GRAEME SOUNESS: I spoke to Roy Hodgson this week. Here's why Oliver Glasner will have a lot to contend with at Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace could look to replace Hodgson with Glasner as their new manager The intensity Glasner would face is unlike anything he will have been seen beforeIAN LADYMAN: If I needed a new heart, I'd want Harry Maguire's! Listen to the It's All Kicking Off podcast

However the Crystal Palace manager situation resolves itself, I am sure Roy Hodgson would not wish it to end like this.

I had been speaking to Roy earlier this week and I said to him ‘I don’t know where you get your energy from’ but it was clear from his passion and enthusiasm, he loves every part of being a football manager.

His appetite for the job is incredible because being a manager has never been harder.

When you factor in what comes with players of today, the independence that money brings them makes very average footballers difficult to deal with. Top players you barely have to speak to but, with others, the demands are something else. Throw in social media on top and it makes it super difficult. Dissenting voices are given platforms everywhere; people with no idea giving opinions on how things should be run.

Also owners and chairmen are a different breed to what they used to be. Some of the people running top clubs in this country I wouldn’t leave in charge of a corner shop!

Roy Hodgson had already been linked with the sack before he fell ill during a Crystal Palace training session – with the Eagles manager expected to leave the club

Eintracht Frankfurt coach Oliver Glasner is the favourite to take over but he would face a level of intensity at the Premier League club like he has never faced before in his career

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But when I chatted with Roy he was still buoyant and full of confidence about the fight ahead.

The trouble for Palace is it’s a public relations exercise for them now. They have obviously lined up Oliver Glasner as their new manager but the fact Roy has ended up in hospital makes how they announce this change very delicate.

There has been talk about the threat of relegation for a few weeks now and Roy would have known something was afoot.

You get a feel when you are a manager that a change is coming, the relationships change. Conversations are different, people in power don’t always answer your phone calls.

For me, Palace could have spared this scenario by bringing in a young coach alongside Roy when he returned last year.

He had saved them from relegation, steadied the ship and was rightly rewarded with a new contract but then, with him at 76, the sensible thing to do was appoint an understudy. That would have taken all this traction out of the situation.

Should Glasner come in now, it is on a wing and a prayer. How long will it take him to fully understand the demands of the Premier League?

Palace have suffered enormously with injuries to such key players as Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise, plus the loss of Wilfried Zaha who was such a huge influence. They are lacking confidence and worrying where the next win will come from.

Palace have suffered this season with injuries to key players Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise

Hodgson was still buoyant and full of confidence about the fight ahead when speaking to Souness this week

There’s a lot for a new manager to contend with. He has to immediately work out what he has and doesn’t have in the dressing room and it is imperative he has someone alongside him with an understanding of the Premier League and the unique challenges that will come their way every time they play.

No matter what experience Glasner has previously with Wolfsburg or Frankfurt, the basic fact is the intensity he faces on a weekly basis will be unlike anything he has ever faced before.

ASHWORTH APPOINTMENT WILL DECIDE HOW UNITED DO UNDER NEW REGIME 

Eddie Howe says he wants a quick resolution to Manchester United’s pursuit of Dan Ashworth because he knows Newcastle’s ‘secrets’.

I am presuming ‘secrets’ refers to the players that are on their radar.

It is clear Ashworth is well regarded in the game following his time with West Brom, the FA and Brighton – and we will soon find out just how good he is.

This appointment will decide how Manchester United do under the new regime. It is imperative United get recruitment right and everything he does will be scrutinised.

UEFA put out a statistic saying that, the last financial year and Chelsea’s spending not withstanding, United have the most costly assembled squad in history, worth £1.2billion. Tell me, if there was a fire sale tomorrow, what price would you get for any of those players?

Ashworth is well regarded in the game following his time with West Brom, the FA and Brighton – and we will soon find out just how good he is

Recruitment has not been right at the club since Alex Ferguson and David Gill departed. They were replaced by Ed Woodward who was responsible for all the big football decisions and was not equipped to do so. It would appear they went down the road of making signings based on their social media following rather than their qualities as a footballer.

United also want Jason Wilcox from Southampton as part of a new-look team. They are going for football people with good track records but those people must now be prepared for every decision they make to be scrutinised like never before in their lives. That’s the price on the ticket at Manchester United.

BAYERN HAVE A BIGGER ISSUE THAN KANE 

Harry Kane has faced criticism this week from German media as he discovers the expectation levels of playing for a big club like Bayern Munich.

It’s still nothing compared to the flak his manager Thomas Tuchel is enduring but at least Tuchel would have known what to expect before the ink was dry on his contract.

Kane is world class and I’d like to think the 28 goals he scored for them this season leaves him with at least some credit in the bank.

For me, there’s a bigger issue. Bayern have fantastic firepower and flair in attack with Jamal Musiala, Leroy Sane and Serge Gnabry but are very average elsewhere in the team. Harry has joined one of the weakest Bayern squads in recent memory.

Harry Kane has faced a lot of criticism but Bayern Munich have fantastic firepower in attack – but are average across the rest of the team

In the past, I could easily reel off six or seven top German players but I’d struggle now and I think that’s the issue; the Bundesliga has never been so weak.

I could say the same for top players from Spain and Italy. That’s why I believe Harry and his England team should be firm favourites for the Euros this summer. The Premier League and the quality of England’s players abroad like Kane and Jude Bellingham are far superior.

I firmly believe if England had been more aggressive and pro-active against France at the last World Cup they would have won it. I’d like to think Harry and every England player should be taking a look around and feeling that right now is their time.

STANDOUT BRITS WHO HAVE PLAYED ABROAD 

A hot topic this week has been the selection of the best British players to have played abroad. Obviously I can’t pick myself on that list but there’s a few that stand out for me:

JOHN CHARLES

I never saw him play but the staff at Liverpool when I was a player there always told me how great he was and that whether he played centre-back, centre midfield or centre forward, he would be the best player on the pitch. Il Gigante Buono, the Gentle Giant, scored 108 goals in 155 games for Juventus, that’s some record.

John Charles scored an incredible 108 goals in 155 games during his time at Juventus

LIAM BRADY

You don’t play for Juventus, Sampdoria and Inter Milan without being a talented player and Liam was certainly that.

He played for Ascoli too, who weren’t a great side, but his longevity in Italy, spending seven years there, spoke volumes for how he was revered

KEVIN KEEGAN

A European Footballer of the Year, Kevin would embarrass teammates with his work ethic and never-say-die attitude.

He was a standard bearer for English footballers and worked incredibly at making the best of his talent.

Liam Brady (left) had a successful run in Italy while Kevin Keegan (right) was European Footballer of the Year

GARETH BALE

One of the most talented footballers I’ve ever seen. It’s just a shame that he didn’t have Keegan’s attitude because if he did he would still be at Real Madrid today winning trophies.

Gareth Bale had incredible talent but would still be at Real Madrid if he had Keegan’s attitude

Jimmy Greaves didn’t view his time in AC Milan as a success but scored nine goals in ten games

JIMMY GREAVES

I know even Jimmy didn’t view his time at Milan as a success, he was homesick and couldn’t wait to get back, but he still scored nine goals in ten games at a time when Italian defences were the toughest around and Milan went on to win the league.

As a young professional at Tottenham, I witnessed him playing and he was the best goalscorer ever to grace these shores. An absolute wizard.