For Joleon Lescott, there was absolutely no doubt as to who the best manager he ever worked under was.
The former central defender was once a highly regarded young central defender at Molineux, after coming through the club’s youth ranks.
He made his first-team debut for Wolves in 2000, and quickly made an impression, ending up as the supporters’ Young Player of the Year for two years running.
Lescott helped Wolves achieve promotion to the Premier League all the way back in 2003. Sadly for him though, injury prevented him from playing in 2003/04. Wolves then suffered relegation.
Lescott worked under a lot of different managers during his career, and of course became a Premier League winner twice under Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini at Manchester City.
But despite the success he had under those two, it is a Wolves manager who Lescott ranks at the very top.
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Joleon Lescott said Glenn Hoddle was the best manager he worked under
Lescott appeared in a video on the Soccer AM YouTube channel back in December 2017.
In the video, he was tasked with choosing his ultimate five-a-side team, with a manager to boot.
His team consisted of former Wolves goalkeeper Matt Murray, Micah Richards, Joe Cole, Samir Nasri and Sergio Aguero.
Then it was time for Lescott to pick his manager – and Glenn Hoddle was his choice. But he also admitted that he nearly made him cry once.
He said: “Without a doubt Glenn Hoddle. By far my best manager, or coach, I’ve worked with.
“Probably at that stage of my career when I didn’t know as much as I did later.
“But his knowledge of the game. He made me look at the game in a totally different way.
“He nearly drew me to tears one time. It was a result we had and then something was said after and I just got so emotional about it and I was just like ‘Wow’. Not about him, about how much I cared about the game kind of thing.
“But after that, we had a great relationship and definitely someone that the game is missing.”
How Glenn Hoddle fared at Wolves
Hoddle was appointed Wolves manager in 2004, succeeding Dave Jones for a second time after he replaced him at Southampton.
Wolves, back in the Championship after relegation, were languishing in 17th when Hoddle came in, and his appointment had a positive impact.
| Glenn Hoddle at Wolves (December 2004 – July 2006) |
| Games managed – 76 |
| Wins – 27 |
| Draws – 34 |
| Losses – 15 |
Wolves would finish ninth, and the following season Wolves finished seventh, but missed out on the play-offs by seven points.
Hoddle resigned as Wolves manager in 2006, and never took another managerial job after that.