Fulham close to landing ‘unwanted’ European prize

The joke currently doing the rounds among the clubs just outside the Premier League elite is that it is easier to get out of next season’s Europa League than into it.

The prospect of having to play a minimum of 19 matches to win the rebranded UEFA Cup is enough to deter most sides from making a concerted bid for qualification, but it appears almost inevitable that Fulham have drawn the short straw.

The west Londoners boast a two-point lead over their closest rivals, Tottenham, in seventh place and, thanks to their superior goal difference, need only a draw against Everton on Sunday to dust off their passports, although the chances are that they could lose to David Moyes’ team and still qualify.

Spurs, after all, travel to Liverpool, where Rafa Benitez’s side remain unbeaten this season.

Fulham boss Roy Hodgson’s enthusiasm for the Europa League is hardly overwhelming.

Hodgson boasts one of the smallest squads in the top flight and one of the major factors behind their success this season has been the lack of injuries to key players.

The extra physical demands placed on teams involved in European competition would represent a major test of Hodgson’s managerial skills and could also precipitate an overhaul of the club’s transfer policy.

Club owner Mohamed al Fayed has been relatively reluctant to spend significant sums in recent seasons, with Fulham’s net outlay of 10 million pounds from the previous two transfer windows placing them near the bottom of the table of Premier League’s spenders.

But that might have to change if Hodgson is to have a squad capable of competing on both domestic and European fronts, particularly if, as expected, Norwegian international Brede Hangeland is snapped up by one of the Premier League elite following his impressive displays at centre-half this term. His enthusiasm for Europe may be lukewarm, but Hodgson freely admits that leading Fulham there would rank with any of his achievements during a long and successful career in management.

“It would certainly be up there,” he said. “There have been a lot of good years for me but it is difficult to rank achievements. People like to say the best is yet to come.

“When I went to Blackburn we finished sixth and got into Europe. I remember running round the pitch at Ewood Park in front of 28,000 people but it didn’t help me the following season when we were at the bottom at Christmas and I got sacked.”

Everton’s participation in Europe next season is already rubber-stamped, not only through a guaranteed top-seven finish in the league, but also by reaching the FA Cup final, where they face Chelsea on May 30. Moyes is likely to have at least one eye on that date when it comes to naming his starting line-up at Craven Cottage, although in the long term the Scot’s attention is likely to be fixed on securing more of his players on long-term contracts to ensure his squad does not break up.

“I think stability is something we have had in recent years,” he said. “What we want to do is secure the people we already have at the club and then keep adding on top of that and I think we have been doing our business in a real good fashion over the last few years.

“We have to make sure we are continually building and the next bit is to get the finances to keep building on top. These players won’t go on forever and we need to keep replenishing behind and make sure we keep bringing in other players as well.”

LONDON, AFP