August 14 - Hoddle Strikes Again

JASPER Carrot once famously said: “I hear Glenn Hoddle’s found God . . . that must have been one hell of a pass.”

It really is a pity footballer’s careers only last until their mid-thirties, especially in Hoddle’s case. Where once he simply let his football do the talking and was lauded as a genius, his body eventually forced him to give up playing, and he moved into management where suddenly he had to let his, umm, talking do the talking, and everyone realised any talk of genius was just barking.

Glenn was in trouble again today in 1998 after the serialisation of his ill-advised book Glenn Hoddle: My 1998 World Cup Story was published in The Sun, and he was forced to defend his tome on BBC Five Live.

Hod had decided that the best way to help his England charges over their disappointing World Cup exit was to write a book detailing all the dressing room secrets from the England camp, and publicly pick apart his players individual failings. All this while he was still the England boss and expecting the very same players to run through walls for him in the Three Lions shirt.

Hoddle claimed Beckham needed help from his faith healer Eileen Drewery, and dished the dirt on Gazza’s reaction to being told he was not going to the World Cup.

“He was a different person now. He had snapped,” writes Hoddle. “I stood there and he turned as if to go again, then came back with a barrage of abuse. He was ranting, swearing and slurring his words. He was acting like a man possessed.”

Hoddle was pilloried for the bizarre decision to release the book thereby destroying any level of trust between him and his players, with his account of Gazza’s actions drawing particular criticism.

The PFA Chief Executive Gordon Taylor said he was “astonished” that the book was allowed to be published. “A manager’s relationship with his players should be like a doctor with his patient,” he said.

Hoddle defended his decision to publish the book, and predictably blamed the media for the whole brauhaha. He said: “It’s not a surprise in some ways because of how the headlines have been portrayed.

“It is disappointing. The situation has unfolded because of the headlines.

“People are reacting to something that they haven’t read yet, quite frankly. Things like ‘Gazza trashed my room’ are just not in the book and it’s just something I would not have said.”

The Sun’s football writer Brian Woolnough said Glenn was reaping what he had sowed.

“He has made a big mistake in doing the book, he has made a big mistake in publishing it so soon after the World Cup.

“His agent, Denis Roach, rang me complaining about all the fuss of the book and the impact it has had.

“I just said ‘Denis, you take the money you pay the consequences’ and that’s what Glenn Hoddle has to do.”

Some people were even calling for Hoddle to resign over the incident, but those naysayers would not have to wait long for Glenn to open his big mouth again, when he went on his disabled people/karma rant just seven months later.

To remind yourself that before he was a managerial buffoon Hoddle was a beautiful player to watch with the clip below. Read the tale of another England manager making waves on this day here, and come back tomorrow for more from us.

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