JORDAN Ayew said he gets “goosebumps” such is the respect he feels when he speaks about former Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson.
Hodgson, 76, stepped down on Monday with the Eagles appointing 49-year Oliver Glasner, whose first match in charge will be against Burnley at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
Hodgson signed Ayew from Swansea City first on a season-long loan in 2018-19 before a permanent deal the following summer.
Ayew scored against Everton on Monday night before Amadou Onana rescued a point for the hosts at Goodison Park.
“When we speak about Roy, I have goosebumps because he’s been so good to me,” Ayew said on Crystal Palace’s website. “He’s been a top manager, a top man. He’s helped me a lot, not only as a football player, but as a man as well, so I can’t thank him enough.
“The club has appointed a new manager, and we’ll see how it goes, but we’re relaxed about it as a squad, and we are still focused on our task. We’ll welcome the new manager, and hopefully things will go on well.”
Ayew’s goal was his first for Palace this year.
Ayew said: “In the warm-up, I scored maybe five in a row, so I had a good feeling today. Sometimes things go your way, sometimes they don’t go your way, but you still need to keep pushing, and that’s what I’ve been doing throughout my whole career.
“It comes sometimes. You try, try, try… it could have gone up, but this time it was successful.
“I thank God and I thank the team for the effort they put in. I don’t want to talk too much about my goal, but the most important thing for me is the team, and we’re happy to go home with a point.
“It’s always complicated to come here. You start off with a game that’s a bit complicated and direct, and you speed up to the challenge and you manage to get a goal, and they equalise on a set-piece.
“It’s just one where we had to get something out of the game, and we managed to get a point, so we’re happy and move on to the next one.”
