HODDLE IS MY FOOTBALL HERO
IWAS a 13-year-old boy the first time I met Glenn hoddle. Growing up, he was my hero.
I’d just started training at Tottenham. The coaches knew I was a huge fan of Glenn so paired me up with him to do some passing drills.
I was starstruck. My legs went to jelly but he controlled every one of my passes with such grace and poise. you couldn’t tell if he was right or left footed. The game just came so easily to him.
ever since then he has been a big part of my life in football. he capped me five times for england, signed me at Tottenham and more recently worked with my dad at QPR.
Dad was with Glenn in the BT Sport studio when he suffered his heart attack. It was a terrible shock when Dad phoned to tell me the news on Saturday and I’m pleased to hear that Glenn is responding to treatment.
What has always struck me about Glenn is how kind, gentle and warm he is. That did not prevent him from being a tough opponent when you came up against him, though.
One match sticks in the memory from when I was at Liverpool and he was a sweeper for Chelsea.
I went past him in the box, he brought me down but the referee didn’t give us a penalty.
Glenn accused me of diving. All I could think was, ‘This is my hero and he’s calling me a cheat!’
When I was playing for the england Under 21s, he tried to get me to play as a sweeper like he had. I wasn’t sold on the idea but, looking back, I probably could have succeeded in that position.
I got the feeling Glenn grew frustrated as a manager when players couldn’t do what he wanted. It stemmed from the fact that, as a player, he was always one pass or move ahead of everyone else.
It is a travesty that he only won 53 caps for england. had he been from any other country he’d have won 150. We should have been building teams around a player with such immense talent.
This is the man who inspired me to become a professional footballer, the man who everyone wanted to be in the playground. I wish Glenn a speedy recovery.