Hammers not for Hoddle

Former England manager Glenn Hoddle has ruled himself out of the running for the West Ham hotseat, insisting that the timing is not right for a move back into club football.

The Hammers sacked boss Avram Grant immediately after the 3-2 defeat at Wigan on Sunday, which confirmed their relegation to the npower Championship and former Newcastle manager Chris Hughton , QPR boss Neil Warnock, Martin O'Neill and Sam Allardyce have all been mooted as potential candidates.

Hoddle has seen his name crop up on some betting markets but the former Chelsea and Tottenham manager insists it is merely speculation, and said at a Football 40 event at Planet Hollywood, London: "At the moment I don't think the timing is right, put it that way."

Hoddle, who now runs an academy aimed at giving young players released by their clubs a second chance, added: "I've never said that I have finished with football management at any level.

"That is something that might be for the future and I didn't replace that with my football academy, I just felt football needed something like that.

"The guys needed something of second a chance to get back into the game and we're proving we are doing that quite reasonably well.

"In the future, I've always said international football would be interesting for me after doing it with England.

"And who is to say that at some stage in some way, shape or form in the future going back into mainstream management is not something I am saying no to.

"But at this moment of time I am quite happy with the development of the academy and I need to sort of push that through over the next season."