Richard Sutcliffe writes: Glenn Hoddle discovered last night that people do sometimes reap what they sow when his two-and-a-half year tenure as England boss came to an inglorious end.

The former Tottenham and Monaco star was forced out of Lancaster Gate over his despicable comments regarding disabled people which led to a storm of protest, ranging from the ordinary man in the street to Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Just how Hoddle managed to turn an interview previewing an England v France international into a discussion about reincarnation - always a popular topic of conversation when football fans gather in the pub before a game - is beyond me.

However what I do know is that his exit as England boss will bring few tears from football fans who are glad to see the back of him.

I believe he should have gone after the World Cup because of the increasingly bizarre nature of his public pronouncements.

Were we seriously supposed to believe that England would have been 20 per cent better in the World Cup if his mate Eileen Drewery had travelled with the squad?

And did he expect us to agree that leaving Michael Owen on the bench for the first two games was part of his masterplan? I think not.

The fact is Hoddle had lost the support of several of his senior players due to his infamous World Cup diary and the increasing reliance on Drewery.

And if a manager loses the confidence of his players there is no way back.

Once he opened his mouth over reincarnation it was only a matter of time before the FA showed the red card.

Now we need a manager who can earn some respect for English football after all the recent blood-letting at FA headquarters.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.