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Glenn Roeder (1955-2021)

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Norwich Career: 2007- 2008 (Manager)
Current Club:
Date of Birth: 13/12/1955 (Woodford, Essex)
Nationality: English

Biography

Glenn Roeder was appointed manager of Norwich City on 30th October 2007 - three weeks after the departure of his predecessor Peter Grant.

Roeder's playing career began at Leyton Orient where he made 115 appearances, scoring four goals. In 1978, he moved to QPR playing 157 times for the Loftus Road club, with 17 goals. After a loan spell with Notts County, he joined Newcastle in 1984 and went on to make 193 appearances, scoring eight times. He joined Watford in 1989, playing 78 times and scoring two goals in two seasons. In 1992, he moved to Gillingham where he made eight appearances before being appointed as their manager in August 1992.

He was sacked by the Gills in 1993after losing 22 of 35 games in charge but made a quick return to football when appointed manager of Watford, where he stayed until 1996. In 1998, he joined Burnley as Chris Waddle's Assistant Manager but their management team was shown the door the following year.

He was appointed coach of West Ham in 1999 and took temporary charge of the club in May 2001 following manager Harry Redknapp's departure. Roeder is offered the job full-time later in the summer after the club failed to land first choices Alan Curbishley and Steve McClaren. In his first full season in charge, Roeder took West Ham to seventh place in the Premiership.

In April 2003, Roeder suffered from a brain tumour and was out of action for two months. Poor form earlier in the season leads to relegation and a poor start to the 2003/4 season saw Roeder released from his contract on August 24th 2003.

In June 2005, he was appointed academy manager at Newcastle United. In February 2006, he took over as first team manager following Graeme Souness' sacking. He was confirmed as manager in May 2006 and appointed Kevin Bond as his assistant. Bond is later sacked following allegations of corruption made by BBC's Panorama programme. A poor season led to his resignation on May 6th 2007. After speculation linking him with a Director of Football role at Arsenal, he fended off other candidates to be selected as Norwich's new manager.

Roeder savd Norwich from relegation in his first season, primarily through loan signings like Martin Taylor, Ched Evans, Ryan Bertrand and Alex Pearce. The summer of 2008 was turbulent ad saw many backroom staff and players leave the club as Roeder sought to make his own imprint on the team. Departures included Darren Huckerby, Dion Dublin (who retired).Jason Shackell and Chris Martin (on loan to Luton). Considering the departures made in January 2008, the squad was very bare and there were few permanent replacements (Dejan Stefanovic, Sammy Clingan., David Bell and Wes Hoolahan). The squad was supported by loan signings of often young players who had mixed impact (Ryan Bertrand, Elliott Omozusi, John Kennedy, Arturo Lupoli, Leroy Lita etc). Injuries to key players (Stefanovic, Kennedy) and an unsettled thin squad did not help City's performances and the club found themselves in another relegation battle.

On 14th January 2009, with City sitting in 21st place in the Championship having won just three of their last 14 games, Norwich sacked Roeder after the club had exited the FA Cup Third Roun with a 1-0 home defeat to Charlton. A statement issued on the Canaries' official website confirmed Roeder's contract had been “terminated with immediate effect”.

It read: “Glenn Roeder joined the club in November 2007 and with the help of Paul Stephenson and Lee Clark revitalised the fortunes of the Canaries and lifted them from the bottom of the table to eventual Championship safety in the 2007-08 campaign. Chairman Roger Munby said: “We'd like to place on record our sincere gratitude and admiration for what Glenn and his staff achieved last season when they saved the club from relegation against the odds. However, this season the position has become untenable and it is with regret that the board has decided to take this step. We are in the process of deciding who will take charge of the team for Saturday's Championship match against Barnsley at Carrow Road and a further announcement will be made about this in due course.”

Potential replacements, according to the Pink Un website, include Aidy Boothroyd, Malky Mackay, Mark Robins, Mark Bowen, Paul Jewell. Mick Harford, Alan Curbishley, Martin Allen, Age Hareide, Nigel Worthington, Roberto Martinez, Darren Ferguson, Paul Ince, Roy Keane, Stuart Pearce, Steve Tilson, Iain Dowie, Bryan Gunn, Dion Dublin, Mike Phelan, Ian Holloway, Peter Taylor, Iwan Roberts, Ian Crook and Darren Huckerby.

In April 2011, Roeder was appointed to a scouting role at Aston Villa by Gerard Houllier and the ex-defender has become a regular at the club's training ground. Roeder is spending his time watching Villa's forthcoming opponents and analysing their strengths and weaknesses. He puts his information in a dossier for Houllier to then prepare Villa accordingly on the training ground. He stayed until the end of June 2012 when incoming manager Paul Lambert removed the existing scouring network at Villa including Roeder, Paul Montgomery and Artur Numan.

At the end of June 2013, new Millwall manager Steve Lomas enlisted Roeder to help scout for him as the Lions' Chief Scout was on holiday for two weeks.

In the autumn of 2014, Roeder was assisting Cardiff chairman Vincent Tan with the recruitment of a new manager, recomending Leyton Orient's Russell Slade.

On 20th April 2015, new Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri, the Thai tycoon, appointed Roeder and former Hull City chairman Adam Pearson to a three man management task force, along with head coach Stuart Gray, with the intention of returning the Owls to the Premer League.

Roeder left Wednesday in December 2015. On 24th March 2016, he was appointed as managerial assistant to Stevenage's caretaker boss Darren Sarll. Stevenage chairman Phil Wallace said "Darren Sarll is an excellent young coach who has the respect of the players and understands the DNA of the club, but obviously has limited experience as a professional manager. Rather than throw away his energy, dedication and skill set to get results, we are instead introducing top-level managerial experience and tuition to the management structure."

Roeder left Stevenage on 18th March 2018 following the sacking of Sarll with Stevenage 16th in League Two. Chairman Phil Wallace said "We haven't seen the progress expected since we strengthened in January so it is time to move on,"

On 28th February 2021 it was reported that Roeder had passed away after a long illness believed to be another brain tumour. Chair of the League Managers Association Howard Wilkinson said "Glenn was such an unassuming, kind gentleman who demonstrated lifelong dedication to the game. Not one to court headlines, his commitment and application to his work at all levels warrants special mention. Football has lost a great servant today and our sincere condolences go to Glenn's family and friends."

.Other tributes included Former England international Chris Waddle who played with Roeder at Newcastle. Waddle said ""Glenn was a top lad who loved football and was very much a family man, You can see by the reaction, what everybody thought about him.He was very professional but he had a good sense of humour. All the jobs he's been involved in, football was his life, as was his family. He was one of the first footballing centre-halves. Now we talk about Rio Ferdinand, players who are comfortable on the ball.But he didn't just stand in defence heading it away and kicking it away, he wanted to play. He had this stepover. Everyone knew he was going to do the stepover, but you still couldn't stop him. If he was around today he would definitely be playing at a top club."

Canaries goalkeeper Tim Krul played under Roeder at Newcastle and said: "Really sad to hear the passing of Glenn Roeder, was a great man to play alongside and work under when he became manager, thoughts with all of his family."


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