Former England manager Glenn Hoddle has opened up on the nightmare scenarios international managers would encounter when selecting Manchester United players for international duty during the Sir Alex Ferguson era.
As everyone associated with United will know, Ferguson was renowned for having a short fuse during his 26-year tenure as manager at Old Trafford.
One situation that did cause him to get angry was when Hoddle was preparing his England side for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. The former Three Lions chief got himself into a row with Ferguson over two United players when he had called upon them to be part of his squad for an upcoming friendly.
Although Hoddle had no plans to use the players in the contest, he wanted them to be part of the squad as part of his preparation for the World Cup.
Now, Hoddle, who was in charge of England 1996 and 1999, has revealed in his book, 'Playmaker: My Life and the Love of Football' , just how challenging it was to deal with the Scot when trying to call-up England players.
"Dealing with United wasn’t easy," Hoddle 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.
"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."
Throughout his United tenure, Ferguson was difficult for international managers to deal with. He was not a fan of the international breaks and made it difficult for those looking to prize his players away and represent their country.
Despite his rift with Hoddle, the former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder has revealed that Ferguson did later apologise.
"He called back to apologise but he wasn’t happy," Hoddle continued.
"It all became a bit of a battle, and he used his Sunday Times column to criticise me when David [Beckham] 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."
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