Graeme Le Saux recalls the brutal way that Glenn Hoddle announced which England players were picked, or dropped, before the 1998 World Cup
Before Gareth Southgate publicly announces his World Cup squad, he will have been obliged to undertake the least convivial part of the international manager’s job: letting those who have not made the cut know they need not pack their bags for Qatar. It is a process that is never easy. But it is probable that the ever-empathetic Southgate will have taken almost as much trouble working out the best way to deliver the bad news to those who won’t be involved as he has over choosing those who will. Though, however he goes about the process, it is unlikely it will be in the manner of his predecessor Glenn Hoddle before the World Cup in France in 1998. After all, Southgate was there as a player and saw at first-hand exactly how not to go about it.
Three weeks before the 98 tournament began, the provisional England squad had gathered in La Manga in Spain to train and engage in a couple of warm-up friendlies. The final game was in Morocco, after which Hoddle planned to trim his squad to 22, sending home those who had not made the cut. After the match had been played, the manager had given everyone a night off, a chance to relax and recuperate before the big announcement. As Graeme Le Saux – these days a leading commentator on American TV as well serving as a consultant at Real Mallorca FC – recalls that evening there was only one subject of conversation.
“We were in this piano bar and there was nothing but gossip between the players about who’s going to be in the squad and who’s going home,” he says. “The big question that seemed to be at the forefront of everyone’s minds was: Gazza, is he in or is he out?”
Then in his last year at Rangers, Paul Gascoigne, England’s fulcrum in Italia 90 and Euro 96, was a fading force, his extraordinary abilities compromised by his growing dependence on alcohol. He was still, however, capable of producing outstanding performances, as he did against Italy in the final qualifying game the previous November. But, in La Manga, dependent on selection for self-validation, Gascoigne’s anxiety was in overdrive. And, worse, he was trying to calm himself through booze, the very thing he needed to avoid.