Terry Venables – GAME OF THE PEOPLE

THE Passing of Terry Venables has reminded the football world that he was arguably the most charismatic manager England have ever had. Many people consider the England side of 1996 was the best since the World Cup victory of 1966. They were probably the best team in the competition, beaten on penalties by Germany in a heartbreaking semi-final. Players like Gary Lineker and Gary Neville have praised his coaching abilities, with Lineker claiming he was the best and most innovative coach the country has produced. Venables also included elements of some of his biggest influences, including Tommy Docherty and Malcolm Allison.

Manchester City have unveiled a statue of the trio of players that inspired the club to a golden period of success in the 1960s – Colin Bell, Francis Lee and Mike Summerbee. The triumvirate were part of the team that won the Football League in 1968, the FA Cup in 1969 and the Football League Cup and European Cup-Winners’ Cup in 1970. Bell and Lee have both passed away, but Summerbee was present at the unveiling: “This is a special moment for me and my family,” he said. The statue, which mirrors the “trinity” statue at Old Trafford of Best, Charlton and Law, was created by David Williams-Ellis. The City lads won more trophies than their revered United counterparts by four pots to three!

The German football league has rekindled its interest in getting into bed with private equity, hoping that its members will eventually come round to agreeing a deal. According to media reports, the league has contacted five P/E firms: Advent, Blackstone, Bridgepoint, CVC and EQT. The 36 member clubs have already rejected two attempts to sell part of the competition’s media rights, but the aim of the league is to make the Bundesliga more competitive on the international stage. Despite being the best supported league, the Bundesliga has fallen behind the Premier League in recent years.

VAR continues to be a controversial tool that divides the football community. Now it is Wolverhampton Wanderers turn to claim injustice after their 3-2 defeat at Fulham, a game decided by an added time penalty by the home side’s Willian. Wolves manager Gary O’Neil claims his team have been victims of a string of poor decisions and that it has cost them seven points this season. Increasingly, and dependent on the final result of a VAR-affected game, managers believe VAR is no longer fit for purpose. Interestingly, the victors rarely complain about VAR!

Everton and their followers are clearly upset by the 10-point penalty they received due to their spending habits. However, there is a very obvious refusal to acknowledge the situation is not just about a £ 19.5 million breach. It is about excessive losses over a period of time. Fans held up banners calling the Premier League corrupt and a plane flew over Goodison Park bearing the same message, but the bear-pit that was promised was soon put down by a 3-0 victory for Manchester United. Is the 10-point penalty fair? It does seem harsh but there is a possibility this will be reduced. Much also depends on how Manchester City and Chelsea fare with their problems. Everton have to realise they have been badly run for a while and they have made some very poor decisions around expenditure and recruitment. It also does them no credit to merely blame the ownership and try and distance themselves from the people in the boardroom. Everton is an asset owned by Farhad Moshiri; the club does not belong to the fans in real terms. The heart and soul of a club may be created by the fans, but Moshiri bought the club and therefore, it was his. If this type of scenario is to change, then the status of football clubs has to be something other than a free market business. Maybe clubs should become charities, but then they won’t be able to run with the hounds. If the game wants to be all about “big business” and benefit from financial markets, then it also has to accept the downside of being a transferable asset class. Everton will get over this setback, but who’s next?

HE MAY not have been everyone’s cup of tea, but it was quite hard to dislike Terry Venables. He was your original London football man: a snappy dresser, street-wise, innovative, flashy, eclectic and, above all, quite a talent. In fact, at his best, he was an excellent player, one that always had his eye on creating something unusual on the field of play. There was also a bit of ego wrapped up in that cheeky, Eastender persona, a facet of his character that not everyone could deal with. His passing, at the age of 80, represents the end of one of football’s most colourful careers.

Terry Venables was born on January 6, 1943. You could say that he entered the world ahead of his time. Venables would arguably have slotted into contemporary management far easier today than he did in the 1970s. He was a savvy coach, an inventive manager that was influenced by continental techniques and cunning. Free kicks, tactics and reading the game – he excelled in these aspects of football before he moved into management. This was a man that also had the confidence to try other things in life such as singing, writing, club ownership and tailoring. It was no surprise that some football people, those who had grown up in the muscular, macho world of the post-war game could not always manage him.

Venables spent much of his time in London football circles; as a player, he started with West Ham and then appeared for Chelsea, Tottenham, Queens Park Rangers and Crystal Palace. His best football was in his time at Chelsea, where he was a pivotal figure in Tommy Docherty’s young side. During this period, he won his two England caps and was named among the stand-bys for the 1966 World Cup squad.

Chelsea went close to major success but after another failed attempt at glory in 1965-66, Venables was sold to Tottenham for £ 80,000, mostly because his relationship with Docherty was very strained. At Spurs, he never quite gelled with the players or manager, although he won the FA Cup in 1967 against his old boss at Chelsea.

He left White Hart Lane in the summer of 1969 for Queens Park Rangers, who paid £ 70,000 for the 26 year-old. He started to take coaching sessions at Loftus Road but departed in 1974 for Crystal Palace, where he linked up with Malcolm Allison. He retired on New Years’ Eve 1974 due to arthritis and became coach alongside Allison.

His managerial career began with Palace, where he took the club back to the first division and created a team that some believed could dominate football. However, the young Palace side could not live up to the hype and Venables moved back to QPR where he took the team to the FA Cup final in 1982. His success and reputation as a coach who would adopt unorthodox methods earned him a stint with Barcelona where he became known as “El Tel”. Barcelona won the La Liga title in 1985 and a year later, Venables took them to the European Cup final in Seville, but they surprisingly lost to Steaua Bucharest on penalties. By 1987, he was back in England and managing Tottenham. In 1991, he managed them to FA Cup success, beating Nottingham Forest 2-1. He went on to form a consortium to buy Tottenham, which brought him into conflict with Alan Sugar, the chairman. Venables left the club and, to the surprise of many observers, was appointed manager of England in January 1994.

Venables was not entirely trusted by the football establishment, but few could deny he invigorated the England set-up ahead of Euro 96. In fact, his team played some good football with an emphasis on attack in a richly enjoyable tournament. There were many fans who were disappointed by his pre-determined departure after the European Championship. In 23 games with Venables as manager, England lost just once.

He continued to be on the fringe of the game, but dipped his toes back into the water several times, with Australia, Palace (again), Middlesbrough and Leeds United. He was always in demand in one way or another, but his career would never scale the peaks again.

Venables had his detractors, notably those that summed his career up as “full of promise but short on delivery”. It seemed fairly clear he was someone that wanted to be the master of his own progress, either on the pitch, in the boardroom or in the dugout. This may be why his list of achievements was never very rich, an yet the fascination with Venables and his various activities was always quite intense. His story is, most definitely, one of great intrigue.