Danny Murphy believes Roy Hodgson deserves to take much of the credit for Fulham's recent revival.
Midfielder piles praise on Hodgson
Danny Murphy believes manager Roy Hodgson deserves to take much of the credit for Fulham's recent revival.
The Cottagers secured their highest ever finish in the top-flight last season, with a seventh-placed standing seeing them qualify for the inaugural Europa League.
After years of battling bravely against the drop, the upturn in fortunes has come as a surprise to many.
Murphy, though, insists everyone connected with the Craven Cottage-based outfit knew the potential was there to become top-half challengers.
The experienced midfielder says Hodgson has generated a mentality geared towards success and claims the positive atmosphere has helped to bring the best out of the players.
"When you have a manager you respect and one who knows his football it's the two very best ingredients to get the best out of everyone," Murphy told
The Sun.
"He treats players with respect whether you are in the team or not. That goes a long way and I can tell you that is not common throughout management.
"I thought I'd be at Liverpool my entire career and, although I left on a good note, manager Gerard Houllier was making changes and told me I was not going to be first choice.
Egos
"I went to Tottenham because the chance of UEFA Champions League football was very realistic at the time but they failed on the last day at West Ham.
"Without that we had a big squad of talented international players and I didn't play the games I wanted to.
"Lots of big players, too many egos that were not being satisfied - and me being one of them.
"You can't have too much discontent in any team."
Murphy is enjoying feeling wanted at Fulham and believes that at 32-years-old he has plenty of football still ahead of him.
"My role has changed and I'm playing deeper," he added.
"As you get older you become more aware how to look after yourself - but there's life in the old dog yet."
