Still got it: Roy Hodgson, 78, guides Bristol City to win on return to dugout

Roy Hodgson has been a manager for 50 years spanning more than 1,200 matches but the emotions stirred by watching a team he has coached do not change.

His sunglasses and largely composed demeanour on the touchline as his ­Bristol City side beat Charlton Athletic may have given the impression that a return to the dugout at 78 had barely fazed him.

Only Bill Tulip of Gateshead, who was 80 when he oversaw his final match in April 1956, has been older as a manager than Hodgson was yesterday. Asked afterwards how he’d found the experience of becoming the second oldest person, Hodgson said: “There were a few five-minute periods where I thought ‘this is fantastic’ and there were a few periods where I thought ‘what on earth are you doing here?.’”

What added extra meaning to his return is the fact he had a previous spell as Bristol City manager 44 years ago. Hodgson’s first term in 1982 only lasted four months and was marred by City’s financial ruin, which led the club to be relegated to the fourth division.

His task this time around, while not as difficult, comes with its own unique set of challenges. Bristol City parted ways with former manager Gerhard Struber at the end of March after a poor three months caused Bristol City to slump to 16th from their eighth-place position on New Year’s Day. Hodgson was hired by City’s new chief executive, Charlie Boss, with the remit of improving the culture at the club across the final seven games of this season.

“If I can help them steady the ship, use some of my experience in these four or five weeks, then I’m hoping they will take the next step by getting the right people that they want in and recruiting the right players,” Hodgson said.

He may no longer be the kind of bright-eyed upcomer Bristol City want to recruit to succeed him in the summer, yet he was still subtly directing his players from the touchline at Charlton. But he left the more aggressive motivational promptings to his assistant manager Alex Ball, who acted as Hodgson’s mouthpiece from the technical area, shouting instructions to Bristol City’s players during the match. Both Ball and Hodgson were visibly confused after play had not been called back for a foul in the build up to Charlton’s goal, with Ball shown a yellow card by referee Ben Toner for his complaints.

Hodgson is still a keen coach, rather than a detached manager figure, and has been out on the grass working closely with City’s players in training to impose his ideas. He stressed in his opening press conference this week that he wouldn’t have considered the job if it were a mentoring position. ­Despite his age, he has no desire to be holed up in an office; he wants to be out there improving players. “Working with players on the field and principles of playing, yes, that really does give me pleasure,” Hodgson said. “When I stopped two years ago, I knew that would be the thing which I would miss the most.”

During his career Hodgson has ­managed England, Switzerland, Inter Milan, Liverpool and Fulham among others and worked with elite players including Roberto Carlos, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard. But Bristol City’s players will relate more to the stories of Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise, whom Hodgson helped to develop from this level to the Premier League at Crystal Palace.

It didn’t take long to see Hodgson’s impact as Bristol City started well, slicing through Charlton with pace and purpose before Scott Twine gave them the lead with a cool finish after 11 minutes. Lyndon Dykes, the Scotland striker, answered back for the home side in the first half before Noah Elie bundled the ball into the net after a goal-line scramble following Twine’s low free kick in the 55th minute to end Bristol City’s five-match winless streak.

Watching the touchline at The Valley provided quite a contrast as the home manager, Nathan Jones, well known for his antics, bellowed instructions at his players. Hodgson, by comparison, only reacted when he needed to, gesturing to his players with hand movements about key tweaks he wanted to see from them. The end result proved he still had the winning formula.

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