Viking ready for a fight

13 April 2012

Erik Nevland has already realised the dream of every Manchester United supporter by scoring a goal at Old Trafford. But the 30-year-old maintains that moment of glory will be eclipsed if he manages to net for Fulham in their relegation showdown at home to Birmingham City tomorrow.

Nevland's magical strike happened nearly a decade ago when Sir Alex Ferguson called him off the bench to help dump Neil Warnock's Bury out of the Worthington Cup.

Although it's a memory he still treasures, the Norway striker said: "If scoring against Birmingham gives us a chance of staying up it would probably be the highlight of my career.

"I didn't come to Fulham to play in the Championship, so if I can contribute to us staying up then it would be brilliant."

Nevland is committed to Fulham but a part of him will forever belong to United, who he will be cheering for in the Champions League Final against Chelsea. He smiled when reminded of the two goals he scored for Norwegian minnows Viking Stavanger that helped embarrass the Blues, then led by Claudio Ranieri, in the first round of the UEFA Cup in October 2002.

Nevland spent two seasons in Manchester after moving there from Viking as a 19-year-old, but he failed to establish himself as first-team regular. "There is no resentment about that," he said. "I had a few chances but it didn't happen for me so I just got on with my career back with Viking."

It was with them in 2004 that Nevland first encountered Roy Hodgson, who had been hired, in a preview of his current role at Craven Cottage, to save the side from relegation.

Nevland recalled: "In a way you can compare Viking's situation then to what we're going through at Fulham. We had the fear of going down and I think we might have done if it hadn't been for Roy.

"We were really struggling. We didn't have any shape in the team but Roy came in and bought a few players, he got us organised, he made us solid and that kept us up.

"You've seen a lot of the same at Fulham. He's been really good at getting us organised and making sure every player knows what he has to do."

When Hodgson replaced Lawrie Sanchez at Fulham just after Christmas he remembered Nevland's contribution to Viking's survival and made an attempt to prise him away from Dutch side FC Groningen, where the prolific scorer had become a cult hero.

After protracted wrangling, a deal was done for £1.85 million, with another £370,000 to be paid if Fulham stay up.

"I was being offered the chance to play in England again and I wanted to grab it," he said. Alas, Nevland's arrival in London produced no instant fix for Fulham's problems in front of goal. He admitted: "I didn't perform. I just felt out of form.

"It was a difficult period for me. There is a lot to settle into when you come to a new club. You need time, but when you're signed in the transfer window to a club in the situation Fulham were in, you don't get that time. But I'm fitter now, and much more confident."

That showed three weeks ago when Nevland came off the bench to score the second of Fulham's goals at Reading, their first away win in the League in more than 18 months.

Nevland's energetic performance as a second-half substitute at Manchester City last Saturday was also significant in a remarkable 3-2 victory. Now he and Diomansy Kamara, who came off the bench to score twice at City, are in line to form Fulham's strike partnership tomorrow.

Nevland said: "Nobody wants to be relegated and we must do everything we can to avoid it. I've done that before with Roy. Hopefully I can help him avoid relegation this time, too."

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