Former Black Stars defender John Paintsil has attributed his poor form at Fulham to his then manager Mark Hughes.
The 38-year-old recounting why his contract was terminated at Fulham in 2010 revealed that he struggled to impress Mark Hughes who replaced Roy Hodgson after the 2010 World Cup.
According to him, his woes and terrible time at the Premier League club started after Hughes joined the club.
The right-back said he was performing very well but Hughes seemed not to appreciate all his efforts and commitment on the pitch.
“When I joined Fulham in 2008 I was supposed to seal a four-year permanent deal with them but unfortunately for me, Roy Hodgson who brought me to the club left immediately after the 2010 world cup and I had to lift up my game to catch the eye and attention of the new manager, Mark Hughes “
“I remember my first day at training after world cup I confronted Mark Hughes about my contract and to find out whether he had plans for me but he told me to give him two weeks to make a decision. After several days and months, he was still procrastinating and this was causing me severe despondency and dejection.”
“In fact, I lost my mental strength and I began to score own goals in one of those moments. I scored four own goals in a month and this is unusual of me and this even got me thinking about retiring from the game. I believe I retired prematurely from football because of what I experienced at Fulham under Mark Hughes,” Paintsil told Adam Adjei on Dwidwamu on Kasapa FM.
Painstil was a key member of the 2006 and 2010 squad that played at the World Cup in Germany and South Africa respectively.
He had a successful career playing for Berekum Arsenal, Liberty Professionals both in Ghana, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Tel Aviv in Israel and West Ham United, Fulham, Leicester City in England.
During the twilight of his career, he moved to Santos and Maritzburg United of South Africa.
Story by: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Alexander Anyankwaa