Player-Manager Profile

After Ossie Ardiles resigned to become manager of Newcastle, Swindon turned to another Tottenham legend, Glenn Hoddle taking over the reins. He joined the club in April 1991 - his first match in charge being on April 6th, when he watched his new side slump to a 2-1 defeat at home to Watford.

Hoddle's first job was to rescue to the Town from relegation. After the irregular payments scandal and subsequent demotion, Swindon had lost their form, and players had been sold to balance the books. Hoddle had just eight games to put things right, and he succeeded - their Second Division place being assured after a convincing 5-2 win over Leicester at the County Ground at the end of April.

The following season saw Hoddle change the Town's formation from Ossie's 4-4-2 diamond system, to a new 5-3-2 lineup, in which Hoddle played as a sweeper, utilising wing-backs to bolster both the attack and the defence. Hoddle proved to be a shrewd tactician, with many future Town greats, such as Shaun Taylor and John Moncur, signed for small fees - and his first full season in charge saw the Town narrowly miss out on a play-off place.

Hoddle kicked off the 1992/1993 season in style, scoring an amazing winning goal in the opening game versus Sunderland. The Town started as they meant to go on, and they finished the campaign in fifth place. Amidst speculation that he was to take over the manager's role at Chelsea, Hoddle led the Town to the Premier League, scoring the first goal in the 4-3 Play-Off final victory over Leicester.

Hoddle refused to confirm or deny the rumours, and it came as no surprise when, just days after the Wembley triumph, he resigned. He attempted to take his assistant, John Gorman, with him, but as Gorman was seen to be a major part of the club's success, Town chairman Ray Hardman persuaded him to stay as manager.

Town fans received another kick in the teeth a few weeks later, when Chelsea came to purchase Hoddle's playing registration - after two seasons of praise from pundits, a tribunal set his transfer fee at just £50,000, when Swindon had, somewhat optimistically, requested £1 million. The plaudits continued into the following season, with many commentators on Match of the Day pointing out the bargain Chelsea had got. The fury at Hoddle's departure came to a head at the league match with Chelsea at the County Ground that season, with many fans labelling him "Judas" - though Hoddle got the last laugh as Chelsea went away with a 3-1 win.

The original anger at Hoddle's decision to leave has tempered with time, with Town fans now recognising the amazing achievements he made with limited resources.

Managerial Record

Playing Record

Senior

Career details

Club	Details
Watford Watford	(youth)
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham	1970 (schoolboy) April 17th, 1974 (apprentice) April 8th, 1975 (signed professional contract); released
Longmans Longmans	1973 (youth)
AS Monaco Monaco	July 1987 (unattached); released (November 1990)
Chelsea Chelsea	March 1991 (non-contract)
Swindon Town Swindon	April 4th, 1991 (appointed manager) August 16th, 1991 (registered); resigned (June 4th, 1993)
Chelsea Chelsea	July 15th, 1993 (appointed player-manager compensation received for playing registration); resigned (May 10th, 1996)
England England	July 1996 (announced May 2nd, 1996) (appointed manager); resigned (February 2nd, 1999)
Southampton Southampton	January 28th, 2000 (appointed manager); resigned (March 28th, 2001)
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham	April 2nd, 2001 (appointed manager); sacked (September 21st, 2003)
Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolves	December 8th, 2004 (appointed manager); resigned (July 1st, 2006)
Queens Park Rangers Q.P.R.	rptd August 12th, 2014 (appointed coach); resigned (February 3rd, 2015)