When speaking to fans about their Fulham heroes of recent times, Zoltan Gera is a name which will crop up in most conversations.
The Hungarian etched himself into the history of our Club by turning up when we needed him most on our run to the Europa League Final, netting critical goals against CSKA Sofia, Basel, Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus and Hamburg.
But things hadn’t always gone swimmingly in SW6 for Zolly, who took time to settle following his free transfer from West Bromwich Albion.
“The first season was disappointing for me,” he admitted. “The style we played was defensive. At West Brom we played very attractive, attacking football, but at Fulham I needed to learn the movements.
“I felt in the first few games I wasn’t playing well but that the manager was still with me, still giving me chances. But I lost my confidence, my first touch wasn’t there, so it was only a matter of time until I was out of the team.
“To be honest, when Roy [Hodgson] first said to me, ‘for this game you are on the bench,’ I was relieved. I was a little bit happy because I knew I was not in good form, I was not in good shape, and I was feeling the pressure from the supporters, because you know when they are not happy with your performances.
“Clint Dempsey came into the team and he was flying, he was a very, very good player. I needed the first season to know the manager, his ideas, and also to settle in the team. Sometimes it doesn’t work immediately when you change club, but the second season was much, much better and I enjoyed myself on the pitch.
“And, of course, I played a different role in the team, I played just off the striker or to the left or right, and that was much better. I realised what the manager likes, what he wants from me, and it was much better.”
That role he filled so effectively up top became available due to an injury curse that continued to plague Andrew Johnson.
And while he would never wish ill on a teammate, Gera knew it was a chance he needed to grab with both hands.
“Sometimes you need luck in football, and I had this because Andy was injured,” he said. “Sometimes you get the chance and then have to take the opportunity, and I think I did that.
“I played as a striker in Hungary, and also for the national team a few times. A scout from Fulham saw me play in this role against Portugal. That scout told the manager that I’d played a good game as a second striker, so maybe that’s why they gave me the opportunity to play as a number 10.”
One of the reasons he was so successful playing up front was his telepathic understanding with Bobby Zamora; the big man to Zolly’s little man.
The two were devastating leading the line for the Whites, between them scoring 12 of our 21 goals en route to the Europa League Final.
“It was very easy to play with Bobby because he could hold up the ball very well, he was very strong physically, and also he was very good with the ball at his feet,” Zolly explained.
“We understood each other because we practised our attacking movements a lot on the training pitch. I realised what Bobby’s strengths were and when to give him the ball, for example the no-look pass for his goal away at Wolfsburg. I enjoyed playing with Bobby, sometimes you just get a partnership that works very well, and he was a really, really good player.
“It was a great time, not just because we had good games in the Europa League, we also we had a very good group of players. The players were amazing, we had a very good connection, quite often we’d go out to a restaurant and eat together. It was a very good group and I enjoyed that time.
“I think that was the best I achieved in my career, playing in the Europa League Final. I also played in the Euros with Hungary which was a big achievement for us because we hadn’t played in the Euros for more than 40 years. It’s difficult to say which is the bigger achievement. They’re both at the top. If we’d won the Final I think then of course that would be the biggest one.”
2009/10 will surely go down as Fulham’s greatest ever season, so to win the Player of the Year trophy at the end of the campaign was a special moment for Gera.
“That was an honour for me,” he said. “It was a great pleasure when the fans voted me as the best player for Fulham that season. But also, many, many players did amazing that year – Bobby Zamora, Mark Schwarzer, Danny Murphy, Clint Dempsey – so I was lucky to get this award. It was a surprise for me. I didn’t expect to be the best player in that year for Fulham.”
The Whites were victim of their own success that summer, with Roy Hodgson leaving to join Liverpool. He was replaced by Mark Hughes, who started Gera just 10 times in the Premier League.
With his three-year contract at an end, Gera made the decision to leave the Club at the conclusion of the 2010/11 campaign.
“I enjoyed my time at Fulham, I didn’t want to leave, but I felt I had to move because I wanted to play,” he explained. “Sometimes I was not even on the bench, so that was a very disappointing period in my life at Fulham. My family had settled, we enjoyed life off the field, so that was a disappointment. I was planning to be there for years, but sometimes a new coach comes in and doesn’t like your style.
“Of course we had very, very good players. I remember that year the Club signed Mousa Dembélé, he was an outstanding player, so I didn’t have many chances to play. Sometimes you have to decide whether you want to play or just sit on the bench. I wanted to play. For me it doesn’t matter if you have good wages but you’re not playing, I’m not interested in that. I wanted to play football because I love football.”
It was a shame for Gera that such a distinguished Fulham career ended on a sour note, as he picked up a straight red card for a foul on Arsenal’s Thomas Vermaelen, minutes after coming off the bench in the season finale.
“That was shocking,” Zolly confessed. “I was disappointed because I knew I had to leave the Club. I was disappointed because I felt the supporters liked me, I also liked them, so I was frustrated and my head was not clear. But of course I didn’t want to get the red card in that last game.
“I don’t know what happened in that moment. I just saw the red card coming out from the referee’s pocket. That was my first ever red card. I was very, very disappointed, not just because I got the red, but also because I broke my ankle in that tackle. When I walked off the pitch I started to feel it, and then after the game when we went around to wave to the fans I felt more pain in my ankle. In the end I couldn’t walk, so it was a very, very disappointing game; red card, broken ankle, and no contract! A nightmare.”
A player of Gera’s calibre was never going to be a free agent for long, and a return to West Brom was a perfect move considering the man who had recently been appointed at The Hawthorns.
“I remember when he signed for West Brom, I knew I’d be going back there, with Roy,” he recalled. “I don’t know why, but I just knew. It was a great relationship, he’s a very experienced manager. He’s also very intelligent, he’s a gentleman, so it was always a great experience to work with Roy.
“Before I signed for Fulham he had called me a few times, and I was sure that Roy Hodgson wants me. I had the chance to sign with other teams, but when he called me and spoke about the project and what my part in this Fulham team would be, of course I didn’t think twice. I just wanted to join Fulham, and I was very, very lucky to go there because I enjoyed every single minute at that club.”
