Polite and avuncular, Roy Hodgson appears to be more measured than many of his contemporaries, something of a throw-back in demeanor to the days of Sir Alf Ramsey and Ron Greenwood. However, he has an excellent record as a coach of some standing in Europe. Whilst has has never achieved prominent success at a major European club, he has won the league championship in two different countries, namely Sweden (which he won twice) and Denmark. His league record in Sweden was outstanding: he managed to finish first on five occasions and - but for the oddity of their play-off system at the time - would have six league championships to his name rather than three. As well as being a highly-regarded coach at club level, he is widely known for managing Switzerland to the 1994 world cup finals and losing only one game in a qualifying group that included Italy and Portugal. Switzerland managed to reach the last 16, eventually losing to Spain. Hodgson subsequently took Switzerland to their first ever European championship finals in 1996. His excellent record was noted by major club sides and Inter gave him his first high-profile management role. In his two years there, he managed to guide them to a European final and satisfactory performances in serie A before leaving to manage Blackburn Rovers after Kenny Dalglish's successful period at the club. Unfortunately, his second season at Blackburn started badly and he was sacked. Since then, he has drifted from job to job, before regaining his focus and form by taking over at Fulham and helping them to premiership survival. In his second season, he turned the relegation candidates into a force to be reckoned with, managing a surprising 7th place finish. His achievement at Fulham has been noted by fans and pundits alike as a return to form with some suggesting him as a possible future England manager and others linking him with a job at one of the 'big four' clubs.
British league champions: 0
Foreign league champions: 3
European Cup: 0
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