IT IS Glenn Hoddle's controversial belief that the disabled, and others, are being punished for sins in a former life. That does not make him a bad England coach, but it is likely to ignite an inferno of an argument.

It is a debate that Hoddle is happy to join, but do not expect him to compromise. As he begins a critical international year next week by naming his squad to play France, Hoddle is more certain than ever in his team, himself and his principles.

He is prepared to go to war with the media critics who turned on him last year. "The gloves are off," he said - and he is ready to throw the first bare knuckle punch. The Sun, not the types to lie down quietly, will be preparing their back-page retaliation.

From anyone else, such declarations of intent might seem to be so much posturing. Not from Hoddle, whose self-belief could fill Wembley. If it appears, at times, to be a weakness, his conviction remains his greatest strength. Hoddle once wrote that he had never suffered from stress as a player or club manager and, while the international job may have chipped away at his hard veneer, he is not about to crumple under a barrage of doubts. Not when there are greater forces to guide him.

Hoddle's strength, he explained, comes from his faith in the afterlife, which has been a comfort during the more troubled months of his reign. Whether it reassures others depends on whether you believe his assertion that you must reap what has been sown in a previous existence. Let him explain.

"My beliefs have evolved in the last eight or nine years, that the spirit has to come back again," Hoddle said. "That is nothing new, that has been around for thousands of years. You have to come back to learn and face some of the things you have done, good and bad. There are too many injustices around.

"You and I have been physically given two hands and two legs and half-decent brains. Some people have not been born like that for a reason. The karma is working from another lifetime. I have nothing to hide about that. It is not only people with disabilities. What you sow, you have to reap.

"You have to look at things that happened in your life and ask why. It comes around."

It seemed to be an appropriate moment to ask what Hoddle must have done in a former life to deserve the trials of the England job, but he did not see it as a joking matter. "There are millions of people who would swap with me," he said.

Hoddle, who is happier to reveal his beliefs than his teams, may find that the need for explanations is not over. Eileen Drewery, the faith-healer whom he has introduced to the England camp, is writing a book - Why Me? My Life as a Healer - which is due for publication on April 22 and, much as Hoddle protested otherwise this week, it seems certain to renew old controversies.

"I find it quite humorous that people can't handle it," he said. "Eileen has been working on this book for 12 or 14 years and it is a fascinating story of her life, in which I play a small part. That is not a reason to run and hide. I might write a book about it myself in many years to come.

"Let me tell you a little story. She was talking to someone recently about serialisation and they came back and said: 'We don't want it, there is no gossip on Glenn Hoddle.' That is a sad reflection on people.

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