From the outside, it is difficult to see what has changed at Fulham since Roy Hodgson arrived at Craven Cottage. Three months ago, Fulham were in the relegation zone in the Barclays Premier League and two wins and two draws from ten games later, his team are still fighting for their lives at the wrong end of the table.

To make matters worse, Hodgson works for a man who hates losing. Mohamed Al Fayed did not become one of the richest men in the country by rolling with the punches and he has not invested £200 million in Fulham so that he can watch them play away to Barnsley or Burnley next season.

“The chairman is not a man you can say no to,” Hodgson said as he recalled how he felt when Al Fayed offered him the manager’s job. If Hodgson had been given more time to think, maybe he would have made his excuses and walked out. After all, what was in it for him? Fulham were going down. Everyone knew that – except Lawrie Sanchez, the previous manager, who spent £25 million on players before being sacked just before Christmas – and Hodgson had his reputation to think about. Not many Englishmen have managed Inter Milan or worked in eight countries.

“I realised it wasn’t going to be an easy job, but when you’re invited to become a member of a very elite clan of people, Premier League football managers, you know what you are taking on,” Hodgson said. “If you think you’re not the kind of person who can deal with the pressure, then you shouldn’t be here in the first place.”

Hodgson’s first task was to improve dressing-room morale. Under Chris Coleman, Fulham had become a team who could beat anyone at home but could not win away. Hardly anyone in the game has a bad word to say about Coleman and he kept Fulham in the top flight for four seasons without breaking the bank, but Al Fayed pressed the panic button last April when relegation was a real possibility.

Coleman was sacked and replaced by Sanchez, who gave up performing miracles with Northern Ireland to prove himself in the Premier League. Fulham beat the drop soon after by defeating a second-string Liverpool team at Craven Cottage and Sanchez’s 45-day temporary contract was extended into a permanent deal. That is when the problems started.

Sanchez was given £25 million to turn the club into European contenders and, instead, he produced Wimbledon Mark 2 – a team of grafters who hit the channels and treated every Premier League game as if it was a cup final. Out went pass and move and in came hit and hope. It could not last, which is why Al Fayed turned to Hodgson and why Fulham now have an outside chance of staying up.

“We still believe that it can be done,” Hodgson said. “It’s so easy to say that but if a team is going to survive, it is by proving that it is good enough to survive by producing good performances and winning games.”

With Fulham playing the beautiful game and players admitting that they are relishing being coached by a manager who knows what he is talking about, Fulham can climb out of the bottom three by beating Newcastle United at St James’ Park today and Derby County at Pride Park next Saturday. It may sound easy on paper, but Fulham have not won away in the league since they last visited St James’ Park 18 months ago. “We know they’re going to be tough games but we’ve got ourselves in a tough position, so unfortunately every game is a tough game,” Hodgson said.

Relegation would cost Al Fayed and Fulham about £75 million, including Sanchez’s £25 million spree and the £10 million that was spent in January, so it is understandable that Hodgson, one of the most well-respected English coaches in the world, is too focused on the job in hand to talk about anything else. Should Michael Owen be in the England squad? “I don’t have an opinion on that.” Do you ever lose your temper in the dressing-room? “Why do you want to know?” Can you stay up? “It will be about how good we are. Everything else is just words.”