Peter White on the mystifying mind game of Glenn Hoddle

NOW I know how Glenn Hoddle persuaded the Football Association to give him the England job.

It wasn't just the lack of any other available managerial talent, it's that he talks a good game.

Listen to Hoddle, or read his comments and you could be forgiven for thinking that England's remaining World Cup qualifying fixtures were at Wembley against the combined "might" of San Marino, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein.

That's the fantasy. The reality is that we have yet to go to Poland on Saturday and Italy in October.

The coach, however, continues to give the distinct impression that England are going to win their World Cup qualifying group and the mini-tournament coming up shortly will be the ideal preparation for summer 1988 in France.

Fat chance.

Unfortunately, some of us remember Graham Taylor booking a trip to America - as ideal preparation for World Cup 1994 in the USA...

Hoddle is 100 per cent right to express belief in his team and to be positive.

But he also has a duty to be realistic and, while any side with Alan Shearer - used correctly - has a chance, there seems to be a grave danger of England underestimating the task which lies in wait. Harbouring grandiose dreams of winning both these crunch away games is ludicrous.

Rather we should be looking at the more practical aspect of trying to pick up a couple of draws, and ensure we finish second with another chance to qualify.

I have never been convinced that Hoddle was right for the England job. Nothing he has done has changed that opinion.

And it concerns me that our country's immediate football future is in the hands of a man who ignores all the advice from his Premiership counterparts to go ahead with last Saturday's pointless exercise against South Africa.

Can he explain just what good it did to see England "Reserves" claim a lucky win?

Perhaps it was important to check out the form of Arsenal's "young unknown" striker Ian Wright. Or maybe Hoddle wanted to demonstrate that he still doesn't know how to pick the right goalkeeper - even though he insists on calling up more keepers when he names a squad than Middlesbrough have excuses for not turning up.

The fans who filled Old Trafford - and the FA coffers - have a right to know why, if the game was so important, it wasn't used properly; as a rehearsal for Saturday's crucial tie.

Or, if Hoddle was worried about injuries, why play it in the first place?

Victory in Poland would be a terrific boost for English football and a minor triumph for Hoddle - fingers crossed that happens.

But, come Saturday night, I fear the honeymoon period will be well and truly over and the national tabloids will be preparing the vegetable stew.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.