Source: Daily_Mail
West Ham at war with Roy Hodgson: Legal threat over Fulham playing reserves
West Ham are planning to lodge a complaint against Fulham after Roy Hodgson made six changes and lost 2-0 against Hull City on Saturday.The win gave Hull a Premier League lifeline as they moved level on points with West Ham with a game in hand.Gianfranco Zola's side only stayed out of the bottom three on goal difference after suffering a sixth consecutive defeat against Stoke City.A West Ham source said: 'Roy Hodgson admitted on TV that he rested players because he had an important Europa League match coming up. He admitted fielding a weakened team. From our point of view that is awful and we are going to put in a complaint.' Fighting back: Fulham boss Hodgson says he rested key players in the 2-0 loss at Hull to avoid them having to play five games in 12 daysThe manner of Fulham's defeat fueled the bad blood that already exists between the London clubs.Fulham are suing West Ham for around £500,000 the loss of their league position bonus in 2006-07 after Carlos Tevez's goals helped keep the Hammers up and finish a place above Fulham in the Premier League.West Ham were fined £5.5million in April 2007 by the Premier League for breaking rules over third-party agreements when they brought Tevez and midfielder Javier Mascherano to the club, but were not deducted points.A West Ham source said: 'Fulham are suing West Ham for half a million quid. They may find West Ham suing them for £50m next season.'Premier League regulations state that clubs must field full-strength sides in every match. But Hammers themselves rested Scott Parker and Carlton Cole in losing at Arsenal last month. Wolves have already fallen foul of these rules this season and were given a £25,000 suspended fine after manager Mick McCarthy made 10 changes for a league match against Manchester United.But Hodgson was unrepentant yesterday. The Fulham boss left out regulars such as Damien Duff, Danny Murphy, Dickson Etuhu, Aaron Hughes and Bobby Zamora, whose preparation had been hampered by a stomach bug, for the match at the KC Stadium in anticipation of the first leg of his side's Europa League quarter-final against VfL Wolfsburg tonight. Spot of bother: Jimmy Bullard's penalty gives Hull the leadHe said: 'We have no case to answer. I made the decision to rest four or five players knowing full well I had the right to do that with the quality of players at my disposal. That meant that Murphy, Etuhu, Duff and Zamora (right) didn't play five games in 12 days.'Hodgson spent the early part of Fulham's European campaign insistingPremier League survival was the club's priority. But now his attitudehas clearly changed.Sitting in mid-table, 11 points abovethe relegation zone, the Fulham boss can afford to prioritise a cupcompetition. 'We're entitled to focus more on the Europa League,' hesaid. 'Our performances haven't been worthy of any criticism, butthere's no doubt that we've made a conscious decision that the cupcompetition will be more of a priority than the league because we'rerelatively safe.'We looked at it and said we could still beOK, even if we lost every game in the league and the teams below us gotmore than they'd been getting. we can put the cup matches in the 'shopwindow'.'But, for the teams for whom relegation is still a pressing threat, Fulham's Europa League run could have a real impact on the final league table.Fulham play relegation strugglers Wigan on Sunday, and, should they beat Wolfsburg, a two-leg semi-final against Hamburg or Standard Liege would have to be squeezed in between matches against Wolves, Everton and West Ham, who play their final away game at Craven Cottage.In Fulham's defence, tonight's match will be their 52nd of the season and their 15th in a European campaign that is entering its 10th month.Hodgson said: 'This period I've experienced at Fulham, the number of games, has never happened to me in my life. We've played every three days for three months.'When I reached the UEFA Cup final with Inter Milan we played 12 games back in 1997, but the ties against Wolfsburg are our 15th and 16th game in this competition. 'That shows you what we've achieved.' Hull 2 City Fulham 0: Manager Iain Dowie's belief works in his defenceSmalling getting bloopers out of the way before joining Manchester UnitedFULHAM FC