When Hoddle went to Chelsea

[SUIYHA]

Strong rumours about our Pochettino going to Chelsea at the moment - bookies have him at as low as 1/4 at the moment. Quite frankly it would be heartbreaking for me to see him there, and have heard plenty say that he'll ruin his status amongst Tottenham fans if he goes and manages that lot. But a question for those who are a bit older than me as I was only six years old at the time, what was the reception like when Glenn Hoddle went to Chelsea back in 1993?

A man talked about as arguably our greatest ever player, as player-manager for Chelsea. Yet Hoddle is still considered a legend of the club, and was welcomed back as the returning messiah when he came back to manage the club in 2001. This was pre-Abramovich so back when they were crap and finished in the bottom half every year. It was also in the pretty early stages of that 12 year unbeaten run they went on against us. Was the rivalry less intense back in 1993? Social media and their glory hunters didn't exist back then - I went to school in North London with only two or three Chelsea fans in my entire year, but now I see and interact with them far more often so have grown to despise them more and more over the years.

I wonder if he'd hold the same status with our fan base if he'd actually been genuinely successful with them - if there were images of him lifting trophies wearing a Chelsea shirt that would surely have tarnished things a lot. But he undoubtedly kicked off the timeline of events that led to Chelsea dominating us even before the Abramovich era, by signing Gullit and modernising the club in the mid-90s. So with the rumours about Poch picking up pace, did Hoddle's decision to go there affect your opinion of him, back then or to this day?

 

[Misfit]

Never liked Chelsea but meh. They're closer to West Ham level than Arsenal level for me.

If it was Arsenal he'd be dead to me. Chelsea, eh. Very unfortunate but whatever.

 

[BuryMeInEngland]

Strong rumours about our Pochettino going to Chelsea at the moment - bookies have him at as low as 1/4 at the moment. Quite frankly it would be heartbreaking for me to see him there, and have heard plenty say that he'll ruin his status amongst Tottenham fans if he goes and manages that lot. But a question for those who are a bit older than me as I was only six years old at the time, what was the reception like when Glenn Hoddle went to Chelsea back in 1993?

A man talked about as arguably our greatest ever player, as player-manager for Chelsea. Yet Hoddle is still considered a legend of the club, and was welcomed back as the returning messiah when he came back to manage the club in 2001. This was pre-Abramovich so back when they were crap and finished in the bottom half every year. It was also in the pretty early stages of that 12 year unbeaten run they went on against us. Was the rivalry less intense back in 1993? Social media and their glory hunters didn't exist back then - I went to school in North London with only two or three Chelsea fans in my entire year, but now I see and interact with them far more often so have grown to despise them more and more over the years.

I wonder if he'd hold the same status with our fan base if he'd actually been genuinely successful with them - if there were images of him lifting trophies wearing a Chelsea shirt that would surely have tarnished things a lot. But he undoubtedly kicked off the timeline of events that led to Chelsea dominating us even before the Abramovich era, by signing Gullit and modernising the club in the mid-90s. So with the rumours about Poch picking up pace, did Hoddle's decision to go there affect your opinion of him, back then or to this day?

I had seriously deliberately blocked that from my memory.

 

[Metalhead]

Strong rumours about our Pochettino going to Chelsea at the moment - bookies have him at as low as 1/4 at the moment. Quite frankly it would be heartbreaking for me to see him there, and have heard plenty say that he'll ruin his status amongst Tottenham fans if he goes and manages that lot. But a question for those who are a bit older than me as I was only six years old at the time, what was the reception like when Glenn Hoddle went to Chelsea back in 1993?

A man talked about as arguably our greatest ever player, as player-manager for Chelsea. Yet Hoddle is still considered a legend of the club, and was welcomed back as the returning messiah when he came back to manage the club in 2001. This was pre-Abramovich so back when they were crap and finished in the bottom half every year. It was also in the pretty early stages of that 12 year unbeaten run they went on against us. Was the rivalry less intense back in 1993? Social media and their glory hunters didn't exist back then - I went to school in North London with only two or three Chelsea fans in my entire year, but now I see and interact with them far more often so have grown to despise them more and more over the years.

I wonder if he'd hold the same status with our fan base if he'd actually been genuinely successful with them - if there were images of him lifting trophies wearing a Chelsea shirt that would surely have tarnished things a lot. But he undoubtedly kicked off the timeline of events that led to Chelsea dominating us even before the Abramovich era, by signing Gullit and modernising the club in the mid-90s. So with the rumours about Poch picking up pace, did Hoddle's decision to go there affect your opinion of him, back then or to this day?

Much as I love Poch and it's probably a generational thing but I'd say that Hoddle is on another level in terms of being 'Spurs' but I wouldn't personally get as emotive about Poch going to Chelsea as I some on here.

 

[Jamturk]

Because 99% of us wouldn't countenance such a move.

Poch makes such a big play about him being one of us, he bleeds our club him going to Chelsea makes him seem like a bit of a lying hypocrite.

 

[greaves]

When Hoddle Went to Chelsea

Sounds like an old music hall number...

 

[Freddie]

I think Poch and Chelsea are a dreadful fit and that's probably the main reason it doesn't bother me so much. Poch's drawbacks (IMO):

I don't think he's a great manager of egos (they have many)
His methods will take a while to grasp (they want instant success)
Doesn't seem to have a clinical winning mentality (that's what's driven them to trophies)

This is the exact opposite of the kind of manager that's succeeded at Chelsea. He's just a better Potter.

 

[greaves]

I think Poch and Chelsea are a dreadful fit and that's probably the main reason it doesn't bother me so much. Poch's drawbacks (IMO):

I don't think he's a great manager of egos (they have many)
His methods will take a while to grasp (they want instant success)
Doesn't seem to have a clinical winning mentality (that's what's driven them to trophies)

This is the exact opposite of the kind of manager that's succeeded at Chelsea. He's just a better Potter.

I think fans also need to watch out for being overly sentimental about all this. In the end managers and players are hired guns. ('It's just business. It's not personal').

(I loved the era of Nicholson and Greaves. But this account by Greaves of his 'dismissal' is a useful corrective:
"It was on the day we moved house. I got a phone call from Bill Nicholson. It was a strange call because he said, ‘is that you, Jim’, I said ‘yes, Bill’.
“He said ‘I’ve got Martin Peters in my office’, I thought ‘well, what’s he talking to me about Martin Peters for’.
“He said, ‘I’d like to buy him but [West Ham manager] Ron Greenwood wants you in part-ex, would you go over to West Ham. It needs to be done in the next hour or so because of the transfer deadline’.
“I put the phone down and thought after nine years or so that I just felt a bit disillusioned with it all.
I thought dear old Bill, for who I have no greater admiration than any man on earth....)

 

[Duke of Northumberland]

Chels we’re not as hateful then. Bit of a joke club really, so I don’t think anyone was that bothered. Can’t remember who we had at the time but I think people all assumed he would end up managing us sooner or later.

 

[Freddie]

I think fans also need to watch out for being overly sentimental about all this. In the end managers and players are hired guns. ('It's just business. It's not personal').

(I loved the era of Nicholson and Greaves. But this account by Greaves of his 'dismissal' is a useful corrective:
"It was on the day we moved house. I got a phone call from Bill Nicholson. It was a strange call because he said, ‘is that you, Jim’, I said ‘yes, Bill’.
“He said ‘I’ve got Martin Peters in my office’, I thought ‘well, what’s he talking to me about Martin Peters for’.
“He said, ‘I’d like to buy him but [West Ham manager] Ron Greenwood wants you in part-ex, would you go over to West Ham. It needs to be done in the next hour or so because of the transfer deadline’.
“I put the phone down and thought after nine years or so that I just felt a bit disillusioned with it all.
I thought dear old Bill, for who I have no greater admiration than any man on earth....)

I partly agree but what's the point in being emotionally invested in a team and having an identity, and having rivalries if all the components of said teams are easily interchangeable?

 

[Gassin's finest]

Seeing as we're making a habit of hiring ex-chelsea managers, this seems like Poch's obvious next step on his road back here

 

[yido_number1]

Would be extremely sad for him to go there and break that bond.

 

[Caco]

It was slightly different with Glenn, he had left Spurs for Monaco, where he played under Wenger, a manager he claimed to have had a lot of admiration for. After Monaco, he went to Swindon as player/manager and having done well there was signed by Chelsea in a similar capacity. He didn't play as often, but did put together the platform for what Chelsea are now. Ken Bates was the owner and invested a lot of money in developing the ground and also in the playing staff. Pretty sure Hoddle brought Wise and Lebouf to Chelsea, possibly even Vialli and Gullit if I'm not mistaken. But from then he took the England job, went off the rails a bit with his association with a faith healer and made some comments about disabled people being punished for sins in a former life, that saw him end up at a dead end Southampton, but he got them in good form before coming to us and Sugar, who gave him no funds, which ended up being his last managerial job in the top flight.

 

[cliff jones]

Well I for one was gutted, but on the pitch the rivalry didn't feel fierce at that stage.

Which was obviously not the case when you fast forward to the Sky-dubbed Battle of the Bridge. I know there have been plenty of changes at both clubs, but it wasn't that long ago. I'd be surprised at Poch's judgement, and that of Perez, if they do go there. Then again I was very surprised he did the book, and at all the crap he spouted during the build up to the CL final.

What's really interesting to me is he seems to be a big favourite among match-going fans, so if he were to do well there and Levy manages to fck up our own appointment, Levy could really find himself seriously up against it. Two big IFs there though.

 

[fecka]

As someone who’s only been a Spurs-fan since 10/11 I almost rate the Chelsea rivalry higher than Arsenal.
The man himself stated Chelsea as bigger rivals to Spurs when he was at the club, and making a point about not being able to work at Barcelona due to his ties to Espanyol.
If he now goes to Chelsea of all places that will massively tarnish his legacy IMO, and I would never want him back at the club again.

 

[Gassin's finest]

It was slightly different with Glenn, he had left Spurs for Monaco, where he played under Wenger, a manager he claimed to have had a lot of admiration for. After Monaco, he went to Swindon as player/manager and having done well there was signed by Chelsea in a similar capacity. He didn't play as often, but did put together the platform for what Chelsea are now. Ken Bates was the owner and invested a lot of money in developing the ground and also in the playing staff. Pretty sure Hoddle brought Wise and Lebouf to Chelsea, possibly even Vialli and Gullit if I'm not mistaken. But from then he took the England job, went off the rails a bit with his association with a faith healer and made some comments about disabled people being punished for sins in a former life, that saw him end up at a dead end Southampton, but he got them in good form before coming to us and Sugar, who gave him no funds, which ended up being his last managerial job in the top flight.

Hoddle was Levy's first managerial appointment, to flip the positivity after the Graham era. He was given plenty funds, signing Robbie Keane and Dean Richards, but we also ended up with ageing players like Redknapp, Leonhardsen etc.

 

[DanNolan]

When Hoddle went to Chelsea, Chelsea were a joke. They werent the massive club they are now which blocks our own path to success. Also, we werent elite so there was every reason to go elsewhere. We are a bit rubbish atm but established top european club, so we have a pull we never had/.

 

[C1w8]

Its annoying but we sacked him and hes not been in a job for a while now, and this is as big an opportunity as hes going to get.

For me kane going awol etc to move to city is as much of a disloyal move as Poch going to Chelsea, but we've accepted this and we'll come to terms with Poch also.

He'd still be welcomed back with open arms overall i reckon, should the chance to manage us again come up in the future.

 

[gavspur]

Hoddle started the rise of Chelsea. Signed great players, and literally put us in the shadow for most of time up until/including right now. But at the time, he seemed a bit like a distant memory for myself, in regards to Spurs. I was a bit surprised he went there, but he’d earned his place at a bigger club. So I was a bit ‘meh’ about it.

Poch? I, like many, loved that guy when he was here. If he goes to Chelsea, I wouldn’t particularly like it, but also wouldn’t be surprised. If we are showing no interest (and I can only presume we aren’t because if he were to come back, big changes would be needed, and we are not going to be making big changes at board level, and pretty much plan on a rinse repeat managerial appointment) then I wouldn’t begrudge him taking a big pay job.

I think him going there, is more of a slight on how and what we are doing at the moment. I personally think he’d be crazy to go there, cos their owner seems mental. Our owner isn’t mental, he’s calculated - way way way too calculated.

 

[Gassin's finest]

No way Chelsea were bigger than us when Hoddle joined them.