Hodgson should have left last summer, that would have been a perfect curtain call
It's been seven and a half years since an FA suit called Martin Glenn sat next to Roy Hodgson and awkwardly declared: “Iceland will not be your epitaph.”
That was the day after Hodgson quit his England job – the most high-profile of his 22 managerial appointments – in the wake of Iceland's humiliation at the 2016 European Championship.
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But his words were not appreciated by Hodgson, a fiercely proud man and one of the most respected coaches in world football.
Hodgson had won titles in Scandinavia, managed Inter Milan, led Switzerland to third in the world rankings and was named LMA Manager of the Year after guiding Fulham to a European final.
In 2016, when he was almost 69, he had no doubt that he would succeed again.
Glenn, a former fishfinger salesman, has fallen back into obscurity since his stint as CEO of the FA.
But Hodgson has spent most of the intervening time as a manager in the Premier League, with three largely successful spells at Crystal Palace and one failed attempt to save Watford from relegation.
At the age of 76, Hodgson's 48-year managerial career could now be over.
His collapse yesterday at Palace's training ground in Beckenham was primarily a worrying turn on a human level, even though he was described as 'stable' in hospital last night.
It was also particularly terrible timing for Palace, who are believed to have reached an agreement with former Eintracht Frankfurt boss Oliver Glasner to succeed Hodgson.
The club have been widely accused of treating this grand old statesman shabbily – allowing him to limp along while a new manager was ready, just because his health failed him.
Such statements gained more credibility a fortnight ago, after the fuss over Michael Olise being sent on as a substitute when Palace were down 3-0 against arch-rivals Brighton, only to suffer another hamstring injury.
Hodgson's comments that he had followed the advice of Palace's medical department were not well received internally.
But the idea that Palace have somehow taken advantage of Hodgson is a simplistic view and patronizing to the man himself.
Sources close to Hodgson said last week that he was surprised he was still in a job and was fully aware that Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish and the club's ownership group had been looking for a successor for some time.
Yet potential candidates including former Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper, ex-Wolves chief Julen Lopetegui and current Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna were all reluctant to take the job now.
Especially as Palace have injured some of their best players and are still in danger of relegation after three wins from 19.
Just five points separate them from the drop zone, with Everton and Burnley next.
But Hodgson is old-fashioned enough to respect a contract, committed enough to work until told otherwise. He has a sense of duty.
He also remains a hands-on coach, happiest on the training pitch, coaching men young enough to be his grandsons to remain in two defensive banks of four.
Despite this age difference, the vast majority of those who have played under him in recent years like and respect the man.
And on top of that, Hodgson earns £3 million for his year at Palace – no matter how much you've saved, that's a nice amount to walk away from.
Those who know Hodgson well will tell you that he has dismissed well-intentioned suggestions that he may be too old to handle the stress of managing at the highest level, even after falling ill and being unable to dugout on a trip to Aston Villa in September.
No pipes and slippers man
Despite his well-earned reputation as a highbrow intellectual, Hodgson is more than capable of meeting conversations about his advancing years by swearing like a Tilbury docker.
He's not a pipe-and-slipper kind of guy, especially since he stopped smoking cigars several years ago on medical advice.
Yet, as an aide recently told me, Hodgson is five years younger than Joe Biden – the leader of the free world with his finger on the nuclear button.
In contrast, Hodgson instructing Jeffrey Schlupp on how to cross a football is not a heavy responsibility.
Like anyone who has survived in football for so long, Hodgson has an ego and is quick to list his CV.
When he was manager at Fulham, he was once asked if he had ever had a better left-back than Paul Konchesky.
He replied: “Well, I had a guy at Internazionale called Roberto Carlos.”
Croydon-born Hodgson is a contradictory figure. On the one hand, a workaholic coach and a football addict, who couldn't say 'no' every time Palace came along.
Yet he is also rare among long-serving managers because he has a wide range of interests: an ever-curious traveler, an avid reader and a talented linguist, who knows better than most that there is much more to life than just football.
In retrospect, saying goodbye after an excellent short spell at Palace, his boyhood club, would have been a fitting farewell.
But football is not an ideal world.
And even for the smartest men, knowing the right time to call it quits is the hardest task of all.