With Roy Hodgson appointed the new Fulham boss, many are pondering over whether or not he can keep the Cottagers playing in the Premier League.

Hodgson is one of the best English managers ever produced and has had great experience at interational and club level. He formed a new era in the Swiss national team when he took them to the 1994 World Cup and 1996 Euro, they hadn't qualified for a major tournament since the 60's.

He has managed clubs like Blackburn Rovers, FC Copenhagen and Inter Milan who are all established European sides. The 60 year-old has been in the business a long time and has managed a total of 11 clubs and 3 international sides. Fulham will however be only the third English team that he has ever managed after Bristol City and Blackburn Rovers.

Hodgson will surely have to look at the Fulham back-line at first. The central pairing of Stefanovic and Christanval/Bocanegra is very sturdy but hasn't much stamina. The Cottagers leak goals in the last 15 mins which has caused them to lose valuable points. They also tend to give teams too much space which they did twice to Tom Huddlestone at their peril in the 5-1 drubbing at Spurs. Full-backs such as Konchesky and Baird are pretty much the same as their centre backs. Hodgson will no doubt be wheeling and dealing in January and I think that he should start with a consistent centre-back.

Hodgson will then have to buy an out-and-out striker who can score at least 8 or 9 goals in the second half of the season. David Healy and co. are yet to hit top gear and either need serious prompting or just replacing. Diomansy Kamara has proved in his few appearances that he has the flair and guile and Hodgson will surely give him more chances than Sanchez did.

All in all if Hodgson can make the right deals in January and sort out Fulham's tactics, the Cottagers are sure fire to stay in the Premier League.