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Roy reveals Olly plan
Fulham, 15:15, February 10, 2009 ,
Roy Hodgson has promised to give Olivier Dacourt the games he needs to show Fulham fans his Serie A title-winning quality.
The Cottagers boss used his contacts at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium to lure the Frenchman back to the Premier League and believes Fulham were lucky to get him.
"People know him well from his time in England but since then he's had a very successful spell in Italy, first with Roma where he won the championship, and recently with Inter where he's won three successive championships," said Hodgson.
"He's been injured and that's why, to some extent, we were lucky enough to get him because during his injury Inter have taken in other players and he's not been able to break back into the team.
"He's a very fit person and all he needs is games to come up to pace and I'm sure that he'll get those games. He knows that he's good enough to play in this league; he knows he's good enough to play for us."
Dacourt's experience is invaluable but Hodgson says his age will not be a problem to him performing at the top level in England again, citing Brian McBride as an example of how a top professional can play on for longer if he has looked after himself.
He said: "He is 34 but some people can be quite old as players when they get into their late twenties. Brian McBride was 36 last year while he was playing for us and I never ever thought watching him play, 'this is a 36-year-old out there'. He could just as easily have been 20 as far as I'm concerned. So I didn't have any fears about Olivier Dacourt's age."