Neville/Venables: Time running out for England
Reuters - Thursday 29 March 2012, 15:51
England's chances
at this year's European Championships are being damaged by the
FA's failure to deal with major issues, former defender Gary
Neville and Euro 1996 boss Terry Venables said on Thursday.
The English FA have repeatedly said they will name a
replacement for departed coach Fabio Capello, who resigned in
February, towards "the back end of the season" and have
appointed Under-21s Stuart Pearce coach as the caretaker.
Other issues, such as who will captain the team, are also
unresolved and both Neville and Venables said at the Soccerex
European Forum that time was now running out with the tournament
starting on June 8.
Neville, the former Manchester United defender, who played
85 times for England and is now a respected TV analyst told
delegates at the convention that the uncertainty surrounding the
England team was worrying.
"There's something brewing at the moment. There are
situations still not being dealt with. There are player
situations going into the tournament, there are manager
situations... and its going to come pretty quickly. It's April
next week," Neville said.
VULTURES CIRCLING
"There's manager, there's player, there's captain, there's [the John Terry] court case, it's not going to go away.
"And the FA at this moment are in a difficult position as
always. If they actively go in there now and do something then
it will be like a bull in china shop.
"But I do feel the vultures are circling. The England
manager has started being mentioned again this week, we are
going into a tournament - and who is taking the team, what
tactics are we going to play, what principles?
"The end of the season is four weeks away. They say they are
going to wait until the end of the season - that's May 13, and
I think they should make their decision as soon as possible."
Venables, 69, who managed England from 1994 until 1996 and
guided the team into the semi-finals of Euro 96, told delegates
that he believed that Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp
was the right man for the job.
"I think Harry is the candidate, he has done such a capable
job at Tottenham," Venables said.
"But it's gone on too long for me and no-one seems to really
know what's going on apart from those that are in the seat. They
may know what's going on, I don't know whether they do."
And he agreed with Neville that a decision should be made as
soon as possible.
"The more time you can get in that job the better. There's
nothing for you doing it off cold. You need everything in your
favour because it's such a big job. They have to get someone in
there straight away do to something about it.
"I don't see any benefit at all in coming in at the last
moment with a rah-rah-rah.
"I think Harry is capable of saying "I'll go". He has got
Tottenham into a very, very strong position, they had a bit of a
blip but they seem to be over that and he qualifies as England
boss by ticking a lot of the right boxes."
Venables also said he was strongly in favour of an English
manager succeeding Capello.
"I can't get to grips with that [foreign England managers].
I never have. You can go for anyone in the world for the
Champions League and Premier League.
"But internationally it's like what went on in wars - you
can't trade generals you have to go for your own. Spain and
Germany always go for their own. I would rather lose with our
own people. Some of our guys deserve a chance and can do it."