Fulham manager Roy Hodgson has told his club’s fans to get a sense of perspective after owner Mohamed al-Fayed was criticized for not spending big money in pursuit of success.
Hodgson has turned the Cottagers into a formidable force over the last two seasons despite spending only a relatively small amount of money in the transfer market.
The unheralded Premier League club have reached the knockout stages of the Europa League this season and will make the FA Cup quarter-finals if they defeat League Two team Notts County at home today.
While the majority of the club’s fans are grateful for the progress made under al-Fayed, the Harrods owner who took over Fulham in 1997, a small section want him to give Hodgson more financial support.
But Hodgson knows the dangers of living beyond a club’s means and cited Notts County, who were sold this week for £1 with debts of more than £1.5 million (US$2.35 million) and the threat of a winding-up order hanging over them.
County appointed former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson as director of football in the close-season backed by a mysterious group of investors.
Yet by December, investors Munto Finance had effectively pulled out their investment, leaving the club in danger of being declared bankrupt.
Eriksson resigned as County’s director of football following the club’s latest takeover.
“We were lucky, we had a sugar daddy, a man who was prepared to come in and put money into the club and help us,” Hodgson said. “But in recent years, certainly while I’ve been here, we’ve tried to run the club sensibly as a business.”
“We are greatly indebted to Mohamed Al Fayed for all the money he has put in and the support he has given us but occasionally now you see letters from fans saying he should invest more and throw more money in and I can’t believe the ingratitude,” he said.
“There we were a few years ago just about to go out of the Football League, here we are stable in the Premier League. I’d hate to see this club going the way some clubs have gone recently,” Hodgson said.
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