TERRY VENABLES EXCLUSIVE: 'Gareth Southgate is smart but please organise a school for penalty takers... while Mohamed Salah is still third behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo'

  • Terry Venables spoke exclusively to Lee Clayton, Head of Sport for the Daily Mail 
  • Venables recalls Gareth Southgate as an intelligent, forward-thinking footballer
  • Mo Salah is third-best behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, says Venables
  • The ex-Barcelona manager says Pep Guardiola is 'faultless' as a coach and a man

It was 1972 and they were called 'The Clan'. Mates who played for Chelsea, QPR, West Ham and Arsenal, decked out in the best London fashion.

Pocket squares, kipper ties and flares, cigars in hand, meeting for an audience with the iconic celebrity photographer Terry O'Neill.

O'Neill also photographed Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, Sinatra, Elvis, Brigitte Bardot, Audrey Hepburn and Muhammad Ali, but on this day, two World Cup winners and a future England manager pose among the friends promoting a Fleet Street Italian restaurant. The caption reads: 'The trendy young things of London's 70s football set, dressing up at their dandiest.'

Terry Venables was speaking exclusively to Daily Mail's Head of Sport, Lee Clayton in Alicante

Terry Venables was speaking exclusively to Daily Mail's Head of Sport, Lee Clayton in Alicante

(Back row from L-R) Dave Webb, Geoff Hurst, Venables, Front row: Terry Mancini, Alan Ball, Alan Hudson and Rodney Marsh - promoting a Fleet Street Italian restaurant back in 1972

(Back row from L-R) Dave Webb, Geoff Hurst, Venables, Front row: Terry Mancini, Alan Ball, Alan Hudson and Rodney Marsh - promoting a Fleet Street Italian restaurant back in 1972

Today a familiar face is casting his eyes across the image.


'This shoot, it was to symbolise the time, the mood. Fashion, extravagance. We were all dedicated footballers, but we liked the social side too. We were good players, but we liked to enjoy ourselves and we were great friends. 

'Maybe this era was the beginning of something, before football drew interest like bees to a honey pot. There has always been football, but before there were other distractions. Now it's football 100 per cent.'

Less than an hour from Alicante and the image from the Daily Mail vaults draws that familiar smile that could light up the cloudiest day. Terry Venables is 75 now and a long way from Carnaby Street and those times with Rodney Marsh, Alan Ball, Alan Hudson, Terry Mancini, Geoff Hurst and David Webb, but he still likes to talk football long into the night.

A guest at his luxury hotel up in the hills has brought in two Barcelona footballs for him to sign. Spain has been good for him and he was good for Spain.

It was 1984 when he came from the English First Division to Spain. The players called him 'mister', the media called him 'the man from the beach'. Now he calls this home.

At 75, former England manager Venables is still happy to talk about football long into the night

At 75, former England manager Venables is still happy to talk about football long into the night

His illustrious career saw him win the Spanish title in his first season as Barcelona boss in 1984

His illustrious career saw him win the Spanish title in his first season as Barcelona boss in 1984

 

Gareth Southgate, the current England manager, asked to speak to Terry Venables one day. 'He always wanted to try something different,' Venables reflects.

'He was a centre back, but he was a thinker. He was always open to something new. On this occasion, he wanted to see me to talk more about playing out from the back.

'We talked about how quickly - or slowly - he should come out with the ball. To go wide, rather than through the middle and into traffic.

'He listened. I always liked him. Very intelligent. He could play. I thought he might become a very good coach. England will do all right in Russia this summer with him. He has been there in a big tournament before.

Venables recalls Gareth Southgate 'always wanted to try something different' as a player

Venables recalls Gareth Southgate 'always wanted to try something different' as a player

Venables consoles Southgate after his infamous penalty shootout miss for England at Euro 96

Venables consoles Southgate after his infamous penalty shootout miss for England at Euro 96

'He was part of a team (Euro 96) that took an "over my dead body" attitude on to the pitch, wearing an England shirt. The Champions League and Premier League has grown so much now it is hard to see if England still has the same importance, but it should. He will work to get that back.

'He knows what he is doing. He's smart. But, Gareth, if you're reading this, organise a school for penalty takers... please!'

Of course, Southgate missed a penalty - THE penalty - at Euro 96 in the semi-final shoot out against Germany. It should have been the moment that propelled Venables and his team to win the tournament. The coach still remembers each moment like it was yesterday.

'After we beat Scotland 2-0, I was walking out of Wembley with David Davies and it was empty, apart from a large group of policemen. They threw their helmets into the air and started clapping. It showed me how it had gripped the nation.

'Everything was right at our camp. The squad was right. No egos. We had leaders. Men. I had captains everywhere I looked, from Tony Adams to Stuart Pearce, from Alan Shearer to Teddy Sheringham, from Paul Ince to Paul Gascoigne. 

'Everything was right at our camp,' says Venables of his Euro 96 squad: 'Captains everywhere'

'Everything was right at our camp,' says Venables of his Euro 96 squad: 'Captains everywhere'

'I had marathon runners too, Darren Anderton and Steve McManaman who would run all day and all night. It was our time. Do you know, it makes the hair on my arms stand on end just to talk about it.

'There were no distractions. No sideshows of agents and WAGs. It takes six weeks to win a tournament and so you are saying to your players: "Just give me six weeks, just give the country six weeks". Leave your family and your lifestyle behind. You might have a wife who went into the jungle or she is a page-three girl, but you can go back to that. And you can go back to that as a World Cup winner. Think about that.'

The restaurant at the tranquil boutique La Escondida retreat Venables and his wife Yvette have built here is filling, with a gentle buzz; and our host is getting into his stride now.

'Look, this group of players with Gareth, they are younger and they may be quieter, but I would say to them, seize your moment. Seize it. Don't wait until the next time.

'Make your headlines. Don't fear the headlines, make them.

Venables urges England's current squad to seize the moment at this summer's World Cup

Venables urges England's current squad to seize the moment at this summer's World Cup

'I cannot understand why England have fallen short so many times. There is always an excuse. The heat, the hotel, the media. Come on!

'We have not done as well as we should have done. It brings a weight that others, such as Spain and Germany, do not have. They are free to come and play. History is not their enemy. There is already talk that we have only one world-class player, Harry Kane. Forget what we haven't got and look at what we have. It is NOT about the individual.

'Yes, it helps to have Diego Maradona or a Gazza, but how many have that? It is about the team, about having confidence in the person who is getting changed next to you. It is about every man knowing what he can do - and doing it.

'He has got youth in, he has bridged the gap between the Under 21s and the senior team. If you are good enough, you are old enough. There should be no fear. If they can ignore the propaganda and noise around Russia, why not go and be bold, get out the group and swell from there?

'Raheem Sterling excites me. Look at his goals this season. Whoosh! He's quick. We talk about his misses, but he's getting in there.

He has high hopes that Southgate can create a togetherness within the current England squad

He has high hopes that Southgate can create a togetherness within the current England squad

'I would say he needs more work on his runs. Instead of running in front of the defender where he can be seen, wait, delay and run in behind. He can terrorise. And he's still developing.

'I hope Gareth can create a love for each other within the group, a willingness to fight for one another.

'Why is it that we can't get an England team to win games for our country at a tournament? Spain were always fancied before but fell short. Then they learned how to win. We can do that too.

'Has there been stronger England teams in tournaments? Yes. We had the group they called the golden generation. Yes, very good. Top players. They fell short. It doesn't matter what we have sent before, it matters what we have now.

'Football is not always about coaching, it's about teaching. Can we teach our players to be winners? Can we avoid the traps? I think a lot of Gareth. I don't want to add to the weight. I'm just watching from here and liking what I see.'

 
As manager of Barcelona with new signings Gary Lineker (left) and Mark Hughes (right) in 1986

As manager of Barcelona with new signings Gary Lineker (left) and Mark Hughes (right) in 1986

He recalls telling Barcelona's players in pre-season: 'First we run, then we can have the ball'

He recalls telling Barcelona's players in pre-season: 'First we run, then we can have the ball'

Venables has had an extraordinary football career, covering every blade of grass. Capped by England at every level, trophy wins with Spurs and Chelsea as a player, success at Barcelona as a coach, taking England so close in Euro 96, that fractious time in the boardroom at Spurs. There's plenty more too.

Highlights include that impact at Barcelona and taking them to the final of the European Cup having joined from QPR. 'I wanted to bring the way we played at QPR to Barcelona. You can imagine what they thought about that. The great Jim Gregory, who was my chairman at QPR, said to me "Don't go there, they don't appreciate their football like we do." At Barcelona for goodness sake!

'I took them to Andorra to work on their fitness and ran them until they were sick. "Please Mister, can we have a ball." I said, "First we run and then we can have a ball". They all worked on their fitness. Then they got a ball.

'They thought England had the fittest players and they thought their team was coming up short.

'I asked for every video they had of the previous season and locked myself away to study. The team I inherited was based on flair, on Maradona, but they had to learn how to defend.

'I sold Diego Maradona to Napoli... but every time we met after that we would embrace'

'I sold Diego Maradona to Napoli... but every time we met after that we would embrace'

'We decided to sell Diego. It was funny, we won the league in Spain and he won the league at Napoli. Every time I saw him after that, we embraced and would laugh about how the decision made us both winners.

'I had good players, clever players like Steve Archibald and I wanted a team to be fit, to know their jobs, to trust each other, to have the platform in which to go and play. You could do a lot from there.'

Another stand-out photograph we are studying is the day he was first called up by England in 1964, two years before their only tournament success. He was 21.

The photographer captures him visiting his mother, Myrtle, at her cafe in Becontree Avenue, Dagenham. 'I'd had a telegram from the FA telling me I was in,' he recalls. 'I was young, not sure I was ready, but you don't say no to your country, do you?'

Sadly, England said 'no' to him when they allowed him to leave after Euro 96 following a dispute with the FA. It is a mistake English football has been paying for ever since. 

Aged 21 with mother Myrtle, on the day he was first called up to the England national team

Aged 21 with mother Myrtle, on the day he was first called up to the England national team

 

We are watching the Champions League semi-final. Liverpool are winning 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 4-0, 5-0. 'That Salah is something else,' says Venables. 'Four goals behind Ian Rush for a season? When you get home study how many chances Rush had, where his goals came from. He was the centre forward, Salah isn't in that position, yet still he has scored all those goals.'

Steven Gerrard says he is the best player in the world, but Venables isn't buying that. 'Look, if we're in the playground now and we are picking sides, you could pick between Salah, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, Salah would be third pick. 

'A good third, mind. Cristiano with his muscle and showmanship, like a gladiator. Power. He's some player. But it would still be Messi as No 1 for me. Those shorts of his look like they should swallow him. He's like a Dickensian character. But he's a genius with a ball. I'd pick him as No 1 every time.'

Liverpool eventually won 5-2 and Venables has experience of holding a three-goal lead going to Rome too.

Mo Salah would get picked third behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, says Venables

Mo Salah would get picked third behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, says Venables

Venables recalls defending a three-goal lead in Rome with Chelsea, just as Liverpool have to do

Venables recalls defending a three-goal lead in Rome with Chelsea, just as Liverpool have to do

'1966, Inter Cities Fairs Cup… look it up,' he says. 'We (Chelsea) won the first leg 4-1 at Stamford Bridge. It was a good game for me (Venables scored a hat-trick). They kicked us a lot, we went down to 10 men after Eddie McCreadie punched one of them in retaliation. It was hard out there. They really cranked it up, showered our coach with bricks and bottles. We hid down under our seats.

'Tommy Docherty, the manager, was furious when they came out on to the pitch when we should have been training. So he bared his backside in response. We drew 0-0. Liverpool will have to put up with similar antics, I'm sure. It will be a test for them. Perhaps it would be wise for Jurgen Klopp to keep his trousers on.' 

 

Venables has already written his views on Pep Guardiola in these pages but it's hard to sit with him and avoid the subject. He likes talking about Guardiola, who was a former ball boy when El Tel was showing the Spanish how it's done.

'He doesn't need me to tell him what to do because this man is special,' Venables says. 'But I would like to see him stay, to win more trophies, to create a dynasty.

'He is faultless as a coach. Faultless. As a coach, as a teacher, as a man.

'People say he has won because he has been at Barcelona, Bayern, now City, but you can't just buy titles and success, not playing the way his teams play. Long may it continue.

'Players are drawn to Spain, to Real and Barcelona, so he is very important to our game in England. Because we have the No 1 coach.

'Klopp too is impressive. He could win the European Cup and I do hope this happens. He's behind Guardiola, but so is everyone else. Pep is a giver, a leader of the orchestra. I hope everyone can see that and appreciate it. I am thrilled to watch him succeed, it completes the set for him.'

Venables is a big fan of Pep Guardiola and hopes Jurgen Klopp wins the European Cup

Venables is a big fan of Pep Guardiola and hopes Jurgen Klopp wins the European Cup

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