Glenn Hoddle has revealed the details of a heated phone call with a furious Sir Alex Ferguson during his time as England manager.
The legendary Manchester United boss was famous for his short fuse and Hoddle incurred the wrath of the Scot as he prepared his Three Lions squad for the 1998 France World Cup.
England's acrimonious exit to Argentina 23 years ago was preceded by Hoddle's frustrations with players not being released for International duty.
In an extract from his new book, 'Playmaker: My Life and the Love of Football', Hoddle described Ferguson as 'unprofessional' in a rant about his United players.
"Dealing with United wasn’t easy," he wrote in the book, which was serialised in the Guardian.
"There were problems getting players to report for duty at times and I had a row with Ferguson over two of his players before one friendly.
"His conduct was unprofessional when we spoke on the phone.
"I wasn’t going to use the players but I wanted them to join up because we were preparing for the World Cup.
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"But he wasn’t having it. He was ranting and raving, even when I said I would send them back once the meetings were out of the way.
"I can’t repeat what he called me. I just put the phone down."
Ferguson was notoriously challenging to work with for national bosses during his United tenure.
The Glaswegian despised the international break and looked to protect his stars at all costs with a single-minded drive to bring more success to Old Trafford.
"He called back to apologise but he wasn’t happy," Hoddle added.
"It all became a bit of a battle, and he used his Sunday Times column to criticise me when David and Gary Neville were put up at a press conference shortly after our win over Tunisia.
"Apparently it was insensitive after they’d been left out of the game."
Ferguson's influence on his internationals was remarkable given his role as United boss.
He instilled the idea that club football took precedent and Rio Ferdinand explained last year that United's England players were always left feeling on edge during international duty.
“I think Fergie might have played a little part in it as well, because he was so clever,” Ferdinand said on Instagram Live.
“You’d be going away, you’d finish a game on Saturday, you’d win a game on Saturday, and he’d go, ‘Right, I’ll see you after the international break boys’.
"And he’ll go like, ‘You, you and you, if you play more than 45 minutes I’m going to kill you when you get back’.
“So it would be in the back of your mind, you’d be thinking, ‘Oh my god, I’m under pressure when I come back'".
