Brede Hangeland is delighted he chose to answer Roy Hodgson's call to join him at Fulham.
Hangeland had carved out a reputation as a rock solid centre-half first with Viking and then in Denmark with FC Copenhagen before his £3.7m move to Fulham in January 2008.
He said: "It was a bit of a gamble because Fulham were right at the bottom of the Premier League and looked like they were going to get relegated.
"But I had played for Roy Hodgson at Viking and I was sure the team would improve. It was a race against time but, fortunately, there were just enough games left to stay up.
"Some people have said the turning point was my arrival at the club. But it was definitely appointing Roy Hodgson as manager.
"He knows exactly what he wants from the team and gets his message across to his players really well."
USA-born Hangeland, who faces Burnley today, is delighted to have sorted out his future after signing a new contract to 2013 - despite being linked with a move to Arsenal.
He said: "Of course all the speculation was a compliment. It shows that people think you are doing a good job. But when there's a lot of speculation, it's impossible to blank it from your mind. Within months of arriving at Fulham I saw this was a good club where I could be very happy."
