Howe backed by Hodgson for long career

Bournemouth and Howe host Palace on Monday night, and Hodgson - the Premier League's oldest manager - praised the 40-year-old Howe ahead of the fixture. 

Hodgson spoke of Howe, and the difficulty of managing long-term in modern football. 

"It's much harder today for managers to have long careers if they are starting off.

"Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and myself, to name three, had or are still having long careers and our start was easier, at least in my case, more so than Arsene and Alex, because it wasn't under that enormous spotlight and pressure that we're under today.

"Do I look at [Howe] and think, 'I wish I was 35 again with plenty of years ahead of me'? No. Money has changed the game enormously.

"You know you must never lose two matches in a row and that's very, very tough because you're meeting so many good teams.

"These other managers like Eddie will find a way to progress their careers and make them last as long as mine or others with long careers behind them. But I certainly don't envy them their task of having to do that.

"They're going to be subjected to an awful lot of pressure and an awful lot of criticism along the way.

"That [first] 14 or 15 years gave me quite a gradual introduction to coaching and management. The level was good in Sweden, but it wasn't quite the same way of working as in the Premier League today, with all the hype that goes with that."