Roy Hodgson will take his seat in the dugout as Crystal Palace manager for the 100th time on Monday night, with the club three points off sixth place in the Premier League.
The former England manager has his critics, with some supporters accusing him of playing unattractive football and being too predictable with his substitutions, but he has brought calm to the club.
When he arrived in September 2017, Palace were bottom of the table, without a point or a goal in their first four matches after Frank de Boer was dismissed just 77 days into his reign as manager.
However, more than two years later and ahead of Monday’s match against Brighton at Selhurst Park, all is well, with the 72-year-old in talks over a new deal.
James Tomkins has played under four Palace managers in just over three years. The defender was signed by Alan Pardew and worked under Sam Allardyce and De Boer before Hodgson arrived.
He says the whole club have benefited from the stability.
“He has come to Palace and given us a foundation to work from, really steadied the ship,” said Tomkins.
“Everyone wants stability and he has been our manager for a few years now and it is nice to have that stability.
“He is a guy who I can’t say enough about, the people he has with him, too. He is a massive part of how well we are doing.”
Despite some criticism from fans, Hodgson has lifted Palace to a level where they can stop thinking about merely staying in the Premier League and consider loftier ambitions.
For all his success in south London, however, a run of just one win in five over Brighton is an area in need of work.
The Seagulls took six points from Palace last season and look a far tougher prospect under Graham Potter this term.
But Palace are within touching distance of the European places and if they can achieve a first win over Brighton in more than 18 months, then emerge from Christmas still holding their position in the Premier League, no one at Selhurst Park will be too concerned how Hodgson has got them there.
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