Soccer Coaching Drills

Under the superb guidance of Roy Hodgson, Fulham have reached the final of the 2010 Europa League defying the odds along the way. Italian giants Juventus and holders Shaktar Donetsk were just two of the teams Fulham beat during a memorable campaign.

 

As a player, Hodgson was on the books at Crystal Palace but never made a first team appearance. Hodgson started to make a name for himself when he moved into management. His early career in Sweden saw him win the Swedish title twice with Halmstads in 1976 and 1979.

 

From there, Hodgson moved to Switzerland with Neuchatel Xamax before taking over the Swiss national team who he guided to the 1994 World Cup Finals and the 1996 Euro Finals. For the next 2 season, Hodgson was the manager of the Italian giants Internazionale. In his final season as manager of Inter, they reached the 1997 UEFA Cup final before he headed to Blackburn Rovers. Things didn’t go to plan and Hodgson was sacked after 18 months.

 

For the next few years, Hodgson held a number of managerial positions but never really settled anywhere for long and in 2005, he took over the Finnish national team and took them tantalisingly close to the Euro 2008 finals.

 

At the end of 2007, Fulham offer Hodgson the managers job as at the time, they were struggling in the Premier League and needed a change of direction. Hodgson worked his magic as Fulham stayed up and the following season qualified for the UEFA Europa League by finishing 7th.

 

Fulham’s first season in Europe has been nothing short of spectacular. Fulham have met some tough opposition including Juventus and the German champions. Now all that stands in their way of glory is Athletico Madrid.

 

But what next for Roy Hodgson?  There is no doubt that his influence on Fulham will not have gone unnoticed. Although Hodgson has been linked with the England job, Fabio Capello is doing a fine job and isn’t going anywhere. Perhaps it is a bit more realistic to think that Hodgson could well take over the English national team after the Euro 2012 finals.

Tags: euro 2012, euro 2012 poland, roy hodgson, uefa euro 2012

This entry was posted on Monday, May 31st, 2010 at 7:52 am and is filed under Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.