Fulham’s tiring nine month, 18 game European campaign has seen them qualify for the Europa League final, beating along the way the likes of Wolfsburg, current holders Shakhtar Donetsk, CSKA Sofia and, lest we forget, Italian giants Juventus and Roma. Sporting Fare (and every other media organisation and commentator) puts this remarkable achievement down to one man – Roy Hodgson. And rightly so.
What is it about this nice, genial and intelligent Englishman that has rejuvenated, galvanised and propelled a small club like Fulham from relegation fodder at home to potential European trophy winners?
Hodgson was an ultimately unsuccessful player. He began his career with Crystal Palace but could not break into the first team. He slipped into non-league football where he remained until being made assistant manager at Maidstone United.
In 1976 – at the age of just 29 – he joined Swedish side Halmstad as their manager, guiding them to two Swedish titles in a five year spell. Halmstad had previously been considered relegation certainties and this success remains one of the biggest shocks in Swedish football history.
Perhaps even more remarkably, he achieved the success and was dubbed “the nicest man in the world” at the same time. A feat not many successful managers can pull off.
A move back to England with Bristol City as assistant manager and manager proved largely unsuccessful so he returned to Sweden, first with Orebro then Malmo. It’s at Malmo where Hodgson really began to earn a reputation as one of the best coaches in Europe. Five league championships, two Swedish championships and two Swedish Cups in just five years, with the highlight during that time knocking Italian champions Inter Milan pout of the Champions League.
Hodgson was successfully cutting his managerial teeth in one of Europe’s smaller leagues but he was being noticed right across the continent. His ability to mould clubs on a limited budget into competitive teams was turning heads.
Ever a student of the game and of coaching in general, Hodgson was constantly learning and it is that hunger for knowledge that has earned him huge respect in Europe, if less so back home in England. That is now, of course, changing.
A brief spell with Neuchatel Xamax, during which he beat Celtic and Real Madrid in European competition, was followed by his appointment as Switzerland’s national coach. The Swedes were sorry to lose him, such was his impact on their game.
He took Switzerland to the 1994 World Cup where they reached the second round, taking four points off eventual finalists Italy along the way. Qualification for Euro 96 was a formality for the Swiss under Hodgson (they were ranked, according to Fifa, as the third best side in the world at their peak), but he left immediately after they qualified to manage Inter Milan.
He took over at the San Siro in October 1995 and saved Inter from a nightmare start to the season to eventually finish 7th that season. The following season they finished third and reached the Uefa Cup final. Hodgson quit the club to join Blackburn Rovers but the side he built won the Uefa Cup in 1998 and finished second in Serie A.
Moving to Blackburn was a disaster. Despite finishing sixth in his first season and qualifying for the Uefa Cup, the following season led to relegation, though Hodgson was sacked in the December after a poor start. He returned to Inter as caretaker manager briefly, before taking over at Grasshoppers in Switzerland and then Copenhagen in Denmark. Success returned here as he won Superliga.
Back to Italy with Udinese where he started well but was sacked for alleged comments about regretting taking the role. What followed was a bizarre, but we’re sure useful, globetrotting time, taking in the United Arab Emirates national side and clubs in Norway and Finland. Fond of Scandinavia is our Roy!
At the end of 2007 a struggling Fulham came knocking. The appointment was a surprise. Nobody had heard of Hodgson since he left Blackburn in England and his reputation was not as good at home as on the continent. That’s something of an understatement actually…
Zoltan Gera sends Fulham into the Europe League final
Nevertheless, Mohammed Al-Fayed, Fulham’s chairman, took the chance and, despite a poor start, Hodgson kept the Cottagers in the Premier League. The following season he got the club to seventh, qualifying for the Europa League and here we are now, with Fulham on the brink of capturing Europe’s second best trophy.
The praise is now raining down on Roy Hodgson from all quarters; his players, his chairman, the press and the rest of the English footballing fraternity. The dark days of Blackburn Rovers are forgotten and his achievements elsewhere just now being discovered by the less knowledgeable.
Can Fulham overcome Atletico Madrid, conquerors of giants Liverpool in the other semi final, and lift the Uefa Cup (let’s give it its proper name, eh)? Based on their route to the final you’d have to give them every chance. The fact that it’s not a two-legged affair and away goals won’t count might be an issue – it took one or the other to get past Hamburg, Juventus and Roma.
But Hodgson will prepare meticulously and his players will be in no doubt that there are no second chances on May 12. It’s all or nothing for Fulham and after such a long campaign, which will run to 63 games in all competitions, you can bet they’ll be up for it.
Sporting Fare wishes them luck. They deserve to win this trophy. One last push should see them do it. Either way, there can be no doubting the talents of Roy Hodgson anymore. He is a top, top manager and a nice guy to boot.
Are you a Fulham fan? What do you think of your manager? Even if you’re not, is Hodgson a managerial legend? Give us your thoughts in the comments.
