Glenn Hoddle responds to David Beckham controversy with message to football icon's mum
Football news: Glenn Hoddle has responded to controversy following David Beckham's documentary
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Glenn Hoddle has issued a response after being criticised by David Beckham's family during a recent Netflix documentary.
The 66-year-old was manager of England when they faced Argentina at the World Cup back in 1998.
Beckham was sent off during the match, receiving a straight red card for a kick on Diego Simeone.
England then crashed out of the tournament on penalties, seeing their chances of glory go up in smoke as a result.
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In a recent Netflix documentary, an old interview with Hoddle was aired.
He accused Beckham of 'not being focused' prior to the tournament starting - which is why the former Manchester United star was benched for the opening game of the tournament.
“It cost us, it cost us dearly," he said.
Beckham's mother, Sandra, then hit out at Hoddle and said: "Glenn Hoddle said his head wasn’t in the right place [before Tunisia], didn’t he?
"I just put him on my hit list - people that upset me."
Beckham's wife, Victoria, added: "Glenn Hoddle didn't come out and try to protect him. And how old was David, 23?
"You're a kid at 23. Glenn Hoddle was a man.
"I wouldn't say a man actually, he was an older person."
And the former England boss has now responded to the controversy via talkSPORT, insisting he's got no issue with Beckham or his family.
Furthermore, he sent a message to Beckham's mum by saying his own mother would have done the same in defending her son.
“I’ve got no problem with David,” he said.
“He was a fabulous player for me and one of the best players this country has produced.
“I haven’t seen the documentary, I’ve got no worries with what he said. If it goes well, I wish him all the success.
“I believe his mum had a little dig at me. Well, my mum would have defended me to the hilt as well.
“My daughter sent me an interview I did after the game in France as well where I was defending him and saying we can’t make him a scapegoat.
“It was never a red card. I’ve looked at it and thought, ‘How has he given him a red?’ It was ridiculous.
“I haven’t seen it. With what happened to me five years ago, these things don’t bother me.”
Meanwhile, Victoria also candidly revealed in the series that Beckham's red card left the football icon 'clinically depressed'.
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"He was absolutely broken. He was in pieces," the Spice Girls singer stated.
"He was really depressed, absolutely clinically depressed.
"It pained me so much, I still want to kill these people."
Beckham himself added: "I wish there was a pill you could take which could erase certain memories.
"I made a stupid mistake. It changed my life. (The questions when he came back) 'how do you feel about letting your country down?' and 'you are a disgrace'.
"We were in America, just about to have our first baby, and I thought 'we will be fine, in a day or two people will have forgotten'.
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"I don't think I have ever talked about it, just because I can't. I find it hard to talk through what I went through because it was so extreme.
"Wherever I went, I got abused every single day.
"To walk down the street and to see people look at you in a certain way, spit at you, abuse you, come up to your face and say some of the things they said, that is difficult.
"I wasn't eating, I wasn't sleeping. I was a mess. I didn't know what to do.
"The boss (Alex Ferguson) called me. He said 'David, how are you doing?' I think I got quite emotional. He said 'how are you doing, son?'. I said 'not great boss'. He said 'OK, don't worry about it, son'.
"That was the only thing I could control, once I was on the pitch, then I felt safe."