JOHN MONCUR
The cockney playmaker recalls Hoddle’s genius, shipping goals at Swindon and banter in the Hammers dressing room
You broke through at Tottenham at a time when they had an embarrassment of riches in midfield – how was that to contend with?
It was a really good place to be a midfielder because you had Glenn Hoddle, Ossie Ardiles and a conveyor belt of players out of the same mould, with the likes of Micky Hazard, Ian Crook, Vinny Samways, David Howells and myself. The competition was very tough and in the first team there was Chris Waddle and Paul Gascoigne, too. When I was ready to go in there and make a mark consistently, I had Gazza in a similar position. Teams back then played with two central midfielders, not three, so any chances were narrowed down.
Did you learn much from them, at least?
With Hoddle, I learned from afar. Glenn was pretty much the complete technical midfield player. I based a lot of my training sessions on just watching him. My strengths were the same as his, in that I could pass the ball and was comfortable off both feet, so I learned from the way he positioned his body and how he could hit short and long. I picked up loads from Gazza as well. At least once a week, we had a match between the first team and the reserves, and none of the lads apart from me wanted to mark him. It’s like doing sparring in boxing: you may get beaten up five times a week, but it makes you a better footballer.
Hoddle must have seen something in you, because he later signed you for Swindon…
That was a massive confidence boost for me. He was a brilliant manager. He’d come back from Monaco and the system we played at Swindon was to overload the midfield, like Manchester City or Liverpool now. We didn’t have a big budget but we went up through the play-offs, and
