Hard to overstate Hodgson's achievements

EUROPA LEAGUE FINAL:Fulham have hardly looked back since the arrival of their present manager, writes JAMES MCDERMOTT

IN FOOTBALL, as in life, success is relative. Former Liverpool manager Bob Paisley once observed: “Mind you, I’ve been here during the bad time too. One year we came second.”

Things are slightly different at Fulham who since their founding in 1879 have never won a major honour and for whom a top-17 finish in the Premier League is usually sufficient to constitute a successful season. Indeed most years the only sporting occasion that has people descending upon Craven Cottage in their 10s of thousands is the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race for which the home stadium of Fulham acts as a notable landmark.

Now prior to this season I enjoyed a number of days at the Cottage that were memorable but rarely for the football. Particularly notable in this regard was a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa in 2008 during which I watched club mascot Billy the Badger being sent off for a little known offence of break dancing during play.

After the match the Sun published an article under the headline “Billy puts the Bad into Badger” in which a repentant Billy apologised to referee Chris Foy for his behaviour explaining that owing to his poor badger eyesight and hearing he had not realised the game had started, a failure of perception that appeared to be shared most weeks by a number of our players.

And then Roy Hodgson was appointed manager. It was Shakespeare who pointed out there is a tide to the fortunes of all men which if taken at the flood lead on to fortune. For Hodgson high tide came at the City of Manchester Stadium in April 2008. Although he had actually taken charge the previous December only three victories were secured in his first 15 league matches meaning that to have any hope of survival Fulham had to win their last three fixtures.

The first of these found Fulham 2-0 down at Manchester City with only 20 minutes remaining leaving Hodgson on the brink of suffering the first relegation of his 33-year managerial career only to see his side miraculously recover to scramble a 3-2 victory thanks to a Diomansy Kamara winner deep into injury-time. Subsequent victories over Birmingham City and Portsmouth were enough to keep Fulham up on goal difference.

After that Hodgson never looked back masterminding Fulham to seventh place in the Premier League in 2008-09 which as well as representing the clubs highest ever finish also meant European football had finally arrived at the Cottage.

It would be hard to overstate the achievement of Hodgson in leading his side to the final of the Europa League. For one thing before this season Fulham had never played in a major European competition. Secondly Fulham are notoriously bad travellers even within England let alone the continent, winning only seven out of 46 league fixtures away from home under Hodgson.

This season Fulham have only won once away from the Cottage giving them a worse away record than Portsmouth. And thirdly during the initial group stages Hodgson gave the impression of a man doing his level best to ensure his side would be knocked out of the competition by selecting weakened sides so as to keep key players rested for the league.

But having seen his side stumble into the knockout stages Hodgson managed to inspire his accidental tourists to victories over Uefa Cup holders Shakhtar Donetsk, German champions Wolfsburg, two-time European champions Juventus and Hamburg whose Nordbank Arena will host the final.

So what is the secret to Hodgson’s success? One crucial factor is his gift for alchemy in the transfer market. Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who arrived on a free transfer, has started 57 matches this season, more than any other Premier league player, despite regularly circumnavigating the globe to play a crucial role in Australia’s qualification for the World Cup.

Hungarian midfielder Zoltan Gera, who also arrived on a free transfer, has scored six times in Europe this season including two against Juventus and the winner in the semi-final victory over Hamburg.

Of those arrivals who actually commanded a fee Damien Duff has been truly outstanding since his arrival from the Newcastle madhouse for €4 million and club captain Brede Hangeland, who came from FC Copenhagen, has been so consistent in central defence, he is regularly linked with a move to Arsenal.

And then of course there is the mysterious case of Bobby Zamora who during Hodgson’s first full season in charge managed only five goals in 41 games with the away fans at the Cottage regularly baiting the striker by chanting, When you sit in Row Z and the ball hits your head, that’s Zamora (to the tune of That’s Amore).

Indeed so poor was Zamora’s form that last summer Hodgson agreed to sell him to Hull City for €5 million with the intention of replacing him with Kevin Doyle.

Yet this season Zamora has played like a man transformed plundering 19 goals and leading the attack so well he is under serious consideration for inclusion in Fabio Capello’s World Cup squad. His selling skills have also yielded handsome results.

However, Hodgson’s greatest gift to season ticket holders though is the attractive brand of football he prefers his team to play with short passes into feet being preferred to the more direct long ball tactics of a number of his predecessors. This is backed up by a truly remarkable team spirit that was perhaps best illustrated on an unforgettable March evening at Craven Cottage when Fulham recovered from being 4-1 down to eliminate Juventus.

Also deserving of credit is club chairman Mohamed Al Fayed. When he took over at Craven Cottage in the summer of 1997, Al Fayed was universally derided for boasting he would transform Fulham into the Manchester United of the south. However if the London club go on to defeat Atletico Madrid to lift the Europa League then reflecting on his own side’s woeful Champions League exit to Bayern Munich Alex Ferguson may well decide he could do worse than seeking to transform his Old Trafford side into the Fulham of the north.

James McDermott is a lecturer in the UCD School of Law and a long-time Fulham fan.