Joleon Lescott eager to emulate former Wolves boss Glenn Hoddle in helping youngsters
Joleon Lescott is eager to help young players develop in the same way Glenn Hoddle helped him improve during his time at Wolves.
The former Wolves and Villa defender came through as a youngster at the Molineux club and played under Hoddle from 2004-2006.
After an impressive career at both Everton and Manchester City, Lescott is now working as a coach with England under-21s and has cited Hoddle as someone he wants to emulate.
Lescott said to The Guardian: “Glenn Hoddle saw the game differently to anyone else I’ve ever worked with. He both saw and explained it in such simple terms. And, when he was my manager as a young player at Wolves, that really helped me. He was adding details to my game that I didn’t even recognise at the time.
“He helped me become a ball-playing centre-back, someone who was comfortable bringing the ball out of defence. This was at a time when defenders didn’t do this as much as they do now. He helped me become a modern-day centre-back.
“He also recognised that I got a lot of opportunities at set pieces, so got me to work on my finishing. At the time I thought that was a little bit strange. Why was I working on my finishing? But then, a year later, I got my move to Everton. In my second season, I scored 10 goals. It was definitely thanks to the work Glenn did with me that I became that player and had so much success at Everton.”
Lescott, who also spent three years working with young players at City before his move to Everton, also credits former Wolves coach Terry Connor for having a big influence on his career.
He added: “Then there was Terry Connor, who I still hold in the highest regard. He probably had the biggest influence on my career, because he was so thorough with me in my development. Terry saw something in me early on, and helped develop and fine-tune my game. He created the player I later became. He forged little habits in me that stuck, and helped me later down the line. These were things I didn’t even notice at the time, but became second nature for me.
“I really enjoy the mentoring side of things – putting an arm around a player and helping them out. Like I say, I haven’t got much experience on the grass, but I know what it takes to make it as a player, and the experiences I got from coaches like Glenn and Terry made me better at helping young players.”
