RTÉ panel a major factor in shaping public opinion

Terry Venables's recent remarks about his failure to land the Ireland manager's job seem to be just the carping of a sore loser who should know better, writes Emmet Malone

THE FIRST time I laid eyes on Terry Venables in the flesh was at a post-match press conference in White Hart Lane where the hugely chummy atmosphere was suddenly spoiled by a journalist asking the then Spurs manager what seemed an entirely reasonable question about how he intended to fund a proposed takeover of the club.

Venables's withering treatment of the reporter - who represented a weekly magazine - sent out a clear message to the rest of the media present that the cosiness of their relationship came with both terms and conditions.

Nearly 20 years on, the former England boss has been complaining in recent days about the way in which his bid to succeed Steve Staunton as the Republic of Ireland manager failed. Eamon Dunphy was to blame for him not getting the job, a selection of our own media's hacks were told, and Don Givens had "bullshitted" him, he alleged, into staying in the race at a time when the FAI's chief headhunter was already actively pursuing Gionvanni Trapattoni for the job.

Now, one of Venables' more amusing recent observations was that everything in football is a game except the game itself but it was hard to come away from the almost endless newspaper space devoted to his carping over the past couple of days with anything other than the feeling that football's arch wheeler dealer was just sore at having been played.

Certainly, the suggestion that Givens did something improper by seeking to keep his fallback option open until his first choice was in the bag seems fairly ludicrous when put forward by a man who has spent almost half a century working in an industry where rather more ruthless things are done on a daily basis.

For all of that, some questions do remain about the recruitment of Trapattoni with suggestions emanating from more than one quarter that agents may have played a more central and lucrative role than the FAI would have us believe. None of that, though, is of much relevance to Venables's argument that he has been mistreated.

In his interviews, the Englishman also got really stuck into Dunphy, claiming, in rather amusing terms, that the Dubliner's scathing attack on him some months back had effectively ended his chances of landing the job. Just as amusingly, he went on to portray himself as a victim whose financial vulnerability had led him to plea bargain his way out of a string of serious charges relating to his business dealings in Britain rather than risk bankrupting himself in an attempt to clear his name.

Johnnie Cochran, he is quoted as saying, was right when he said the poor can't get justice.

Setting aside the self-serving nonsense about his misunderstood past, Venables appears to overestimate the influence of Dunphy as an individual but he might well be on to something about the broader role of the RTÉ television panel in the entire recruitment process.

Long before Trapattoni was unveiled as the three-man committee's preferred candidate, prominent FAI insiders were expressing surprise at the apparent preoccupation of some of the association's leading figures with ensuring the RTÉ panellists would be impressed with the appointment when it came. Much later, when the process looked to have reached a situation whereby either Venables would have to be hired or a viable alternative unearthed, those same insiders were already talking about a perceived desire within the organisation that a role might be found for Liam Brady within the new management set-up.

To some extent, the desire to impress everyone out at Montrose was a natural one for the panel have, between them, clearly become a major factor in shaping public opinion on the fortunes of the team and those surrounding it but it still seems somewhat surprising the extent to which the panellists ended up becoming players in the process.

It also seems, with hindsight, a little remarkable that they were all quite so gung-ho about the idea of skipping the sort of wider recruitment process that ultimately led to the hiring of Trapattoni in favour of simply appointing Paul Jewell to the post.

The 43-year-old, to be fair, had a decent record in the game at the time and he may not have had a lot to work with when he subsequently opted to take over Derby County in November but, having presided over the last 19 games of a club record 24-long run of outings without a league win, he has not exactly looked like a miracle worker of late.

While he certainly has the credentials to succeed, Trapattoni may not prove to be one either and perhaps the reservations expressed, mainly by supporters of Venables's candidacy, that the Italian veteran's lack of experience of the game in these parts and his lack of fluency in English, might be a barrier to success will prove well founded.

It's hard not to suspect, though, that while Venables was dignified in his remarks about the 69-year-old (it was his birthday yesterday) that one or two of those who championed his cause over the last few months will be waiting for the opportunity to spring a gigantic "told you so" upon their readers.

Out at Abbotstown, there'll presumably be a feeling that Dunphy and his RTÉ colleagues will give the new man a bit more of a chance. With Brady having to be replaced, though, the Montrose bosses have room for manoeuvre if they fear their post-match analysis is about to lose a bit of its edge. All they have to do, after all, is get on the phone to El Tel.