Search: ' Terry Venables'

Everyone's got an opinion about how England should play in Euro '96. Not wanting to feel left out, we've chipped in too

A dilemma for all English managers but particularly for Terry Venables, as he’s the only one at work over the next few weeks. Should they heed the advice of those who believe that England can only succeed by playing to their strengths – running and gung ho spirit and lots of headers – or should they be encouraging their teams to play a more patient passing game, with defenders carrying the ball from one area to the other, and then back again if the mood takes them?

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Tuesday 7 Barry Fry is sacked as manager of Birmingham City. "After three years and 61 players we think someone else is entitled to have a go," says the club's owner David Sullivan, adding: "Barry is a very attractive prospect for a club like Notts County or Luton" (who will both now be desperate to draw Birmingham in a cup next season). "I'd like to think I have woken up the sleeping giant," says Barry. The FA will be looking for a new commercial director after Trevor Phillips resigns due to "differences over overall strategy in relation to commercial policy". Hmmm.

Wednesday 8 It's getting murky. Trevor Phillips' resignation is being linked to police investigations into the sale of Euro '96 tickets to unlicensed agencies, many of which were raided last week by police who made eighteen arrests. The FA had authorised corporate packages to be sold through two companies but Phillips seems to have encouraged others to apply. As many as 50,000 tickets may be involved. lvano Bonetti is to sue Grimsby manager Brian Laws over the dressing room fight that led to Bonetti having a steel plate inserted in his face. The FA haven't yet found a date for their inquiry into the incident. Paris St Germain win the Cup Winners' Cup, beating Rapid Vienna 1-0 at the new Heysel Stadium.

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The FA took their time didn't they? And even then Howard WIlkinson and Frank Clark were on standby. What a caper

The next couple of months will be an interesting time for Glenn Hoddle and Terry Venables, as they edge towards a handover date.

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Tuesday 2 Sunderland go five points clear in Division One by drawing at Watford, while Derby lose at Ipswich and Palace are held by Port Vale, now within striking distance of the play-offs themselves. More trouble for Tomas Brolin who gave an April's Fool interview to Swedish TV claiming he was about to return home on loan, which in turn led to the Leeds' switchboard being jammed with press inquiries. "The chairman and managing director are finding it difficult to see the funny side of this," says Howard. Ulp.

Wednesday 3 Man Utd are the main beneficiaries of the Premiership's match of the season so far, Liverpool beating Newcastle 4-3. It goes: 1-0 (Fowler, 2nd minute); 1-2 by half-time (Ferdinand, Ginola); 2-2 (Fowler); 2-3 two minutes later (Asprilla), 3-3 (Collymore), 4-3 (Collymore, 92nd minute). "Nobody will win the championship defending like these teams did tonight," says Roy Evans. "We carry on playing like this or I go," says an unrepentant Kev. Sink The Tynetanic says the Mirror.

Friday 5 Man Utd win a momentous derby match 3-2 at City and maintain a three point lead over Newcastle who need late goals to defeat QPR 2-1. Liverpool look to be out of it after losing 1-0 at their bogey ground, Highfield Road. In Division One, Derby improve their chances of going straight up by winning at Oldham while third place Palace lose and Charlton, fourth with games in hand, draw. A 90th minute goal gives Hearts a 2-1 win over Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup Semi Final.

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Dear WSC
I think it was William Shakespeare who once said “Don’t believe everything you read in newspapers. Or fanzines.” At any rate, unless someone corrects a few of the fallacies in Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger’s article about German football (WSC No 110), WSC readers will be suffering from some pretty serious misconceptions. How on earth can Ulrich claim “Matthäus, Klinsmann, Völler – they all come from the Ruhr”? Oh yeah, and Kenny Dalglish is a Cockney, I suppose? According to my copy of the 1996 edition of ‘The Sad Person’s Guide to the Date and Place of Birth of Every Famous German Footballer’, Rudi Völler was born in Hanau near Frankfurt and began his career with local team Offenbach Kickers. Lothar Matthäus comes from Herzogenaurach, a little place near Nuremberg whose other claim to fame is that it is the home of the Adidas empire. Jürgen Klinsmann is proud to be a Swabian and played for both major Stuttgart clubs before experiencing such huge success with Inter Cardiff and Scarborough. His career was resurrected by David Dein of Arsenal, but he later returned to Germany to play for Borussia 1898 Dudeldorf. Surely everyone ought to check his facts carefully before submitting anything to you for publication?
Derek Megginson, Scarborough
(birthplace of Bobby Charlton, Savo Milosevic and Pelé)

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