Following the sad loss of Terry Venables last week, Pete Spencer has written a series of obituary articles – this is the third in the series, you can read part one here and part two here.
Venables wasn’t out of work for long as Tottenham again looked to resume their relationship with him. As he did everywhere else he put together an attractive side to watch. He re-signed Lineker from Barca and also captured the hottest property in English football at the time, Paul Gascoigne. Alex Ferguson at Manchester United had been keen on bringing in the mercurial midfielder from Newcastle, holding talks with the player.
Eventually, Gascoigne opted for Venables and London. The Venables/Gascoigne partnership was a classic one as the boss was able to get the best out of the player. This would prove to be the case in Euro ’96 too.
Spurs won the FA Cup in 1991, beating Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest. The game was probably more remembered for Gazza’s huge rush of blood to the head in the opening passages of play. This resulted in him putting in a dangerously reckless challenge on Gary Charles, and ultimately rupturing cruciate knee ligaments.
By then Spurs had already agreed to sell Gazza to Lazio in Italy. As it turned out this was the last time Venables was able to select him as the injury kept him out of the following season before he left for Italy. Terry said of the transfer;
“I’m very pleased for Paul but it’s like watching your mother-in-law drive off a cliff in your new car.”
The rest of Venables’ time at Spurs was dominated by off-the-field stories. He had become Managing Director as the club was going through a series of takeover bids. They were losing money and desperately needing someone to save them. In walked Alan Sugar who owned his own electronics company, Amstrad. Sugar appointed Venables as chief executive but it wasn’t long before the two clashed. On the outside they both appeared to be happy to duck and dive, wheel and deal and neither would have appeared out of place as barrow-boys in a Brick Lane market. Perhaps this was why they clashed?
Their pursuit of power tore the club apart.
Sugar, who had no prior football knowledge and didn’t give the impression of gaining any all the while he was involved with Spurs, eventually sacked Venables in May 1993.
The latter was temporarily reinstated after an injunction but subsequently lost a three-day hearing in the high court. It was a bitter defeat for Venables.
Those around him were amazed he managed to handle all his business dealings and the fall-out with Sugar and still maintain his passion for football. Towards the end of his time at White Hart Lane he had become more involved in first-team duties again.
Meanwhile, England was in dire need of a tactician and manager. He was overlooked in 1990 when Bobby Robson stepped down after Italia ’90 with The FA dithering over whether to offer him a new contract.
They chose Aston Villa’s Graham Taylor. He’d made his name guiding Watford all the way from the fourth tier to the first, finishing runners-up to Liverpool and reaching the FA Cup Final.
But Taylor seemed out of his depth, unable to motivate his players. He argued he could only work with the tools available yet we soon discovered he’d been choosing the wrong tools in the first place.
With England failing to qualify for USA ’94 after an increasingly chaotic qualifying campaign, the calls to give Terry the job became louder. While working as a pundit for the BBC during England’s final game of the group against San Marino, when the minnows scored within the opening minute, Terry was put on the spot by Jimmy Hill. He was uncharacteristically coy about whether he’d take the job or not.
The FA handed former England captain, Jimmy Armfield the task of looking for a successor and he recommended Venables.
He was appointed in January 1994. This wasn’t without criticism. There were increasing concerns among the media about over his business dealings, some of which were alarmingly close to ending up in court.
Venables immediately appointed Don Howe as coach and put Dave Sexton in charge of the U21s, both wise old owls.
With England named as hosts for Euro ’96 there were only friendlies to navigate, so Venables was relatively free to try out tactics and formations.
In his first match, he handed debuts to Darren Anderton, Graeme Le Saux and Matt Le Tissier. All three appeared unlikely to have been Taylor selections.
Venables was perhaps a little fortunate in he could call upon players like Shearer and Gascoigne when both had suffered long injuries during the previous manager’s tenure.
He was unbeaten in his first nine matches until Brazil arrived at Wembley in June 1995 for the Umbro International Trophy. With a side containing Roberto Carlos, Dunga, Edmundo, Juninho and Ronaldo, Brazil won comfortably, 3-1.
His first two years saw them draw half their matches and some of the press were yet to be convinced. As Euro ’96 loomed large he took the team off to the Far East in a bid to keep them away from the obvious hype which would be whipped up at home.
Unfortunately, the trip wasn’t without controversy.
Reports of wild nights in nightclubs and rumours of damage to a Cathay Pacific flight back, Venables pulled off a PR masterstroke. He called upon the squad to take collective responsibility for the incident, despite never revealing exactly what happened.
Then he turned it back on the media, accusing them of trying to hijack England’s plans. Excitement around the country for the home tournament was at fever pitch, yet some hacks were just looking to cause trouble and scupper the host nation’s chances.
This worked a treat as it just meant the players had the backing of the public who generally hated much of the press anyway.
Going into the tournament there were still concerns over his side. This was much the same for Ramsey back in 1966. Then a dull goalless draw against Uruguay in their opening game soon had the public questioning whether his promise of making England favourites for the World Cup was just talk. When Venables’ side were held to a 1-1 draw in their opening game against Switzerland there were similar concerns.
Venables had put his faith in Alan Shearer, then at Blackburn Rovers. But he hadn’t scored for the previous 12 matches, a period stretching to almost two years.
Before the trip to the Far East Venables told the player no matter what happened he would be the centre-forward for the Swiss game. Shearer was immediately buoyed by this as a huge confidence boost.
23 minutes into the opening game, Shearer repaid his manager’s faith.
England’s second game was against the Auld Enemy, Scotland. Both teams had drawn their opening matches so a win for either side would see them well-placed for the knockout stages. Scotland were far more settled and confident in the first half. Venables had used a back four but with England getting overrun in midfield he decided to revert to three at the back as Jamie Redknapp replaced Stuart Pearce.
Redknapp, then at Liverpool, was hugely influential as soon as he came on. The difference was clear. With the midfield secured, this allowed Gary Neville freedom to come forward down the right and eight minutes into the second half his cross was headed in at the far post by Shearer.
Then during a crazy couple of minutes, Scotland were given a penalty. Seaman saved from Gary McAllister and England went up the other end where Gascoigne scored one of the greatest goals ever seen at Wembley.
The win had the country back at 10 on the excitement scale. Three days later Venables turned it up to 11.
England produced probably the greatest team performance they ever have when they took apart a decent Dutch side. They didn’t just beat them, they absolutely slaughtered them, 4-1. Leading by a goal at half-time they produced a stunning display during an 11-minute period which blew away their opponents.
Years later people have marvelled at the pressing game from Klopp and Guardiola. Yet Venables was employing this well before them. England pressed the Dutch, released Gascoigne and had the Dutch running round in circles.
That 4-1 win is still the best England performance I’ve ever seen.
Nothing in Venables’ career, though was ever plain sailing. He always seemed to be battling against circumstances or events. Just when you thought he’d hit the big time something would come along and knock him back.
So it came when this same England team, irresistible against Netherlands then fluffed their lines in the Quarter-Finals against Spain. A couple of fortunate disallowed goals saw England still in the game as it went to a shootout. Seaman was again the saviour to see them reach the Semi-Final.
One incident in the shootout seemed to sum up the belief and confidence the manager had instilled in the team.
Shearer confidently scored the first kick, but Hierro hit his against the bar. Platt and Amor then scored theirs and with England 2-1 up their third selection was Pearce. The nation had never forgotten he was one of those who missed against Germany in the Italia ’90 Semi-Final.
The whole country held its breath, some wondered if he had the bottle, and others worried about his state of mind if he missed again. They needn’t have worried as he thumped it into the corner. The emotion that spilled out in his celebration just galvanised the crowd and his teammates.
Seaman eventually saved Spain’s fourth kick from Nadal and England were through to the last four, where they would again come up against the Germans.
On a balmy Wednesday night at Wembley England took on Germany, the nation they’d overcome in the World Cup Final back in 1966.
Shearer was again on target with an early goal. Five goals in five matches and he was back to his unstoppable best. But the Germans levelled and what followed was a fascinating battle between two sides who could both point to being favourites for the trophy.
Still level after 90 minutes, they entered a golden goal period of extra time. This was a rule which lasted for about 10 years as a way of trying to reduce the number of games going to a shootout. Extra time would be played in the normal way but ended if either side scored. This often made for a more boring additional period as neither side dared make a mistake.
But in this case, both teams went at each other and both had chances to win it. England had the best chances as Anderton hit the post and Gascoigne just couldn’t get his foot to a chance which flashed across the area with the goal at his mercy.
Eventually, a shootout was called for, and what a shootout. Some of the most perfect penalties you’d ever see had every player successful from each team’s first five. Gareth Southgate volunteered to take England’s sixth.
With only four caps going into the tournament, the Crystal Palace player had been one of England’s best players throughout. But his kick was less convincing than anyone’s and Andreas Köpke saved it.
German skipper, Andreas Möller was handed the task of winning it for the Germans. He’d received a yellow card in extra time, denying him a place in the Final should they get there. Unbowed he coolly converted his kick and England were out.
Prior to the tournament, Venables had announced he would step down after, no matter whether England won or not. Now with the England team back as one of the best around, the country was faced with the realisation they would never see him in charge again.
When interviewed since, nearly all the players have pointed to feeling they’d let their manager down. Another example of Venables showing more belief in a player than they possessed themselves. The country then went into a period of mourning, not only for another Semi-Final loss but also for the injustice of Venables not being able to continue his work.
In just two years he’d transformed the side from a tentative, muddled group of players, to one which believed they could take anyone on.
In attempting to learn from the mistake of Italia ’90, The FA announced Glenn Hoddle as Venables’ replacement once Euro ’96 was over. Six years before, Bobby Robson announced he was leaving the job after Italia ’90 and once the tournament was over he rode off into the sunset with his manager’s chair still vacant.
Venables made two crucial adjustments contributing to England’s success at Euro ’96. David Platt had been captain for 19 matches and many of the friendlies leading up to the tournament. But Venables gave the responsibility to Platt’s former Arsenal teammate, Tony Adams. Adams was immense during the tournament.
The other change may have seemed a subtle one but again made a huge difference. Recognising the early days of the Premier League meant players in 1996 were different from when he was one or even from his early days as coach. So he brought in Bryan Robson to work alongside him and Howe. It was another masterstroke as Robson was still a legend amongst the group, some of whom had played under him as England captain. It gave a seamless link from the older Venables and Howe, to someone who would understand the mentality of the modern player.
Over the next few years, exciting young players such as Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Michael Owen and Rio Ferdinand emerged. One can only wonder how they would’ve blossomed under Venables.
He stepped away from the national job as he knew there were dark clouds on the horizon regarding his business interests. As it turned out he was disqualified from acting as a company director for seven years in January 1998. The case against him included accusations of bribery, deception and manipulation of accounts. The press would’ve been all over him with this and he probably knew The FA would struggle to deal with the embarrassment.
Join us tomorrow as we reflect on El Tel’s post-England career.
