Hodgson seems 'quite pleased' as fantastic Fulham avoid the drop

Filed in archive Premiership 2007-08 on May 12, 2008

I don't think I have ever seen a man appear quite so 'under-whelmed' as Roy Hodgson seemed to be after master minding Fulham's great escape yesterday afternoon. In interview he was quick to sympathise with Birmingham's Alex McCleish and Reading's Steve Coppell who went down as a result of Fulham's remarkable performance.

Five games ago Fulham were dead and buried and doomed to Championship football. With just four wins in thirty-three games, nobody could reasonably argue with their almost certain fate. Then, remarkably, they manage to win four out of their last five games and complete an incredible survival act.

I wrote a piece back in February saying that I thought Fulham would survive. Just. I'm not being big-headed about my prediction but...OK, I am!

For a team who had won only one away game in a season and a half to finish the season with three away wins in a row is almost beyond belief. The players and Roy Hodgson deserve all the credit and praise that will be lavished upon them over the coming days.

I was so pleased for Jimmy Bullard who has come back from a career threatening injury with the same enthusiasm, good humour and ability that he has always shown before. I was also pleased for Danny Murphy, who scored the decisive goal. Murphy has been one of the most cultured midfield players in England over the last few years but has never quite managed to be a star man.

It was all so exciting and such a wonderful performance that I think that when on his own, in a quiet moment, with nobody watching, even Roy Hodgson might even have just about managed to allow himself a little smile.