When interviewed by "FourFourTwo" magazine, McManaman stated, "I think I probably least enjoyed my time when Glenn Hoddle was the manager. But I wouldn't say he was necessarily the worst. He had his ways of training and ways of acting and all managers have different ways of doing things; it's the same with club managers. Sometimes when you join up with England and you don't play as often as you did under a certain other manager – then you'll think it's terrible. I loved going to play with England. For instance, I did get to go to the World Cup even though I only played for 17 minutes. That kind of experience leaves an indelible mark on your mind. So I don't really think of it in terms of "worst"; but going to the World Cup and not playing much was a big thing for me, really, and that was under Glenn, of course." Hoddle also arranged for McManaman to meet a disabled fan (and thus fulfil his lifelong wish of meeting McManaman) while the fan was on the verge of death, in 1997, though the story only broke a year after Hoddle had been sacked from the England job for alleged disparaging comments about disabled people.