Glenn Hoddle

Biography:

** Glen Hoodle has now left Tottenham and is at present without a club **

After weeks of intense Press speculation linking him with the vacant manager's post at White Hart, Spurs unveiled Glenn Hoddle as their new manager at the beginning of April 2001, less than a week before the Club's FA Cup semi-final clash with North London rivals Arsenal.

Hoddle's eventual arrival at Tottenham relieved David Pleat of his duties as the caretaker manager and allowed the former boss to revert to his position as Director of Football at the Club.

Hoddle was a huge favourite with the Spurs supporters during his 12 years there as a player and he always seemed destined to return to the club where his hugely successful playing career began.

He was certainly the popular choice with the fans to succeed George Graham in the manager's post after the former Arsenal and Leeds manager was surprisingly dismissed by Spurs owners ENIC in March 2001.

Hoddle was recently named as Totenham's greatest ever player and won FA Cup and Uefa Cup honours with the North London side, making some 500 appearances between 1975 and 1987.

He has since managed to cram a wide spectrum of experience into his relatively short spell as a manager. He has taken a lower league club to the big time with Swindon, re-awoken the sleeping giants of Chelsea, been responsible for the mood of a nation as England manager and transformed the fortunes of one of the Premiership's perennial strugglers, Southampton.

Glenn Hoddle was, of course, known as one of England's truly great players before his foray into football management, playing with distinction for Spurs and Monaco - as well as Swindon and Chelsea during his spells there as manager. He never really fulfilled his potential as an England international, despite winning 53 caps, and like many naturally gifted players who have represented their country, he proved to be something of an enigma for England's managers.

Hoddle's only league success came in Monaco. Playing alongside Mark Hately, he helped the small French outfit to the Championship in 1988 under the guidance of Arsene Wenger. The studious manager undoubtedly had an influence on Hoddle's future managerial style.

Hoddle retired as a top-level player in 1990, but when Swindon Town approached him to take over as their player/manager a year later he jumped at the chance to test his ideas on the game and relished the challenge of turning the lowly club into a Premiership outfit.

Hoddle transformed the side and won The Robins promotion to the Premiership in 1993, scoring one of the goals in their thrilling 4-3 win over Leicester in the play-off final at Wembley.

The former England star was still playing with some success at this point, but was regarded as one of the hottest young talents in management after his achievements with Swindon. It was this potential that convinced Chelsea chairman Ken Bates to lure Hoddle to Stamford Bridge - where he was set to form a key part of the club's ambitious re-building plans.

Swindon fans weren't happy to lose their mentor, but the lure of managing a large - if not slightly underachieving - London club proved too much for Hoddle and, initial aim achieved, he left the County Ground for the West End a month after Swindon's promotion to the top flight.

During his three years at Chelsea, Hoddle laid the foundations for the success the club has enjoyed in recent years and, with the signing of Ruud Gullit, proved that English clubs could attract some of world football's biggest names to the Premiership. Ironically, it was Gullit that carried on his work and brought Chelsea further success, but not before Hoddle had taken the club to their first FA Cup final for 24 years in 1994.

It was the offer of an even bigger challenge that once again convinced Hoddle to move on in 1996 - and challenges don't come much bigger than managing the England team. Terry Venables' departure left the way clear for a new national boss, and although Hoddle was still thought relatively young for a manager (38 at the time), he took the reins and guided England through a potentially tricky World Cup '98 qualifying group, culminating in one of England's most spirited performances of the past decade - a 0-0 draw in Italy.

Events conspired against him in the finals and Hoddle was powerless to prevent England's exit at the hands of Argentina in the second round of the competition. Then, a slow start to Euro 2000 qualification got sections of the media on his back and it was largely the constant press scrutiny that eventually forced him out of the job.

Nevertheless, Hoddle bounced back to work wonders at Southampton. The small South Coast outfit are no longer regarded as 'Premiership strugglers' and now look like a team capable of consolidating their position in mid-table - something Saints fans could only have dreamt about a few seasons ago.

The Saints were extremely disappointed to lose the services of the man who had helped turn them into a top ten team, but the prospect of returning to his old club and bringing the glory days back to White Hart Lane proved too much to resist for Spurs' favourite son.

Hoddle left The Dell, taking his long-serving assistant John Gorman with him to North London, to begin a new era at Tottenham Hotspur.

That era almost began with immediate success in the Worthington Cup. Hoddle took Spurs to the final, but the team failed to perform on the day and lost 2-1 to Blackburn.

Previous Clubs

Tottenham, Southampton, Chelsea, Swindon