Natural Born Leader

Fulham Manager Roy Hodgson has earmarked central defender Brede Hangeland as a potential future Fulham captain.

The commanding centre back has been in impressive form since his transfer to Fulham and with Hodgson having previously handed Hangeland the armband during their time together at Viking FK – history could be in line to repeat itself in the not too distant future.

“It would depend on who else is playing in the team and where he is in terms of experience vis-à-vis the others,” Hodgson said. “He’ll captain the Norwegian team certainly within the near future – whether he captains our team in the near future depends on what other players are around.

“When we have Brian McBride there’s no way he’s going to wrest the armband from Brian who is a senior player and has been at the Club a long time.

“I think he’s outstanding,” added Hodgson when asked about Hangeland’s impact. “He has the capacity to be one of the better centre backs in the league. Since he’s come to us he’s been very important because of his quality. When I say quality, I mean quality defensively and offensively. He’s a key figure in the team every week.”

Hangeland is also a fine ambassador for Fulham off the pitch and Hodgson is delighted to have such a character within his ranks. When questioned as to whether being a gentleman could limit his progress on the field, Hogson reeled off the names of some all-time greats to underline his view.

“You can’t be too much of a gentleman. Bobby Moore was a gentleman and he lifted the World Cup for England on the only occasion we won it. Bobby Charlton, who was knighted for his services to football, is a gentleman. And our own Johnny Haynes was a gentleman so bring on the gentlemen of the game if they’ve got that quality.”