Fulham Boss Roy Hodgson Needs Crowning

Forget Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, Fulham manager Roy Hodgson should be named Manager of the Year.

Fergie looks all set to add more silverware to the Old Trafford trophy cabinet—aided by a multi-million budget—but Hodgson’s assembled a top-10 Premier League outfit on peanuts.

The 61-year-old London-born tactician has been inspirational since his arrival at Craven Cottage in December 2007.

Hodgson somehow managed to keep the doomed Cottagers in the top flight last season as they won their last three games to fend off the threat of relegation to the Championship and this season they have gone from strength to strength.

The Cottagers sit in ninth place and are targeting a seventh-placed finish which would mean a place in the Europa League next season.

With three games remaining Fulham look well placed to surpass their highest ever league position—ninth in the Premier League in 2004 under Chris Coleman.

The former Swiss national team boss also has an eye for a player and the signing of centre-back Brede Hangeland in January 2008 from Copenhagen for a bargain £2.5million was a masterstroke.

The Norway international is now rated in £10million-plus bracket and the London club will do well to keep hold of the 27-year-old in the summer.

Hodgson was also shrewd in his decision to offload talisman Jimmy Bullard to Hull for £5million. The 30-year-old midfielder was after a lucrative long-term deal at the Cottage, but Hodgson decided to allow the injury-prone star to leave and he’s been proved correct as the player picked up another long-term knee problem in his first game for the Tigers.

And all the credit has to go to Hodgson, who has developed a well-drilled, competitive footballing side on a limited budget.