Fulham FC - The Recent Past and the Immediate Future - Part 1

By Nishant Joshi

Those of you who have followed my articles for the past two years will probably find it no surprise when I declare myself as an ardent Fulham fan. As arguably the 'smallest' club in the Premiership, with attendances of just under 20,000, it is easy to pigeonhole Fulham as a club simply looking to stay afloat. Sharing the same SW6 postcode as Chelsea, Fulham are easily forgotten as 'dead weight' in the Premiership. An unspectacular, occasionally plucky side, with no star players and no reason at all to pay particular attention to their results.

From a betting perspective, this is fabulous for us. As a devotee of betting for value, it's quite easy to see how Fulham are almost seen as a 'nothing' club by the bookies. With lesser interest and lesser amounts traded in Fulham games, there is often scope for a huge edge.

Firstly, for some context, let's rewind a couple of years. Lawrie Sanchez was sacked as Fulham manager late in 2007. Fulham were left near the bottom of the league, and his trio of Northern Ireland players in David Healy, Aaaron Hughes and Chris Baird were unmitigated flops. With few managers in the frame to take over such an unglamorous job, for a team likely to be playing in the Championship the next season, former player John Collins was favourite for the job. Chairman Mohammed Al Fayed acted fairly swiftly, but out of the blue, Roy Hodgson was appointed at the helm.

Many of us younger fans raised an eyebrow. I have previously mentioned how Hodgson seemed like the chubby grandpa you'd want to hug; aka the bloke from the Werthers' Original adverts, who would sit you on his lap and regale you with stories of how "When I was young..." With his chubby, puffy

A shining example to his fellow professionals Roy Hodgson

cheeks, I'm sure he could have moonlighted as Al Fayed's Santa Claus, in his famous Harrods Christmas grotto.

A thoroughly nice OAP, granted. Somebody you would immerse yourself in daily banter if you were delivering him Meals on Wheels. But not the kind of man who would be able to save us from almost inevitable relegation. After reading up more on Hodgson, I actually realised that he was as well qualified a man we could ever wish for. Although he led Blackburn to relegation in 1997-98, he had since travelled as a somewhat nomadic manager in the smaller European countries - managing some of Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway's biggest clubs, achieving a huge amount of success. In addition, he managed the Swiss, Finnish and UAE national sides. All the while, he maintained relations with Inter Milan, managing them for two seasons in the 90's. As it turned out, he turned down a plum ambassadorial job with Inter in order to take on the Fulham role.

So, maybe it wasn't so bad after all. Rejecting a cushy job with Inter at his age clearly showed a resolute determination to prove himself in the Premier League, and gain some form of atonement for his spell at Blackburn, for which he still feels hard done by. Also, I began to have fleeting memories of the name 'Roy Hodgson', who might have appeared in my Merlin Premier League sticker book at some time nearly fifteen years ago.

Hodgson settled into the job, proving in interviews that he was unlike any other manager in the Premiership. Here was a man so dignified that he never once complained about poor refereeing decisions - a bane of Fulham's in his maiden season. He never seemed the type to raise his voice or make excuses. He was frank yet diplomatic in his interviews, and provided a refreshing change to the incessant 'blame game' tactics so disgracefully abused by the likes of Mourinho and Allardyce. He was a shining example to his fellow professionals, even the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, who at a similar age must surely be quite bashful when watching Hodgson in action.

Fulham's results started to improve slowly, but not by much. Their home form was just about keeping them in the game, while their wretched away form was nothing new. Performances gradually improved and there was a hint of growing team solidarity. Overall, Fulham were actually playing decent football, but were letting themselves down terribly in the last 10 minutes of the game. In 2007/08, in terms of results until the 80th minute of games, Fulham would have been in the top half of the table - and comfortably at that. The reality was that as a result of losing focus towards the end of games, they would concede late, late goals and drop precious points.

The return of one player in particular was absolutely essential to Fulham's survival. Jimmy Bullard was stretchered off at St James' Park the season before, suffering an horrific knee injury. Bullard is a lively character, with his many YouTube clips testament to his boyish charm and fun-loving nature. He is a hard worker on and off the field, but crucially he was the glue to the Fulham dressing room. Having such an affable character in your ranks is sure to help lift spirits in dire times, and it helped that he could back it up on the pitch as well, where most play was directed through Bullard. His skill and vision was such that he received an England call-up, although he remained a non-playing substitute.

The turning point in Fulham's season came courtesy of Bullard himself. It was a Sunday afternoon match at Craven Cottage, playing Aston Villa. With the score at 1-1 and Villa pressing forward, Fulham fans were calling for the whistle from the 80th minute, anxious not to concede another heart-breaking late goal. However, they were to receive a lucky break, winning a free kick in prime position. After a long conference with best pal Danny Murphy, it was decided that Bullard should take it.

He stepped up, struck it sweetly and curled it beautifully into the top left corner. Craven Cottage exalted as new hope was being brought to a seemingly lost cause, after having conceded a third minute own goal, typical of a season where fortune was cruel to them.

However, as it turned out, despite improving results, they found themselves deep in the relegation zone with three games to go. They needed three wins on the trot even have a mathematical chance of staying up, with games against Manchester City (a), Birmingham (h) and Portsmouth (a). A tough fixture list, with Fulham toothless on the road. By this point, even the most optimistic of fans were expecting relegation.

It proved almost inevitable, as Manchester City raced into a two-goal lead in the first half. Roy Hodgson looked a sombre, beaten man on the Fulham bench. At this point, Fulham were trading at prices of up to 699/1 on Betfair, while Manchester City were being traded at odds of 1.02 to win the game in question. In the relegation markets, Fulham joined Derby and were being backed heavily at 1.01...

Join us tomorrow for Part 2!

Nishant Joshi