Terry Venables sang so well that he dared to imitate Frank Sinatra at Up&Down in Barcelona. He also wrote crime novels featuring a detective named James Hazell. There are very funny pictures that also illustrate his good taste for food, drink and a good cigar in Castelldefels. The life of the former England player and coach, who died aged 80, can be explained by so many characters that it is sometimes even forgotten that he was an excellent coach who won the league with Barça and led England to the semi-finals at Euro 1996 after excelling as a defensive midfielder for Chelsea, Tottenham and Queen’s Park Rangers.
It happens that the context that has arisen around his work often invites us to pay more attention to the details than to the games won and lost, which also existed, such as the 1986 European Cup final, the Steaua de Bucharest won in Seville.
Those four penalties missed by the Barça players against Duckadam, after Venables replaced Schuster and the German’s separation from Núñez began, turned the glorious, agonizing victories against Porto into periods of Barça’s torment. Juary –; Juve – Julio Alberto threw himself into the Camp Nou moat to celebrate the first leg win – and Gothenburg, an evening where Migueli and Clos lifted the coach on their shoulders to the applause of a ball boy called Pep Guardiola. There was no league more hegemonic for Barcelona fans than that of the 1984/85 season, when the team led the league from the start and won 0-3 at the Bernabéu, in a game that was never televised until the end However, what remains above all in the memory is the penalty that Urruti saved against Mágico González in Valladolid: Urruti, I love you, the voice of Joaquim Maria Puyal still echoes on the radio today.
Terry Venables, Barcelona’s coach, is carried on the shoulders of Migueli (d) and Clos (l) under the watchful eyes of a child, Josep Guardiola, after winning the second leg of the European Cup semi-final against Gothenburg. April 16, 1986 PHOTO: Antonio EspejoAntonio Espejo
Fans with memories also do not forget that Venables preferred Archibald to Hugo Sánchez, the player whose goals made the difference in the Quinta del Buitre era and who later paired Mark Hughes with Gary Lineker, unaware of the Spanish referees a foul was decided against him and not because of every appearance by the Welsh striker, who some time later defeated Barça with Manchester United in the 1991 Cup Winners’ Cup. Venables was also England coach at Euro 1996 when the quarter-final and semi-final games were decided on penalties: a mistake from Southgate prevented the hosts from playing in the final after they had eliminated Clemente’s best Spain in a majestic game at Wembley . The details ultimately weighed heavily on Venables’ career.
The interpreter
We must not forget that it was explained to the Catalan and Spanish press by a unique interpreter who knew both journalism and football: Graham Turner. It sometimes happened that Venables’ disqualifications turned into sweet prayers in Turner’s mouth after an attempt failed with a headstrong and courageous security guard who responded to the surname Ceballos. Circumstances and anecdotes help to enrich rather than obscure Venables’ status.
Suffice it to repeat the message that Gary Lineker dedicated to him: “The best and most innovative coach I have had the privilege and pleasure of playing with.” However, he was much more than just a manager, he was lively, charming “, funny and a friend.” Venables was for many things, including the Barça madness to find a coach capable of winning again an elusive league since the days of Cruyff (1974). The title that Venables received 11 years later was not won with Weisweiler, Michels, Müller, Rifé, Helenio Herrera, Kubala, Lattek and Menotti, not even with Maradona.
Núñez, Casaus, Gaspart, Olivé and Minguella chose Venables in a few years when there was a lot of talk about English football and Bobby Robson. Venables was neither a snake charmer, an intruder nor a surprise, but a coach who surprised and destroyed Spanish football on the basis of a 4-4-2. Pressure and strategy were crucial in this team arranged in a diamond and led by the best cobbler. The 1985 league continued in the 1986 European Cup final. However, the defeat in Seville was final for the departure of Venables and his replacement by Luis Aragonés (1987-1988). The convulsions eventually triggered the Hesperia Mutiny and the return of Cruyff – now as coach.
Venables’ career as an international player of all categories continued as a coach at Crystal Palace, Queen’s Park Rangers, Tottenham, Middlesbrough and Leeds, as well as the national teams of England and Australia. A revolutionary, charismatic and versatile coach who today sounds strange in the history that Barça has written about style, Gamper, Cruyff, Guardiola and the Dream Team.
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