July 3 – Le Hand of Hod?
IT was an unlikely match: what were the France, the defending European Champions with a side featuring some of the world’s best players doing touting out one of the many recent failed Tottenham managers as their new boss?
Today in 2004 it emerged that Glenn Hoddle was on a three-man shortlist for the job of French national team manager.
After their first-round shock exit in the 2002 World Cup, France had crashed out of Euro 2004 in the quarter-finals to the eventual shock winners of the tournament, Greece.
French coach Jacques Santini had announced before the tournament he would be stepping down after the fun and games in Portugal, and would become the new Tottenham manager, ending David Pleat’s caretaker spell after the former Luton boss took the reigns from… you guessed it, Glenn Hoddle.
With the managerial merry-go-round in full effect, Hoddle brushed up his CV and was the only foreigner to contact the French Football Federation. As a player, Hoddle had played for Monaco in the Eighties under Arsene Wenger and was pitted against Jean Tigana and Laurent Blanc as the early front-runners.
After being sacked from the England job after airing his views on reincarnation, Hoddle returned to the game at Southampton, where a steady-away spell saw him land the job at his former stomping ground White Hart Lane.
As is often the case with returning heroes, Hoddle was unable to meet the dizzying heights he had set on the field and was soon sent packing.
It didn’t take long for the French big-wigs to see sense and kick Hoddle into touch. Claude Simonet, president of the FFF said of the candidates: “I was impressed by their common desire, including Glenn Hoddle’s idea of making the French team an all-conquering French team. But we have to eliminate two of them.
“I had a very interesting discussion with Glenn Hoddle on Wednesday, but a problem was posed in relation to his relations with the national coaching body. His salary also proved a problem.”
Les Bleu instead opted for Raymond Domenech and Hoddle soon rocked up at Molineux, where he again only lasted a couple of seasons before being given the sack. Santini meanwhile, was absolutely rubbish at Spurs.
Another team that play in white were doing better than Spurs could ever dream of today, so read about that here and hot-foot over here tomorrow as we all try and get through this footballing barren spell together. Oh, and we never tire of finding new ways to pigeon hole this clip in:
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