Fulham's Roy says no way to Norway

ROY HODGSON is poised to turn down the chance to take charge of Norway and stay at Fulham for the rest of his career.

00:00, Sat, Jan 10, 2009

HODGSON Highly rated in Norway HODGSON: Highly rated in Norway

Cottagers boss Hodgson has been targeted by the Norwegian FA as a possible replacement for departed boss Aafe Hareide, who quit last month after poor results.

Hodgson has been placed on a shortlist that also includes former Chelsea manager

Avram Grant, and a delegation of officials from Scandinavia flew to London last week in the hope of opening talks.

Hodgson, 61, is rated highly in Norway after a spell in charge of club side Viking, and also boasts Norwegian as one of his five languages.

Norway bosses are prepared to offer him £1million a year to take charge of the national side but Hodgson – who earned a £1m bonus last season simply for keeping Fulham in the Premier League – currently earns significantly more than that.

It’s a job that could interest me if I was free to take it, but I’m contracted to Fulham
Roy Hodgson

Now Hodgson, who has 18 months to run on his current contract, has confirmed he hopes to stay in west London for the rest of his career.

He said: “Nobody has been in contact with me from Norway. It’s a job that could interest me if I was free to take it, but I’m contracted to Fulham.

“Fulham have treated me very well and I have never entertained thoughts of breaking my contract with them. I fully intend to stay with Fulham and hopefully they will be as happy with me as I am with them.

“I once made the mistake of breaking a contract with a very good club, FC Copenhagen, to go to Italy and I would like to say that I wouldn’t do so again.

“I can envisage staying here for the rest of my career, it is a good job which I enjoy. But to be honest, I don’t think about the long-term too much.”

Hodgson’s stock has risen this season after leading Fulham into the top half of the table, having pulled off notable results against Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea.

Fulham could extend their unbeaten run to a club-record 10 Premier League games against Blackburn today, but Hodgson is still refusing to consider a possible European charge.

He added: “Records are always nice, of course, but they are there to be broken. I’m not thinking about Europe. I’m still thinking about survival first.”