El Tel must fancy Bafana Bafana job
It's over six months now since England squandered their last chance to qualify for Euro 2008 on that soggy night at Wembley and still Steve McClaren has, unsurprisingly, not yet found a new job.
But neither has Terry Venables. England's former assistant, whose reputation prior to taking the number two role had been decent at club and international level is now also on the managerial scrapheap, tarred with the same brush that has painted McClaren as a failure.
The 65-year-old Londoner's CV is impressive, although it shows that his career reached it's peak in 1996 and has been on the slide since. Cutting his teeth at Crystal Palace, Venables took the Eagles to two quickfire promotions - climbing from the Third Division to the First. He was tempted to QPR and tasked with the challenge of taking them up, which he achieved in his second full season - one year after his young side almost upset the odds by taking Tottenham to a replay in the FA Cup
The glory continued as QPR finished fifth in their first season back in the top flight and Barcelona came knocking - his reputation having even impressed them within the Nou Camp's inner sanctum.
He remains the last English coach ever to have achieved anything significant for a top foreign club side as Barcelona won the League, League Cup and lost the 1986 European Cup final on penalties during his three seasons there.
He was out of work for less than two months after his inevitable Spanish sacking and was snapped up by Spurs. Success came at a slower rate for Venables at White Hart Lane although allegations over his business dealings kept him in the headlines. But the Tottenham faithful remember his time fondly after he brought stars such as Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker to the club and won the FA Cup in 1991.
In just over two years in charge of England Venables steadily rebuilt fragile national pride in the wake of World Cup qualification failure and then came Euro 96. Looking back, to get the performances he did at the time out of Gascoigne and Tony Adams was remarkable, but the team ultimately fell short on penalties in he semi-finals to the eventual winners Germany.
Home advantage accepted - I rate still rate Euro 96 as England's best performance in a finals tournament since 1966 - better than Italia 90 in the brand of football played and fluency of the team.
Forced out of his coach's role by FA pressure over the High Court case he was fighting, Venables never got a crack at the 1998 World Cup. But seemed on course to achieve his final career aim when he took Australia to a play-off with Iran four years later.
But it was not destined to be and here we are six years later and another chance presents itself to El Tel.
South Africa, hosts in 2010, are rudderless after Brazilian World Cup-winning coach Carlos Alberto Parreira quit to look after his poorly wife.
His resignation takes effect May 2 but he'll continue as technical advisor, and his two assistant coaches - Jairo Leal and Pitso Mosimane - will remain.
But neither has Terry Venables. England's former assistant, whose reputation prior to taking the number two role had been decent at club and international level is now also on the managerial scrapheap, tarred with the same brush that has painted McClaren as a failure.
The 65-year-old Londoner's CV is impressive, although it shows that his career reached it's peak in 1996 and has been on the slide since. Cutting his teeth at Crystal Palace, Venables took the Eagles to two quickfire promotions - climbing from the Third Division to the First. He was tempted to QPR and tasked with the challenge of taking them up, which he achieved in his second full season - one year after his young side almost upset the odds by taking Tottenham to a replay in the FA Cup
The glory continued as QPR finished fifth in their first season back in the top flight and Barcelona came knocking - his reputation having even impressed them within the Nou Camp's inner sanctum.
He remains the last English coach ever to have achieved anything significant for a top foreign club side as Barcelona won the League, League Cup and lost the 1986 European Cup final on penalties during his three seasons there.
He was out of work for less than two months after his inevitable Spanish sacking and was snapped up by Spurs. Success came at a slower rate for Venables at White Hart Lane although allegations over his business dealings kept him in the headlines. But the Tottenham faithful remember his time fondly after he brought stars such as Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker to the club and won the FA Cup in 1991.
In just over two years in charge of England Venables steadily rebuilt fragile national pride in the wake of World Cup qualification failure and then came Euro 96. Looking back, to get the performances he did at the time out of Gascoigne and Tony Adams was remarkable, but the team ultimately fell short on penalties in he semi-finals to the eventual winners Germany.
Home advantage accepted - I rate still rate Euro 96 as England's best performance in a finals tournament since 1966 - better than Italia 90 in the brand of football played and fluency of the team.
Forced out of his coach's role by FA pressure over the High Court case he was fighting, Venables never got a crack at the 1998 World Cup. But seemed on course to achieve his final career aim when he took Australia to a play-off with Iran four years later.
But it was not destined to be and here we are six years later and another chance presents itself to El Tel.
South Africa, hosts in 2010, are rudderless after Brazilian World Cup-winning coach Carlos Alberto Parreira quit to look after his poorly wife.
His resignation takes effect May 2 but he'll continue as technical advisor, and his two assistant coaches - Jairo Leal and Pitso Mosimane - will remain.
Parreira
said he would help officials find a new coach who will try to build
South Africa into a credible force for the 2010 World Cup.
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