Glenn Hoddle as England Manager: Are People Really Serious?

Earlier this week it was reported that former England manager Glenn Hoddle had put his name in the ring for the vacant England manager position.

Now Alan Shearer has backed him, telling BBC Sport that Hoddle is a realistic contender for the job.

Really?

If a former manager was looking to come back and coach England for Euro 2012, Hoddle should be pretty much the last man on the list.

Shearer points to the fact that Hoddle "was successful when he was England manager." With a record of 17 wins in 28 games and only 13 goals conceded, Hoddle has a fine win percentage of 60.9 percent.

England played well in the 1998 World Cup, unluckily knocked out in the second round after Sol Campbell's goal was unfairly ruled out.

Looking at performances alone, Hoddle's team played some of the best football we have seen from the national side in recent memory.

However, that's not really the thing to be looking at when talking of Hoddle as the potential manager of England.

He was forced to resign the post in 1999 after some of the most bizarre comments from an England manager of all time.

"You and I have been physically given two hands and two legs and half-decent brains," Hoddle stated to the Sunday Times.

"Some people have not been born like that for a reason. The karma is working from another lifetime."

The fact that Hoddle was stupid enough to not understand the consequences of saying this to a national newspaper is reason enough for him never to be trusted with England's managerial position again.

This year, London will be under the spotlight as the Olympics and Paralympics come to town. Does the country really want the England manager to be associated with such comments?

Hoddle was again in the spotlight for the wrong reasons last year.

In February 2011, he was forced to apologise after being accused of making a racist joke while commentating for Sky Sports.

Some may have seen the comments as fairly innocuous but it is yet more bad press that you cannot afford when you are in a position of such media scrutiny.

In reality, Hoddle knows he has absolutely no chance of becoming England manager, but it seems like he does fancy another shot at management.

In an interview with The Independent, Hoddle admitted, "Would I get that opportunity? Probably not."

In the same interview, Hoddle does make a good point regarding the England job at the moment.

"The situation we are in presents a real opportunity for an England manager. If it goes wrong, as in South Africa, people will say 'What did you expect?' And, if it works, it could be perfect for us to click."

This is a point the FA should seriously look at. Stuart Pearce should take the team to the championships with no pressure on him or the team, letting Harry Redknapp come in afterward with two years to build until Brazil.

This is just a publicity stunt in which Hoddle hopes to elevate his stock and get the best club job he can.

In an exclusive interview with Bleacher Report's Will Tidey, Hoddle linked himself to both the Chelsea and Tottenham jobs.

Could Hoddle manage in the Premier League again? He hasn't done so since 2006, when he left Wolves after failing to get the club promoted from the Championship.

However, he does promote an attractive style of football and is still a big name to bring in. It is more a case of whether any chairman would take the risk of bringing him in.

Am I overreacting to the rumours? Would Hoddle be a good man for the job? Will he ever manager in the Premier League again? Comment below.