Hoddles impeccable timing

By Scott Cooper
July 2 2006

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS parted company with their Manager Glenn Hoddle on Saturday. Hoddle resigned with the lack of ambition by the Wolves board his reason. However we look at why his timing was so important....

To represent your country as a player at a major tournament is one thing, but to be the manager of your country is another. Glenn Hoddle has done both during his career in football but it's how footballers and managers learn from their mistakes which shapes futures.

Glenn Hoddle was in the highest profile job in the country between 1996 and 1999 and what he learnt during that time with the FA is debatable. He made mistakes then and he has made mistakes since, but an understanding of how the British media works, although his downfall at the time, may be the most important thing he picked up during his stay at Soho Square.

Hoddle is a man who thinks highly of himself. He was one of the greatest footballers the country ever produced, reached the highest platform by managing his country at a young age but could now be back on the downward spiral which could eventually lead to the Managerial graveyard currently holding the likes of Terry Venables and Graham Taylor.

It's probably a safe bet that the former Wolves boss will see Saturdays developments as nothing short of a minor blip in his managerial career, but it's the impeccable timing to announce his decision which will hopefully make the headlines.

It won't come as a surprise that Hoddle doesn't want his Molineux failure to be branded about in the media, so it should have come as no surprise that Hoddle announced his resignation minutes before England played their biggest match for four years.

Hoddle even asked his agent to announce the decision himself to prevent Chief Executive Jez Moxey gaining more media exposure on Monday morning. The most Hoddle will get is a small paragraph amongst the photos of Svens dejected players in the mornings tabloids.

Hoddle clearly hopes his failure as manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers will blow over with minimum disruption to his own ego and it appears that although Hoddle hasn't learnt much since his forced resignation from The FA, playing the media is certainly something he has found a knack for.

Hoddles impeccable timing