Terry Venables

[SuperDave]

Exactly.

"Mr Venables would like it to be known that he didn't know anything about the Air-uh job until his old mates Don and Don,( Jocasta - fix this so it reads in bold "The Official FAI consultancy team: )"The Official FAI consultancy team" (made up of an FAI employee that he played alongside for a considerable period, and his former assistant from the England set up - Jocasta - drop this bit from final proof. Ta. Hugh. ) approached him to tell him that there was a fair and balanced selection process in progress to select the next Ireland manager, and that Mr Venables was going to win. (Prob Overkill, Jocasta - take this bit out - fans wont like it -remember what Mr Delaney said!!!!!)

Mr Venables is delighted to take the reins at Air-uh, and is looking forward to his first competitve fixture sometime later on in the year, as he is unavailable for the Brazil friendly in February, (and most likely the others yet to be announced) due to previous scheduling commitments with the BBC's "Celebrity Holiday in the sun" programme.

We wish him a hearty "Chuckie our boys in green" indeed, and all the very best of British luck in his new hobby!


Wrmst Rgds,


PP Hugh Chancer, (on bhlf T.Venables)
Dirtbird, Fraudster and Chancer, Solicitors. "





Cynical? Moi? :rolleyes:

Fake solicitor names?
Lye, Steele and Plunder is the best

or

Robb, Cheet and Steele is up there too.

[ramsfan]

how can a guy who is not good enough to be england assistant manager be good enough to manage ireland, it justs of FAIlure picking a name and come hell or high water they will give him the job, we need a top class manager we have good players who with a decent manager and setup can get us places, we should be aiming for the martin o neill types, i personallly would love to see Gordon strachan as i think he has what we need , heart, belief and determination:)

[SuperDave]

how can a guy who is not good enough to be england assistant manager be good enough to manage ireland, it justs of FAIlure picking a name and come hell or high water they will give him the job, we need a top class manager we have good players who with a decent manager and setup can get us places, we should be aiming for the martin o neill types, i personallly would love to see Gordon strachan as i think he has what we need , heart, belief and determination:)

good point. has been linked with england job but not irish one. why not?

[eekers]

good point. has been linked with england job but not irish one. why not?

would he take a wage cut to manage ireland and abandon his long term plans with villa. i really really doubt it. we should approach him but only in the same way we should any other candidate

[dfx-]

16-168

How more emphatic can it get?

[ramsfan]

thats a definite contender in the FAI book, the more opposition there is the more likely he is to be appointed

[onephillyhughes]

16-168

How more emphatic can it get?



The Star better be reading!!!! ;)

[amaccann]

"Internet loonies don't want Tel"

[Ash]

Venables said: 'I was asked if I have heard from Ireland. I said I hadn't even heard from Scotland.

Dunno why he had to bring Scotland in to it?
Surely they have no interest in him

[Dr. Ogba]

Dunno why he had to bring Scotland in to it?
Surely they have no interest in him

Yeah they have a bit of sense it seems...

[Bondvillain]

Fake solicitor names?
Lye, Steele and Plunder is the best

or

Robb, Cheet and Steele is up there too.

Sue, Grabbit and Runne would be my favourite.

[Bondvillain]

The Star better be reading!!!! ;)

The Star are always reading....Sure isn't Billy their resident 'slow news day' correspondent, with one eye on youtube and the other on foot.ie? :rolleyes:

[Stuttgart88]

How exactly?

[osarusan]

Get a few sheets of white cloth stuck together, spray "We don't want Venables" in black paint, and stand outside FAI HQ.

Although, I'd prefer a "Call Roy Hodgson" banner. Just in case they've never heard of him.

[John83]

Sky writing.

[Bluebeard]

Send for Maxi

[citizenerased]

online petition is the way to go get a chain mail going around the country..then send it to the FAI, I was chatting to Mark Mullan,via email(Arie Haans agent) and he said this would be a great idea.

[mypost]

I mean this is the time to do it, if we sit be quietly and they appoint Venables we're in for another Stan shambles where we HAVE to sit through his theatrics for 2 years. The tragedy can be prevented now, not in 2 months time if he's appointed then it's too late.

Nothing can be as bad as the Stan shambles.

[Stuttgart88]

And what points would you include in the main body of the petition?

I'd cite:

- Patchy track record
- Euro 96 performance doesn't stand up to scrutiny
- Pre euro 96 performances were dreadful, including a shambolic display against an ageing Ireland team in February 1995
- Successes were a long time ago, in an era with key differences in the rules and the interpretation of the rules, especially in international competition
- Poor recent track record at club level
- Poor recent track record against the newer international teams from eastern Europe, exactly the type of team we'll be facing in WC 2010 qualification
- Angloccentric approach to the game. With such an approach Ireland and the British teams ALL failed to qualify for Euro 2008
- Concerns over probity
- The seemingly one way unobjective support of certain sections of the media deserves a response from the real stakeholders - the paying supporter
- Concerns over the selection process and the seemingly contradictory nature of the FAI CEO's "is he or isn't he involved" role
- Doubts over whether the position will get his full focus given his media interests

[Schlooooomp]

This thread and poll numbers are referenced in the star today, Kieran cunningham has written an article in the soccer supplement. Fair play to him, he is highlighting the lack of relevant experience on venables cv in the last 10 years or so.

[Drumcondra 69er]

And what points would you include in the main body of the petition?

I'd cite:

- Patchy track record
- Euro 96 performance doesn't stand up to scrutiny
- Pre euro 96 performances were dreadful, including a shambolic display against an ageing Ireland team in February 1995
- Successes were a long time ago, in an era with key differences in the rules and the interpretation of the rules, especially in international competition
- Poor recent track record at club level
- Poor recent track record against the newer international teams from eastern Europe, exactly the type of team we'll be facing in WC 2010 qualification
- Angloccentric approach to the game. With such an approach Ireland and the British teams ALL failed to qualify for Euro 2008
- Concerns over probity
- The seemingly one way unobjective support of certain sections of the media deserves a response from the real stakeholders - the paying supporter
- Concerns over the selection process and the seemingly contradictory nature of the FAI CEO's "is he or isn't he involved" role
- Doubts over whether the position will get his full focus given his media interests


Good points well made.

Is it worth directly e mailing any of the journalists who aren't in favour of his appointment such as Daniel McDonnell or Eamon Carr? Couldn't do any harm and wouldn't be a bad angle for a story from their point of view.

[osarusan]

An email petition is worthless to be honest. We send it, they ignore it, what's next? Something which involves face to face contact (or ideally fist to face contact) would be much better.

[citizenerased]

An email petition is worthless to be honest. We send it, they ignore it, what's next? Something which involves face to face contact (or ideally fist to face contact) would be much better.

Dont agree, its a start at least..its better than talking hot air and doing nothing, like the supposed delaney out protests in cardiff....

[citizenerased]

Humphries article today

Tom Humphries LockerRoom It's a lonely old business this waiting for the great leap forward. Poor old Stan was ushered off the stage after all the plates he tried to keep spinning crashed to the floor and he went all redfaced and had to concede he hadn't actually known that much about spinning plates in the first place.

The ringmaster, the slender guy with the foppish quiff, stepped in though and told us he personally wouldn't be auditioning the acts anymore and he recognised that seeing plates crash to the floor wasn't exactly topline entertainment in this day and age and he would be seeing to it we got something a little more sophisticated in future.

To this end he wouldn't be hiring the next headliner himself. There were people who would do that sort of thing, apparently. They might go to the Continent, where all manner of sophisticated artistry was available. And then! Ta da! Before you can say, "Knees up, Mother Brown," we are being asked to clap our hands together and look excited about Mistah Terry Venables.

El Tel is being offered to us as a break from the tradition of rinky-dink managers! Not just that but this most jaded and traditional of acts has been auditioned by the foppish ringmaster himself and now in a bizarre piece of reverse engineering is being passed on to the people who were supposed to find and audition him in the first place.

It's a little piece of tapdancing designed to soothe the foppish ringmaster fella, who doesn't believe that the buck ever stops with him.

Of course we in the media are full of it. The FAI is happily leaking every detail about the process and using the media as a sort of bargain-basement focus group.

Now El Tel has always been quite the silver-tongued charmer when it comes to the media. Owning a watering hole called Scribes West was a fantastic way to make the Fourth Estate think he was a fine fellow, and if you flick through El Tel's back pages you will find his apologists and supporters have always vastly outnumbered his detractors.

And so this week there is no questioning the wisdom of appointing a man who has just been bumped from his job assisting in one of the most humiliating periods of history English football has known. Hey! Lighten up, folks, he's good enough for us. And he's popular with the biro jockeys. We need be no more ambitious than that.

Even the name, El Tel, so redolent of straw hats with Kiss Me Quick on them and oul wans singing Una Paloma Blanca, was bestowed on Venables as an honorific by a grateful tabloidery when, by moving to Barcelona at the start of the 1984-1985 season, he gave them the chance to make regular, all-expenses-paid trips to Spain.

Lots of what is believed to be true about Venables as a coach and manager stems from that time in Spain. He wasn't though, as sometimes supposed, the great master of the technical and tactical arts people suppose him to be. Bernd Schuster (not a Venables signing) was in his late pomp and drove Barca to success from midfield that year.

Barca played a traditional English 4-4-2 style though, and when the rest of Spain caught up months later the jig was up. Barca lost the following year's European Cup final to Steaua Bucharest despite playing in Seville in front of 50,000 of their own supporters.

Venables talked up beforehand the sort of football they would play but never delivered and a scoreless game went to extra time and then penalties.

More interestingly, Bernd Schuster, when taken off, walked straight out of the stadium and never mended his relationship with Venables, a split with a key player which was to presage Venables's inability to get along with either Olivier Dacourt or David Batty when he would become manager of Leeds United many years later.

Venables was eventually fired from Barcelona having failed to trouble the engravers with the task of etching Barca's name on to any more silverware. He brought Gary Lineker to the city, a good move counterbalanced by bringing Mark Hughes also. One worked. One didn't. Not the stuff of genius.

He returned to England to manage Tottenham for six years during which he won an FA Cup (Spurs' traditional win in a year with a one in it), and despite spending freely and securing one third-place finish he never really launched Spurs to be anything better than the mid-table side he was hired to stop them being.

Inevitably again, a clash of personalities developed and he fell out with Alan Sugar over business dealings. Venables beetled away, hired some learned friends and gained a temporary injunction to have himself reinstated. Later though he lost a high court hearing and was ordered to pay costs.

His assiduous courting of key media people though paid dividends again.

Graham Taylor , more to be pitied than laughed at, was laughed out of the England job when he failed to get them to the 1994 World Cup. The red tops wanted El Tel for England. The FA blazers viewed him as damaged goods (something which doesn't bother us at all) and eventually succumbed but wouldn't dignify him with the title of England manager. He was coach.

England hosted the 1996 European Championship. Sparing themselves the need to qualify.

Venables's talented team played some good football but couldn't close the deal. They went out on penalties to Germany in the semi-final. Probably the pinnacle of Venables's managerial career.

Everything since then has been vaguely comical. Managing Australia and contriving to lose out on World Cup qualification in a play-off with Iran. He consulted at Portsmouth. He left in controversial circumstances, with Portsmouth bottom of the table. He spent nine ignominious months at Crystal Palace before leaving in acrimony with no success to show.

He was out of management for two years before becoming "head coach" to Bryan Robson at free-spending Middlesbrough. His acumen helped Boro secure a wonderful 14th-place finish. He walked after six months.

On and on.

In July 2002, Venables came across the poster boy for chairmen with more money than sense, Peter Ridsdale, and became manager of Leeds United. By December 2002 poor old Leeds realised they had the manager they deserved.

The team had crashed out of the League Cup and the Uefa Cup and were mired in the bottom half of the table. By March 2003 Venables had been sacked, jacked and fired.

And since his CV has been fleshed out with the glory of being assistant to Steve McClaren, he takes a generous share of the blame for England's heroically comical failure to qualify for next summer's European Championship.

This then is the beaten docket the FAI is holding up to us as if it were the Golden Ticket to Willie Wonka's chocolate factory. A guy whose isolated successes have been overhyped and oversold, a guy who cuts and runs in any place where he doesn't fall out with players or officialdom, a guy from whom the smell of cordite is never far away.

This then is the limit of our ambitions? More of the same? England are raising their eyes and looking at Jose Mourinho. We are scrapping about for England's cast-offs.

What's that quote Roy Keane is fond of? To keep doing the same thing expecting different results is the definition of stupidity.

C'mon down, Tel. Have a pint of the black stuff and tell us how Oirish you feel, begob and bejapers.

© 2007 The Irish Times

[Juanace]

Dont agree at all with this. Very one-sided view of El Tel. Any player who works with him seemed to have only good things to say. We need someone whoo will bring back a positive vibe to the team and i thnk he would. Him or Hodgson id be happy with

[citizenerased]

well in fairness the players had great things to say about Stan...his record doesnt satnd up at all. We really need to do something to voice our concern!!!!!!!!!!

[Stuttgart88]

We need someone whoo will bring back a positive vibe to the team and i thnk he would. Like Stan & Mick Byrne against Sweden? The feelgood didn't last long once we started getting outplayed and outthought by the likes of Chile and Cyprus and getting thoroughly spanked by Holland.

I do see where you're coming from, but more than this is required in my opinion.

[osarusan]

well in fairness the players had great things to say about Stan...his record doesnt satnd up at all. We really need to do something to voice our concern!!!!!!!!!!

Here was my first post on this thread-

Get a few sheets of white cloth stuck together, spray "We don't want Venables" in black paint, and stand outside FAI HQ.
.
What do you think? It's easy to do, visible-especially of you have invited a press photographer, and only takes 1 or 2 (but hopefully more) fans.

[Bondvillain]

Any email petitions I have seen in the past have not only singularly failed to achieve their objectives, but have been hijacked by "amusing" buffoonery and rendered practically useless halfway through their journey.

If you must contact the FAI and their supporters in the press, a delivery of Individual mails carries more weight, figuratively and literally than a single petition (a petition that will no doubt invariably be signed by, amongst others, Mike Rotch , Anita Bath and I.P. Freely.)

[Schlooooomp]

Thankfully Humphries has decided to let us know his thoughts on venables.

A paragraph from Paul Lennon in The Star:

"Gerard Houllier and Roy Hodgson have their strengths but neither commands the respect that El Tel does when it comes to tactics, coaching and player motivation."

I really despair at some of the Journalism in this country, I am not fan of Houllier by any measure but the simple fact is that he has won trophies is the near past, both domestic and European, while venables hasn't even got a sniff of a respectable job in the last number of years. McLaren rescued him from obscurity, he was thanked by venables by undermining him in his newspaper column.

Hodgson also has trophies to his name, he is currently managing (well resigned at mo), he has a number of options and most importantly from my perspective, he knows how to get a team to a major tournament.

Does anybody on the continent even remember venables? Both Houllier and Hodgson are well respected on the continent. Paul, football does not begin and end in England, venables is not the man for the job, he is a joke and nobody else would touch him with a barge poll.

If he is hired then there is no doubting the fact that John Delaney has to be removed from the FAI for repeated attempts at destroying Irish football.

[Drumcondra 69er]

Good article by Humphries. I wonder what his take on Hodgson is?

[Jerry The Saint]

Sue, Grabbit and Runne would be my favourite.

Dewey, Cheatem and (Don) Howe.

[Bondvillain]

Dewey, Cheatem and (Don) Howe.

Score!:D

[citizenerased]

Any email petitions I have seen in the past have not only singularly failed to achieve their objectives, but have been hijacked by "amusing" buffoonery and rendered practically useless halfway through their journey.

If you must contact the FAI and their supporters in the press, a delivery of Individual mails carries more weight, figuratively and literally than a single petition (a petition that will no doubt invariably be signed by, amongst others, Mike Rotch , Anita Bath and I.P. Freely.)

I see where your coming from regarding the petition...is his mail address john.delaney@fai.ie???

Regarding the banner thing, good in theory, but how will you/we orhestrate it..we need a good group of fans to show up for it even to be considered by the media as a story!! I doubt most would bother turning up..

[Dr. Ogba]

I see where your coming from regarding the petition...is his mail address john.delaney@fai.ie???

Regarding the banner thing, good in theory, but how will you/we orhestrate it..we need a good group of fans to show up for it even to be considered by the media as a story!! I doubt most would bother turning up..


also haven't the FAI upped sticks to Blanch now, which would make it a bit more of a pain in the arse to organise....

[NeilMcD]

Coincidence.

[Dr. Ogba]

indeed

[geysir]

also haven't the FAI upped sticks to Blanch now, which would make it a bit more of a pain in the arse to organise....

Could be, especially if you were thinking to scale those new railings.

[EalingGreen]

Humphries article today

Tom Humphries LockerRoom

More interestingly, Bernd Schuster, when taken off, walked straight out of the stadium and never mended his relationship with Venables, a split with a key player which was to presage Venables's inability to get along with either Olivier Dacourt or David Batty when he would become manager of Leeds United many years later.

© 2007 The Irish Times

I've not really the time nor the inclination to post my twopennorth about El Tel, but the above section in Humphries rant, er, considered journalistic evaluation made me laugh out loud - especially in the context of the anti-Venners camp complaining about his (TV's) manipulation of the media.

Anyhow, so El Tel is to be damned becauser he fell out with Bernd Schuster. :eek:

Just read the following from BS's Wikipedia entry (I know, I know):

"During his heyday as a player Schuster and his wife, Gaby, were well known celebrities in Germany, and were both loved and hated. Gaby had a controversial reputation, worsened when she took over the job as her husband's manager. She was soon labelled by the press as being "Bernd's dragon-like boss" without whom he would never even sign a bill in a restaurant. During the Schusters' residence in Spain, Gaby was also notorious for her often very public, rude, and interfering comments directed towards FC Barcelona coach Udo Lattek and national coach Jupp Derwall when her husband played for them. Gaby and Bernd Schuster are still married and have four children. Gaby is a famous sport manager but she has not been Bernd Schuster's manager for some years.

Schuster was an important part of the FC Barcelona team during the 1980s, leading the game from midfield and scoring many goals. The team bought other stars like Diego Maradona, Allan Simonsen and Gary Lineker, but only Bernd, genial and controversial at the same time, was a profitable player for the club. His club president Josep Luís Nuñez and some trainers like Helenio Herrera, Udo Lattek, Terry Venables and Luis Aragones had difficult relations with him"
OR
"Schuster won only twenty-one caps for the West German national team and he retired from international football at the extremely young age of 24, due to his repeated disagreements with the German Football Association, then national team manager Jupp Derwall, and teammates including Paul Breitner"

As for Dacourt, he was p issing Leeds off even during the good times under DO'L:
http://www.rte.ie/sport/2002/0328/leeds.html
The above report (Mar.2002) came a fornight after the following comment by Dacourt:
"I signed a new contract in the summer until 2006, but it does not mean anything. I decided to stay because I felt good and the club made me vice-captain. But if I go, I will go to a great club"
(http://www.rte.ie/sport/2002/0310/leeds.html)
In the nine years since he left his "breakthrough" club in France (Strasbourg), the hugely talented Dacourt has played fewer than 250 games for five different clubs in three different countries.

As for David Batty? Maybe El Tel fell out with him - it wouldn't be hard, since Batty is best known for fighting on the pitch during a game. With a teammate.
Or maybe TV just didn't rate him - then again, I've a feeling Peter Reid and even Eddie Gray didn't either (any Leeds fans comfirm or deny?). Anyhow, it was the latter who got shot of him.

Personally, I can't make up my mind whether TV would be a great or a terrible appointment (can't see it being anywhere in between), but undoubtedly his finest credentials lie with his coaching and man-management. As such, I have earlier posted how not one player of note - even those he fell out with - has ever doubted his talents in those areas and it is notable that in the rush to condemn him, no-one can contradict this. (Humphries above efforts are pathetic, imo, reflecting the fact that football is not his major sport, especially English football).

Instead, I'll leave you with one anecdote which tells just as much about the man as his dodgy dealings. In 1988, Paul Gascoigne (Young Player of the Year) was the hot prospect in English football, with Newcastle realising they couldn't hold on to him. Apparently, Gazza wanted to join Liverpool, but they wouldn't pay the fee, so he talked to ManU. The two clubs agreed a fee and Gazza shook hands with Fergie on a deal, just before Fergie went off for a short holiday. Somehow, El Tel found out that Gazza hadn't actually put pen to paper. This is where the clever bit comes in. Instead of going to see him himself, he sent fellow Geordie and ex Magpie Chris Waddle up to Newcastle. Waddle took Gazza out on the town for the weekend, where naturally enough, they discussed football. And Spurs. And Venables.
Next thing, Gazza flies down to talk to Venners, who signs him up before Fergie's luggage had even come off the carousel at Manchester Airport!

As I say, it might all go horribly wrong if TV gets the ROI manager's job, but the players will love him, that's for sure! ;)

[Drumcondra 69er]

As for Dacourt, he was p issing Leeds off even during the good times under DO'L:
http://www.rte.ie/sport/2002/0328/leeds.html
The above report (Mar.2002) came a fornight after the following comment by Dacourt:
"I signed a new contract in the summer until 2006, but it does not mean anything. I decided to stay because I felt good and the club made me vice-captain. But if I go, I will go to a great club"
(http://www.rte.ie/sport/2002/0310/leeds.html)
In the nine years since he left his "breakthrough" club in France (Strasbourg), the hugely talented Dacourt has played fewer than 250 games for five different clubs in three different countries.

As for David Batty? Maybe El Tel fell out with him - it wouldn't be hard, since Batty is best known for fighting on the pitch during a game. With a teammate.
Or maybe TV just didn't rate him - then again, I've a feeling Peter Reid and even Eddie Gray didn't either (any Leeds fans comfirm or deny?). Anyhow, it was the latter who got shot of him.


Instead, I'll leave you with one anecdote which tells just as much about the man as his dodgy dealings. In 1988, Paul Gascoigne (Young Player of the Year) was the hot prospect in English football, with Newcastle realising they couldn't hold on to him. Apparently, Gazza wanted to join Liverpool, but they wouldn't pay the fee, so he talked to ManU. The two clubs agreed a fee and Gazza shook hands with Fergie on a deal, just before Fergie went off for a short holiday. Somehow, El Tel found out that Gazza hadn't actually put pen to paper. This is where the clever bit comes in. Instead of going to see him himself, he sent fellow Geordie and ex Magpie Chris Waddle up to Newcastle. Waddle took Gazza out on the town for the weekend, where naturally enough, they discussed football. And Spurs. And Venables.
Next thing, Gazza flies down to talk to Venners, who signs him up before Fergie's luggage had even come off the carousel at Manchester Airport!

As I say, it might all go horribly wrong if TV gets the ROI manager's job, but the players will love him, that's for sure! ;)

Venables fell out with Batty to accommodate his old buddy Paul Okon (an utter donkey), a decision that had a hell of a lot to do with the disastrous start that left Leeds in relegation trouble that Christmas which precipitated the sale of Woodgate and was a major factor in the crumbling of the house of sand that Peter Ridsdale had built. This was with a squad that had been top 5 the previous 4 seasons. The players there at the time said he was all over the place tactically and awful at getting his ideas across and seemed a man out of his time. Batty subsequently played under both Reid (a dreadful manager mind you) and Gray when fit.

As for Gazza, he's regretted that decision since. Venables man management or lack of it left Gazza free range to **** his career up against the wall, doubt Fergie would have allowed it. In any case, the relevance of a transfer deal nearly 20 years ago escapes me.

[tetsujin1979]

Fairly long article in tonight's Herald from Kenny Cunningham about why Terry Venables should be appointed the new manager, can't find it online though

[eekers]

Fairly long article in tonight's Herald from Kenny Cunningham about why Terry Venables should be appointed the new manager, can't find it online though

his ghost writer wouldnt have it up yet :)

[Stuttgart88]

Fairly long article in tonight's Herald from Kenny Cunningham about why Terry Venables should be appointed the new manager, can't find it online thoughWhat were the key points?

[Irish_Praha]

Fairly long article in tonight's Herald from Kenny Cunningham about why Terry Venables should be appointed the new manager, can't find it online though

Pity, Cunningham is one of the Irish players I have had most respect for in the last 5 years. I would even tip him to be a successful manager himself in the future, if he chooses to follow that path. Maybe TV would do a good job but there is just something about him I really dislike and I don't want him anywhere near the job. As has been mentioned, if the rumours are true and TV is Delaney's 1st choice he should just come out and say it instead of hiding behind this farcical selection panel. Venables would not be the worst choice available but all other viable options should also be persued to see if we can do better and I think we can easily do better with the funds and the managers available, i.e. Haan, Hodgson.

[stojkovic]

As for Gazza, he's regretted that decision since. Venables man management or lack of it left Gazza free range to **** his career up against the wall, doubt Fergie would have allowed it. In any case, the relevance of a transfer deal nearly 20 years ago escapes me.

Did Gazza not sign for Spurs so as to play with his mate Waddle only for Waddle to feck off to Marseilles shortly after.

[tetsujin1979]

What were the key points?
To be honest, I only glanced at it in the newsagents. There was something like "Cunningham: Why Venables is the best choice" on the cover so I picked up the paper and skimmed through the article.

[Drumcondra 69er]

What were the key points?

He also makes a case for Hodgson to be fair, the headline is where Venables gets top billing. Usual arguments about man management and good reports from players and that's pretty much it.

[cavan_fan]

I know there;s a great desire for a continental type manger here. The rational argument is that British style teams didnt do too well in qualifying. (I guess we also would all love to play like Holland or France). I have 2 problems with this.

British style teams didnt do that badly in qualifying. Scotland were a close third in one of the toughest groups of all time. It's no exaggeration to say they would probably have won in e.g. the Turkey/Greece group. Also, Northern Ireland did brillaintly. Against this was our failure and England's. All that shows is if you appoint someone not up to the job they will fail.

Even if we wanted to play a more continental game, this can't happen if all our players play in England and Scotland. It beggars belief to suggest that they play one way for 46 weeks a year and then turn into 352 players when away with Ireland.

[Stuttgart88]

That's a very good point but I feel that transforming the way we play isn't the main benefit, it's more to have a broader understanding of what you're up against at international level.

Getting our players organised & motivated, set up correctly, putting best players in best positions, making the right marginal decisions and getting the balance of the team right are the priorities, not whether we play fancy continental football or not. NI and Scotland did that but England rarely did in my opinion, though whether Venables should take any of the blame is a moot point.

However, the above should be the very basic requirement of any of our managerial candidates. You'd expect that Venables, Hodgson, Haan, O'Leary or whoever would at least do that much. Even Stan had us competitive at home to Germany & Czech Rep., two games that we could have won. Poor finishing in gilt edged positions cost us a win each time. Sure, we could have lost each game too, but don't tell me that wasn't the same when Scotland played France or NI played Spain for example.

If anyone then has something extra to bring e.g., a deeper knowledge of the current international game then that'd be an advantage. Squandering possession & speculative hoofs up the touchline should be anathema. You can be sure a "continental minded" coach would enforce that, you wouldn't be so sure a British style coach would. That's not the same as saying we should go all continental!

Coppell's name was thrown up again this morning. Despite the lack of international experience I think he can do the basics well and has shown that in the current game he can make a decent team of relatively ordinary players. I said ages ago I'd take Coppell in a heartbeat if he became available.

[eirebhoy]

Even if we wanted to play a more continental game, this can't happen if all our players play in England and Scotland. It beggars belief to suggest that they play one way for 46 weeks a year and then turn into 352 players when away with Ireland.
If we didn't have the players to play a better passing game then I'd agree with that but I think with the midfielders we have it's really important they play to their strengths which certainly isn't the hussle and bussle fast paced British style. Obviously someone like Kilbane would relish the physical battle but I'm hoping for a manager that won't be afraid to drop Kilbane.