Source: Daily_Mail
Forget unearthing the next Smalling, Fulham must spend big, urges Hodgson
Roy Hodgson has revealed he wants Fulham owner Mohamed Al Fayed to fund a summer spending spree that will allow the Craven Cottage club to keep playing European football.[LNB]Hodgson believes his academy may have unearthed another two gems in Wayne Brown and Robert Milsom to go along with Chris Smalling, the defender who has agreed to join Manchester United in a £12million summer deal.[LNB]Both Brown, 21, and fellow midfielder Milsom, 23, have earned rave reviews during loan spells away from West London, but as the duo are still completing their football education and are not yet ready to become first-team regulars in the Premier League, the Fulham manager wants to reinforce his injury-hit and paper-thin squad.[LNB] Quite a find: Fulham defender Chris Smalling (right) will net the club around £12m[LNB]The list of those currently on the sidelines includes Kagisho Dikgacoi, John Pantsil, Paul Konchesky, Clint Dempsey and Andy Johnson, while Bobby Zamora and Simon Davies are due to return in tonight's match with Burnley after spells out. [LNB] And with so many on the treatment table, Hodgson admits new players are needed if the club wants to repeats their heroics of the previous year and a half in both the Premier League and European competition.[LNB]Hodgson said: 'Brown is now doing well on loan at Bristol Rovers and we like Milsom very much. We think they've got a chance to be players. [LNB]A lot to think about: Fulham's Roy Hodgson[LNB]'But we are fully aware that if we are to do as well as we have done in the last year and a half then we will need some help in the summer. [LNB]'That will probably mean we will be seeking some quality additions as we've run the squad right down. We have between now and the summer to identify targets and persuade the chairman that all the support he has given in the past isn't yet finished and he has to keep going. [LNB]'A lot of the money that I have spent in my couple of years here has actually been recouped, in part by the sale of Smalling. [LNB]'That hasn't helped the chairman, because all the money he has put in in the past hasn't been. [LNB]'However, I'm still asking him to put money onto money.'[LNB] Laws backs Hodgson as the man to succeed Capello as England managerFULHAM v Burnley: Striker Bobby Zamora fighting fit for CottagersFrom non-league to big league: the stars that began in amateur footballFULHAM FC
