There Are Many Students Of The Game But Venables Was A Professor Of The Sport

The former England manager did not inspire his players with rabble-rousing speeches but improved them with snippets of knowledge – and he was brilliant company

Terry Venables was a fascinating and complex character with many different facets. His success was founded on the sharpest of football minds. 

Two interactions sum him up. The first did not involve him and was with Peter Wall, a former player who knew him well.  

Wall had a long career in the game but one of the most interesting things about him was the managers he worked under. He was at Liverpool during the Bill Shankly era and spent seven years at Crystal Palace under Malcolm Allison and Venables. 

Shankly is an iconic figure way beyond Anfield. Allison was one of the most flamboyant managers of the 1970s, famous for his fedora hats, huge cigars and big-shot, champagne-drinking, womanising lifestyle. There was substance to Allison, though. As a player at West Ham, he chaffed at old-school training methods and the relentless running. After suffering a career-ending injury, he pioneered more modern preparation and was rewarded by winning the title with Manchester City in 1968 when working alongside Joe Mercer. Coaching was his forte but he was a huge presence when he took the reins at Palace. 

Wall talked at length about the trio. Shankly, he said, was inspiring. The Scot could make players believe. The problem with this is when things start to go wrong on the pitch and the dressing room has heard all the motivational speeches before. They stop believing.  

Shankly had the knack of surprising the team, finding an unexpected twist to lift his squad and maintain their sense of conviction. Allison, Wall said, didn’t have this skill. The Palace manager was unable to vary his script.  

The first season at a club, Big Mal was able to inspire the team. After that, the players had heard his shtick before. They stopped listening. Only new signings and the kids bought into Allison’s patter. This happens a lot with managers. You can see it in their diminishing returns. Brendan Rodgers is a good example in the modern age. 

Venables was different. He was not a rabble rouser but someone whose great ability was to spot the strengths and weaknesses of players and opponents. Wall said almost every week Venables would sidle up to him in training and give him a snippet of information about his upcoming direct opponent. The winger always turns inside when he gets the ball with his back to goal, he would say. Make sure you’re waiting for that. Technique and tactics were what made Venables great – combined with the communication skills to convey the advice succinctly and with simplicity. 

A few years later I was fortunate enough to have a drink with Venables. It was the first chance I had to see how his mind worked. His term as England manager had finished and Glenn Hoddle was in charge of the national team.  

There was huge clamour for Matthew Le Tissier to play for England. Venables had given the Southampton forward his international debut but did not select him for Euro 96. 

With the use of glasses and bottles, Venables talked the company through why Le Tissier could not play at the highest level. His movement was too poor and his static presence allowed one centre back to mark him. If Le Tissier moved across the face of central defenders, he could occupy both and even draw the attention of a midfielder, Venables suggested. The bottom line: the Southampton man put too much trust in his own ability and that made life simple for top-class defenders. 

This is a condensed version of a lengthy conversation. Listening to a quality coach strip down the game of a feted player was illuminating. Venables made it clear that Le Tissier had been told this but either could not, or would not, take the instructions on board. 

The man from Essex was always great company with a long litany of tales. He was at his best when talking about footballers, though. People often use the cliché about individuals being students of the game. Venables was a professor. You learnt something every time you spoke to him.