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THE NEW PAPER
ONE-WAY HODDLE
Singapore 25-01-03
What goes round comes round...
MATT LE TISSIER talks to Edwin Yeo about Glenn Hoddle and football.
On Hoddle, the man
TOTTENHAM Hotspur fans, especially those who worship current manager Glenn Hoddle, may not want to read this.
That's because according to Southampton legend Matthew Le Tissier, who played under Hoddle when he was manager there, the Spurs messiah isn't the kind of guy you would want to hang out and have a beer with.
When I met the 34-year-old recently, I asked him what his opinion of Hoddle was.
Considering how guarded Le Tissier is, he shocked me with his criticism of the man.
Le Tissier said of Hoddle: "As a football coach, excellent. Attention to detail, fantastic. Very technical, he really checks out the opposition and finds out where their weaknesses are."
But the killer punchline was to follow: "As a man, not my sort of person. Quite arrogant, quite opinionated, very 'it's my way or no way'. And self-centred as a person."
And before you think that it doesn't matter if Hoddle thinks he is God, as long as he's a good manager, Le Tissier took a shot at his tactical acumen.
He said: "He has... one way of doing things, and if things change in a game, he struggles to adapt."
This was also the sentiment echoed by former Southampton defender John Beresford when I interviewed him a while ago.
Spurs lack spirit
HAVING also seen Spurs crash 0-4 to Southampton in the FA Cup recently, Le Tissier said that it looked like the current Spurs side lacked team spirit.
"They gave up very easily. Steffen Freund said after the game that the team spirit's not there.
"When you have team spirit, you don't lie down like that - so yeah, the team spirit is not quite there."
"That makes a difference in the changing room. If that's there, that's a few extra points in the season."
Former Spurs supporter
YOU should also know that Le Tissier isn't saying negative things about Spurs just to take a jab at them - he supported Spurs as a boy.
The ex-England international revealed: "I'm not a Spurs supporter now, but my dad was a Spurs one and I followed him. He was very disappointed when I turned them down. But the circumstances weren't quite right.
"Because I turned them down, the then Spurs manager Terry Venables went out and bought Darren Anderton."
As a current Spurs supporter, you have no idea how painful it is for me to hear that revelation.
Le Tissier could have been in the company of Gary Lineker and Paul Gascoigne and, together, they could have made Spurs world beaters.
Instead, we ended up with Gazza, who has played, what, five games for Spurs since he joined?
But I guess Chelsea and Liverpool fans must feel the same, seeing that he also turned them down.
"I could have gone to Tottenham, Chelsea, Liverpool... a little bit of interest from Man United, but not as strong as the rest, and a couple of offers from France. But, you know, I never once looked back."
International career
NOT even when I mentioned to him that had he gone to one of those big clubs he might have enjoyed a better international career.
Le Tissier said: "Yeah, it's a bit disappointing to win only eight caps. I just didn't get the early break. You have to do something quite quickly and I didn't score the goals.
"It could also quite possibly be different had I been at a bigger club, but I think that's wrong. It shouldn't be that way.
"If you're good enough, it doesn't matter what club you play for, that's my belief."
Le Tissier's Premiership pick
AS for the current Premiership, Le Tissier has no doubt whatsoever that Arsenal will win the league.
He said: "Arsenal will win it. That hurts me as a former Spurs supporter. But Arsenal has the best forward line.
"The Man U team of three, four years ago was pretty much on par with this Arsenal team, but now the Gunners are ahead of them."
As a final nail in United's coffin, Le Tissier said: "Yes, I agree with Arsene Wenger that there's a shift in power in the Premiership."
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