Ask anyone who witnessed Glenn Hoddle in his mercurial pomp and they'll tell you the same thing: the man was a genius.
The former Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco and England midfielder was as graceful and visionary as any player in world footballer on his day, just ask former team-mate Micky Hazard, who came through the ranks at Spurs when Hoddle was wowing crowds across the country.
"As an apprentice at Spurs, I watched the first team train and thought he was just the best player in the world," Hazard tells FourFourTwo now. "Glenn Hoddle was simply brilliant. I don’t think you can paint a picture of Glenn that does him justice. He epitomises the footballer who was born to play football – he was a complete master of the ball, with either foot or any part of his body. That never changed, even when I played alongside him. It was a privilege to watch him at work."
Hazard departed for Chelsea in 1985 but he was reunited with Hoddle at Swindon Town when Hoddle joined from Monaco as player-coach in 1991. As player-coach, Hoddle inspired the Robins to the Premier League in the 1993-94 season, before leaving to manager Chelsea. Hoddle's Robins were
Very. Suddenly I’m being managed by my schoolboy hero. I knew when Glenn came in that I could play to my strengths; I played nice football and it was a joy to be a part
of that team. That Swindon side was really good, with an attacking philosophy. Being promoted through the play-offs, in Glenn’s second season, was a brilliant achievement for a club like Swindon. People used to laugh at us and say it was embarrassing that our player-coach was our best player, but he was just that good. He would have been the best player at any club. It wasn’t our fault.
More Spurs stories
Tottenham want Premier League star, who they had £20m bid rejected for two years ago: report
Why Tottenham Hotspur are waiting to trigger €17m signing: report
Tottenham can sign 12-goal Premier League striker for just £15m - but there's a deadline: report
‘Big Sam gets a bad rap as a bit of a dinosaur, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. He was ahead of the curve on many things – I loved playing for him’: Ex-Bolton star sets record straight on Allardyce
'Big Ron would refer to himself as "Ginola" - he trained with us and he’d be the star of our training sessions': Ex-Coventry star recalls Atkinson playing like Frenchman in training
