Never nearly so capable a manager as he was a player, Hoddle proved controversial in both his arrival and departure from Southampton during a brief 14 month spell in charge of the Saints. Fired from a not terribly successful term as England manager that was marred by a reliance on a faith healer and, in particular, grossly offensive remarks in which he stated his belief that disabled people had received karmic retribution for their past life sins, Hoddle nevertheless managed to get a job at Southampton in January 2000. Previous manager Dave Jones had done a solidly decent job in his time at the club, but was suspended while under investigation for charges of child abuse during his time as a care worker during the 1980s. The charges were unfounded, the judge said it should never even have come to trial, but chairman Lowe used it as an opportunity to terminate Jones' contract and appoint Hoddle permanently (Jones had cleared his name but still failed to win an industrial tribunal on unfair dismissal). In his short time at the club Hoddle achieved some reasonable results, Southampton just preserved their Premier League place in 1999-2000 and were on course for their best season in five years in 2000-01. However, he deserves mention here for the dubious manner of his appointment and his eager readiness to take a bigger job as soon as the opportunity presented itself. In March of 2001 Hoddle broke his contract with Southampton, having not managed a full season at Saints, to take up the managerial vacancy at Tottenham, further angering fans by taking star defender Dean Richards with him. Hoddle failed at Spurs, and in every managerial job since, while an extra dark twist in this already depressing story saw the gifted Richards never fulfil his promise due to severe health problems over the following years. Richards died in 2011, aged just 36.
