Greening excited for Hughes era

03 August 2010 12:09
Fulham midfielder Jonathan Greening hopes the appointment of Mark Hughes will herald a new successful era at Craven Cottage.[LNB] Previous manager Roy Hodgson masterminded an incredible transformation of the west London club, taking them from relegation candidates to Europa League finalists during his two-and-a-half-year spell at the club.[LNB]The Cottagers squad met their new boss, Hughes, before losing 1-0 to Portsmouth in their penultimate pre-season friendly on Saturday and Greening was impressed.[LNB]"We met the gaffer about an hour and a half before the game, he said hello to us all," he told the club's official website.[LNB]"The boys are really looking forward to a new start. We knew that he was coming to watch the game but we didn't expect to meet him before the game - so it was nice that he popped in.[LNB]"Mark Hughes was a great player and is a great manager so everyone will be looking up to him.[LNB]"(Fulham midfielder) Simon Davies worked with him at Wales and he told us what a good manager he is and how he enjoyed his training sessions. It's a fresh start."[LNB]Following Hodgson's departure to Liverpool at the start of July, Fulham were left without a manager for the majority of their pre-season programme and also failed in their efforts to appoint Ajax boss Martin Jol.[LNB]Saturday's home friendly with Werder Bremen will be Hughes' only match in charge before the season begins at Bolton on August 14.[LNB]Greening is confident that Hughes will inherit a focused squad from temporary manager Ray Lewington, who the Welshman is expected to keep among his backroom staff at Craven Cottage.[LNB]"Ray Lewington and (reserve team manager) Billy McKinlay have done a great job with us, we had some great training sessions and the team's really focused," said the midfielder.[LNB]"The squad is terrific, we've got a great team spirit and that's why we did so well last season. The main thing is the Gaffer has a good squad to work with."[LNB]

Source: Team_Talk