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Glenn Hoddle

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'''Glenn Hoddle''' (born October 27, 1957 in Hayes, Hillingdon) is a football (soccer) football manager and former player for Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Tottenham Hotspur and England national football team England, currently employed as manager for Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. Wolverhampton Wanderers. He was an immensely skilled attacking midfielder with sumptuous ball skills.

Playing career
Hoddle joined Tottenham as a schoolboy, making his debut as a 17 year old in 1975. Within two years, he was a regular in the centre of the Spurs midfield, creating plenty of goals and scoring a few spectacular ones of his own. Spurs were relegated from the top flight in 1977, but with Hoddle as a centrepiece of the team, won promotion again the following year. He scored on his full England debut in 1979 and won the FA Cup with Spurs in 1981 and 1982 and the UEFA Cup in 1984. Though regarded as a genius with the ball at his feet, Hoddle was regarded as an enigmatic player because his work off the ball was not of the highest standard, and as a result international managers were wary of playing him all the time. That said, he made two Football World Cup World Cup squads (Football World Cup 1982 1982 and Football World Cup 1986 1986), playing an important role in the latter campaign when England reached the quarter finals. He also featured in the European Football Championship European Championship squads of 1980 European Football Championship 1980 and 1988 European Football Championship 1988, making his final England appearance during the latter tournament. Hoddle announced in 1987 that he would be leaving Tottenham at the end of the season to pursue ambitions abroad. His final game for the club was the FA Cup final in which Spurs lost to Coventry City F.C. Coventry City. He then joined AS Monaco, under the management of Arsène Wenger and alongside fellow England player Mark Hateley. Also in 1987, he released pop single ''Diamond Lights'' with Spurs and England colleague Chris Waddle and reached the Top 20 in the UK. In 2003 the song was voted number 14 in Channel 4's All-Time 'Worst Ever' Singles Poll.

Managerial career

Swindon Town (1991-1993)
Glenn Hoddle remained at Monaco until March 1991, when he returned to England and was named player-manager of Swindon Town F.C. Swindon Town. The Robins had been hit badly by a financial scandal at the club some years earlier which had seen them stripped of promotion to the Football League First Division First Division at the end of the 1989-90 season and had a negative impact on their league form. Hoddle's initial task was to save Swindon from slipping into the Football League Third Division Third Division. He fulfilled this task and these improvement continued into the 1991-92 season, when they finished ninth and just missed out on a playoff place. Swindon reached the new Division One playoffs in 1993 and secured a 4-3 victory over Leicester City F.C. Leicester City in the final at Wembley Stadium Wembley, wiping out bad memories of the 1990 financial irregularities debacle. The 36-year-old Hoddle was by now one of the most highly rated young managers in England and many bigger clubs were demanding his services. He eventually left for Chelsea F.C. Chelsea and was succeeded at Swindon by his assistant John Gorman (footballer) John Gorman.

Chelsea (1993-1996)
In June 1993, Hoddle became player-manager of Chelsea (he retired from the playing side in 1995). His assistant at Chelsea was the former Tottenham manager Peter Shreeve, and they reached the FA Cup final in Hoddle's first season. Hoddle and his players were hopeful of lifting the trophy, but they were hammered 4-0 by Manchester United F.C. Manchester United. But United had done the double, and consolation for their failure to win the trophy came in the form of a Cup Winners' Cup place. Chelsea reached the semi finals of that competition in 1994-95 and lost by a single goal to Real Zaragoza, who went on to beat Arsenal F.C. Arsenal in the final. Hoddle guided Chelsea to the FA Cup semi finals in 1995-96, but was unable to take them beyond 11th place in the Premiership - they had occupied this final position three times in four years. Hoddle's three-year reign at Chelsea came to an end in 1996 when he accepted the England manager's job. He had not won any trophies during his time at the Bridge, but had come close in each season. He also signed big names such as Mark Hughes and Ruud Gullit, who were to be instrumental figures in the club's future success.

England (1996-1999)
On the international stage, Hoddle guided England to qualification for the Football World Cup 1998 1998 World Cup, securing the team's entry with a memorable 0-0 draw in Rome against Italian national football team Italy. However, he caused controversy by Gazzagate omitting Paul Gascoigne from the squad and installing supposed faith healing faith healer Eileen Drewery as part of the England coaching staff, which led to the team being dubbed "The Hod Squad" by the tabloid press. They reached the Second Round of the 1998 tournament, losing on penalties to Argentina in a game noted for the ignominious sending off of England's star midfielder, David Beckham. Hoddle came under fire after a disappointing start to the 2000 European Football Championship Euro 2000 qualifying campaign, and was sacked in February 1999 after he appeared in an interview with The Times newspaper where he suggested that disabled people were being punished for sins in a previous life. There was such an uproar, including intervention by Prime Minister Tony Blair, that the The Football Association F.A. had little option but to terminate Hoddle's contract.

Southampton (2000-2001)
Hoddle was back in football within a year as Southampton F.C. Southampton manager, succeeding Dave Jones, who had quit to concentrate on clearing his name in connection with child abuse charges (which were later found to be false). Hoddle kept the Saints in the Premiership against all odds but left acrimoniously in March 2001 to return to Tottenham as manager.

Tottenham Hotspur (2001-2003)
Tottenham Hotspur's league record in the decade leading up to Hoddle's appointment was disappointing. Hoddle was determined to establish them as a top playing side, and during his first season he had some wonderful opportunities to succeed. Tottenham reached the Football League Cup League Cup final but surrendered an early lead to go down 2-1 to Blackburn Rovers F.C. Blackburn Rovers, who lifted the trophy for the first time in their history. The club's promising early season form dwindled away into mediocrity and they finished ninth in the Premiership, an improvement on the previous season's 11th place but hardly impressive. Spurs began the 2002-03 season in fine form and Hoddle was named Premiership Manager of the Month for August 2002 after they ended the month top of the league. However, the team faltered and ultimately finished a disappointing tenth. The pressure began to build up on Hoddle and he was sacked in September 2003 after a dismal start to the season, in which the team picked up just four points from their opening six league games. Ironically, his final game in charge was a 3-1 loss to old side Southampton.

Wolverhampton Wanderers (2004 onwards)
Glenn Hoddle made his football comeback in December 2004 with Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. Wolverhampton Wanderers, again succeeding Dave Jones. Wolves had just been relegated from the Premiership and their overheads had decided it was time for a change of manager after a dismal start to the 2004-05 Championship campaign. Hoddle steadied the boat and Wolves lost just one league game during the final five months of the season. But they also had 15 draws, which killed any lingering hopes they had of reaching the playoffs. Wolves began 2005-06 among the favourites for promotion to the Premiership, but due to the form of Reading and Sheffield United in the top two Championship places Wolves will almost certainly have to negotiate the playoffs in order to gain promotion.

Quote
Bob Wilson (footballer) Bob Wilson once remarked of Hoddle: :''I hear Glenn Hoddle has found God. That must have been one hell of a pass.'' Hoddle lost his job as England manager immediately after being quoted as saying: :''You and I have been physically given two hands and two legs and a half-decent brain. Some people have not been born like that for a reason. The karma is working from another lifetime.''{{ref|disabledquote}}

External links

- Hoddle quotes

Notes
#{{note|disabledquote}} Quoted in [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/football/265903.stm article on BBC news website] {{start box}} {{succession box|title=PFA Young Player of the Year.html">Cyrille Regis after=Gary Shaw|years=1980}} {{succession box| before=Osvaldo Ardiles| title=Swindon Town F.C. Manager| years=1991-1993| after=John Gorman (footballer) John Gorman }} {{succession box| before=David Webb (footballer) David Webb| title=Chelsea F.C. Manager| years=1993-1996| after=Ruud Gullit }} {{succession box| before=Terry Venables| title=England national football team manager| years=1996–1999| after=Howard Wilkinson (caretaker manager caretaker)| }} {{succession box| before=Dave Jones| title=Southampton F.C. manager| years=2000-2001-| after=Stuart Gray }} {{succession box| before=George Graham (footballer) George Graham| title=Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur manager| years=2001-2003| after=David Pleat (caretaker manager caretaker)| }} {{succession box| before=Dave Jones| title=Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. manager| years=2004-| after=N/A }} {{end box}} Category:1957 births Hoddle, Glenn Category:Chelsea F.C. managers Hoddle, Glenn Category:Chelsea F.C. players Hoddle, Glenn Category:England international footballers Hoddle, Glenn Category:England national football team managers Hoddle, Glenn Category:England under-21 international footballers Hoddle, Glenn Category:English football managers Hoddle, Glenn Category:English footballers Hoddle, Glenn Category:Living people Hoddle, Glenn Category:Southampton F.C. managers Hoddle, Glenn Category:Swindon Town F.C. managers Hoddle, Glenn Category:Swindon Town F.C. players Hoddle, Glenn Category:Tottenham Hotspur F.C. managers Hoddle, Glenn Category:Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Hoddle, Glenn Category:Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. managers Hoddle, Glenn de:Glenn Hoddle fr:Glenn Hoddle ja:グレン・ホドル pl:Glenn Hoddle

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