Glenn Roeder

Glenn Victor Roeder (13 December 1955 – 28 February 2021) was an English professional football player and manager.

As a player, Roeder played as a defender for Arsenal, Leyton Orient, Queens Park Rangers, Notts County, Newcastle United, Watford and Gillingham.

He also represented the England national B team.

Roeder was born in Woodford, Essex, on 13 December 1955 and played for Gidea Park Rangers and Essex and London schools, joining Arsenal as a schoolboy in December 1969 and then Orient in August 1972 after being released by Arsenal.

He made his name as a classy ball-playing defender who was a member of the Orient playing squad in the Second Division during the 1970s that reached the FA Cup semi-final in 1978.

He transferred to Queens Park Rangers for £250,000 in August 1978 where he made 181 senior appearances and captained the team to the 1982 FA Cup Final against Tottenham, missing the replay due to suspension, and to the Second Division title in 1983.

Roeder was one of the first players famed for using the step over -the Roeder shuffle- a technique Roeder claimed, his father taught him as a child.

Roeder had a brief loan spell at Notts County.

Roeder transferred to Newcastle United for £125,000 in December 1983, where he was captain and made 219 senior appearances during five years at the club, winning promotion from the Second Division in 1984.

He joined Watford on a free transfer in July 1989, making 78 senior appearances in two years, and later returned to the renamed Leyton Orient, playing eight games in 1992, before a six-game stint to finish his playing career at Gillingham, whom he had joined as player-manager in November 1992.

Roeder spent one season as player-manager of Gillingham, during which time he led the side to 10 wins in 37 games and saw them finish second from bottom of the Football League, escaping relegation after winning against bottom club Halifax Town in the penultimate fixture of the season.

He resigned in July 1993 to take over at Watford.

After Steve Perryman left to join Tottenham Hotspur, Roeder was hired as the new manager of his former club Watford at the start of the 1993–94 season.

However, Watford were fined £10,000 for an illegal approach, and ordered to pay Gillingham a further £30,000 in compensation.

In his second season with Watford he almost took the side to the play-offs, eventually finishing just two places outside them.

However, he was sacked in February 1996 as the side were struggling at the bottom of the First Division.

His replacement, Graham Taylor, was unable to prevent the side from being relegated.

During his time at Vicarage Road he signed Kevin Phillips from local Hertfordshire team, Baldock Town for only £10,000.

Roeder followed his tenure at Watford by taking a season away from the limelight, assuming a back seat role as Chris Waddle's assistant manager at Burnley.

The partnership did not prove to be successful and the pair narrowly avoided steering Burnley into the bottom tier of English football.

Only a home victory over Plymouth Argyle on the last day staved off relegation.

Roeder proved to be both an unpopular and controversial figure to the Burnley fans, hitting a low point when he was reported to have said that star player Glen Little was "not fit to lace the boots" of manager Chris Waddle.

Roeder left his role at Burnley alongside Waddle when the pair departed the club after only a single season in charge.

Roeder then worked as a coach under Glenn Hoddle for the England national team, before West Ham manager Harry Redknapp offered him an opportunity in club football again in 1999.

Initially appointed a coach by then manager Harry Redknapp, in the summer of 2001, Roeder was handed a chance to manage in the Premier League at West Ham United after the Hammers' failed attempts to attract Steve McClaren and then Alan Curbishley following Redknapp's departure.

Roeder's appointment was opposed by some supporters, who had expected a bigger name to replace Redknapp.

Roeder received a £15 million transfer kitty, and guided West Ham to seventh in his first season in charge.

He signed David James from Aston Villa, Tomáš Řepka from ACF Fiorentina for £5.5 million, and Don Hutchison from Sunderland for £5 million, a club record fee at the time.

In the 2002–03 season, West Ham struggled.

Řepka had serious disciplinary problems amassing ten yellow cards and one red card in thirty-two league appearances.

Don Hutchison turned out to be very injury-prone on his second spell with the club, playing only ten league games that season.

West Ham were bottom at Christmas and at that time no team had ever avoided relegation from that position.

Despite the January signings of Rufus Brevett, Lee Bowyer on a short-term deal, and Les Ferdinand, Roeder was unable to halt the team's slump.

Roeder had a dispute with striker Paolo Di Canio after he substituted Di Canio in a match against West Bromwich Albion.

It was while he was at West Ham United that he was initially diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2003.

He later acted as a managerial advisor for Stevenage.

In April 2003, Roeder suffered a brain tumour and was replaced by Trevor Brooking for the final three games of the season.

Despite a late rally, West Ham were relegated with a record number of 42 points.

Roeder returned to work in July 2003, stating he had "unfinished business".

His managerial career included spells with numerous clubs including Gillingham, Watford, West Ham United, Newcastle United (with whom he won the 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup) and Norwich City.