Steve Mc Manaman - International Career - Glenn Hoddle and World Cup 98

Glenn Hoddle and World Cup 98

However, McManaman failed to win over new England coach Glenn Hoddle despite being in excellent club form in the years Hoddle was in charge, raising questions about either his effort, his attitude, or his relationship with the manager, with some sections of the British press even lobbying Hoddle to pick McManaman. Hoddle stated in interviews that he wanted McManaman to take up the license to be the bridge between David Beckham and Paul Gascoigne, and often spoke highly of McManaman's ability, but noted that McManaman's best position was "floating" dangerously and it was hard to fit him into a system to suit the team and so he often selected Paul Merson and the rising Beckham instead. When McManaman (and Fowler) opted out of Le Tournoi in 1997 to choose to undergo non-urgent medical operations ahead of International duty, it was noted that this reportedly lost them their team spots as Hoddle though angered at losing them, found a winning team in their absence, and this made it even harder for McManaman to regain his place later. McManaman made a grand total of four appearances under Hoddle, and only one appearance at the 1998 FIFA World Cup against Colombia, as a substitute for Paul Scholes. When interviewed by FourFourTwo magazine, McManaman stated: "I think I probably least enjoyed my time when Glenn Hoddle was the manager. But I wouldn't say he was necessarily the worst. He had his ways of training and ways of acting and all managers have different ways of doing things; it's the same with club managers. Sometimes when you join up with England and you don't play as often as you did under a certain other manager – then you'll think it's terrible. I loved going to play with England. For instance, I did get to go to the World Cup even though I only played for 17 minutes. That kind of experience leaves an indelible mark on your mind. So I don't really think of it in terms of "worst"; but going to the World Cup and not playing much was a big thing for me, really, and that was under Glenn, of course." Hoddle also notably arranged for McManaman to meet a disabled fan (and thus fulfill his lifelong wish of meeting McManaman) whilst the fan was on the verge of death, in 1997, to great media acclaim, though the story only broke a year after Hoddle had been sacked from the England job for alleged disparaging comments about disabled people.