is the final position the Gallagher Prem club need to strengthen, having already signed Wales captains Dewi Lake and Jac Morgan for next season.

The Ospreys pair will head to the Kingsholm club later this year amid ongoing uncertainty in Welsh rugby. The Cherry and Whites are on the lookout for a prop, having missed out on Scotland international Jamie Bhatti.

The Glasgow loosehead will instead join Bath – with Skivington having to move on to other targets.

“There’s one position we’re working away on still,” he said this week. “I thought we were done, but that one is just dragging on a little bit, so that could still take a few twists and turns, but we’re only one position away from being done now,”

Traditionally we eat spring onions raw with bread and feta cheese as staple fare of the Persian table. Grilling them mellows out the oniony flavour, and intense charring works beautifully with the sweetness of cooked onion flesh. Chargrilling them on a barbecue is ideal, but you can also cook them easily on the hob in a griddle pan.

MP Charlotte Nichols recently took the brave step to speak publicly about her rape trial experiences in parliament. Nichols endured a 1,088-day wait for her case to reach court. This experience led her to speak out, in a debate over the government’s plan to cut jury trials in England and Wales. Arguing that the proposals would only minimally reduce wait times, she called instead for the creation of special courts to hear rape cases.

Later, in an in-depth Guardian interview, Nichols disclosed that it took her 48 hours to mentally accept that what had happened to her was rape. This delay was used against her in court to undermine her credibility as a witness. Her case ended with a jury unanimously acquitting the man she accused of raping her. But this line of enquiry was based on outdated stereotypes of what “real” rape looks like.

Delayed realisation, when someone does not immediately name that what happened to them was rape, is extremely common. Most people imagine rape as an obvious crime: a stranger attack, force, threats or immediate fear. But the reality looks very different for many victims.

Back in 1988, Liz Kelly, a professor of sexualised violence, reported that around 60% of women she spoke to could not name assaults when they happened. More recent studies, including research led by criminologist Jennifer Brown, and my own research with disabled victims of sexual violence, continue to show this pattern.

Nichols disclosed that she had consensual “vanilla sex” during a one-night stand with a man: “We did have a really fun night actually where I was fully up for it.” This made what happened later that night harder to comprehend. She woke up to find him having sex with her again, biting her back, breasts and thighs.

Being betrayed in this way by someone you trusted and had positive feelings for can cause disassociation and shock. Nichols described feeling “outside my own body” and on “autopilot” in the hours after being raped. Many victims cope by rationalising or minimising what has happened. One of my respondents told herself: “No, it wasn’t that bad, it was all okay.”

Victims may use humour or detachment as coping strategies. Nichols did this when she sent her friend a joking text message the morning after the rape. Although the correspondence with this friend included later messages where she gradually began to acknowledge that what happened wasn’t right, this initial text message was used against her in the trial.

Many victims have internalised rape myths: widely-held attitudes about how rape happens that are generally false. These beliefs may hinder them from naming their experiences.

Although delayed realisation can happen to anyone, it is important to acknowledge that disabled women in our research faced additional barriers. Some had limited access to sex education. Some grew up being treated as childlike or passive, and others had been repeatedly disbelieved by professionals when they tried to report more mundane instances of maltreatment. These conditions make it even harder to understand or dare to name sexual violence.

How delayed realisation is used against victims

The criminal justice system often treats delayed realisation as suspicious. Nichols’ delayed realisation and outwardly calm behaviour in the immediate aftermath were presented as proof that the sex must have been consensual.

The emotional scars caused by rape led Nichols to developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Emily Hunt, a former government rape adviser, claimed that 50% of sexual violence victims develop PTSD. On this ground alone, a large proportion of rape victims could be considered disabled and entitled to additional protections under the Equality Act.

Instead, rape victims’ trauma survival strategies, such as the “fawn response” – disassociation and masking one’s distress, as Nichols described – are exposed in court as evidence to undermine their credibility.

In my research this was especially common among neurodivergent women, who are generally well-versed at masking (mimicking neurotypical traits to fit into social situations).

Some respondents felt discriminated against because they expressed trauma differently from how they were expected to, for example by laughing when recalling uncomfortable events. Others were told they were “over-emotional” or “not emotional enough”. Several women said that their criminal justice experience made them feel that they were not the “right kind of victim”.

The current legal definition of rape requires that the perpetrator did “not reasonably believe” that the victim consented. Consequently, when Nichols’ case went to court, she was made to feel that she was on trial. The focus was on dissecting her behaviour in the aftermath of the rape to establish whether she had consented.

For most victims I spoke to, their cases were discontinued before they even reached court. Delayed realisation was routinely used to argue that it was not possible to “reasonably believe” that the victim had not consented.

The UK government’s ambition to increase rape convictions as part of the violence against women and girls strategy is commendable. However, low conviction rates will continue unless the law and how it is implemented are changed to reflect the reality that delayed realisation is a common trauma response for many rape victims.

Nichols’ courage in speaking publicly could open a national conversation about normalising delayed realisation. Her frank account is powerful, because it directly challenges many common rape myths, while highlighting how the presence of these views in the courtroom led to her feeling – and ultimately being – disbelieved.

Itauma’s professional journey has been brief but brutal. He has boxed just 26 rounds in his pro career – and many of those were cut short.

He demolished Marcel Bode in just 23 seconds on his debut in January 2023 at Wembley Arena. But just like the Whyte fight, the early ending brought little joy.

“I didn’t care,” he reflects. “My brother suffered his first loss, literally a couple of minutes before. To be honest, I didn’t even want to fight that day.”

Family is the core of the Itauma story. His brother, light-heavyweight Karol Itauma, sits behind the cameras during fight week duties. The bond was forged through a 1,050-mile journey from Kezmarok, beneath Slovakia’s Tatra Mountain, to Chatham in Kent.

Born to a Slovak mother and Nigerian father, their early years were defined by racism and a search for a place to belong.

“Me and my brothers, we don’t look very Slovak, and that kind of limited opportunities that we can have in that country,” says Itauma.

“My mum was like, they’re probably going to have more opportunities and a better upbringing if they move to a country where people of mixed-race backgrounds are more common.”

Those sacrifices influenced every decision that followed. Itauma started boxing at nine, but it wasn’t until 14 that he decided to take it seriously.

“My mum sacrificed a lot coming over to the UK,” he says. “I need to kind of make it. So, yeah, it’s difficult, but I’m happy that my mum made the decisions and obviously I’m following through.”

That “family first” mentality is why he snubbed the Olympic route with Team GB to sign with Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions.

“The short and sweet of it was that my family needed the money,” he adds.