In Sympatico Terry Venables Memory | Blog, Football | #Archibald, #FCBARCELONA, #Football, #lineker, #Maradona, #venables, Barca | Writer La Roja

Former British managers, Barcelona and Tottenham have died at the age of 80 years.

I owe to Terry Venables whose personality is unforgettable for a few moments where his colorful insights give me material for my two books which are then enjoyed by fans around the world-Hand of God And Barca.

Venables told me how he resigned to lose Diego Maradona from his troops immediately after taking over the management of FC Barcelona in May 1984.

While there is speculation that Maradona hates England because of the Falklands War, and that Venables does not like to handle players with such stature, both of them miss a true story, according to Terry.

The main reason, Terry told me, was that Maradona, one of the highest paid players in the world at that time, was in financial difficulties, because when he put people ‘sponges from him’.

The club has collected evidence through its own internal investigation, but Venables only realized how critical the situation was after he made further questions.

Venables found that there were hundreds of bills that had not been paid throughout the city, which were mostly spent not only by players but by family members of Maradona’s friends and various hangers.

“Maradona is practically dry bloody and one -only a solution is for him to secure the type of money that will be brought by the transfer. Give him £ 1,000 per week salary increase will not start solving problems,” Terry recalled.

Venables has replaced Cesar Menotti Argentina as a manager on Barca. While Menotti has managed the World Cup victory in 1978, without Maradona, the player then met with the coach on Barca Following the 1982 World Cup in Spain.

Unlike Menotti, Venables in 1984 was not a big name abroad, especially famous for Maradona. Menotti told me: “Terry reached Barcelona, ​​thank you to me. Most people have never heard of him.” And Menotti has heard about Venables thanks to a British journalist who has been friends with him, Jeff Powell from Daily letter.

“I talked to Powell and asked him which English manager was competent. Barca is an important player team. He must not be a dictator. He must be able to win over the players. ‘

Powell recommends Venables. According to Terry, Bobby Robson and Doug Ellis also included a good word in his name with the President of Barcelona Nat.

Maradona’s subject stands out in Venables’s first interview with Barcelona director. “They want to know what I want to do with Maradona, do I want him to go or stay. I was left with the feeling that the director really wanted Maradona to leave and hoped that, once I heard his full story, I would think of the same thing.”

Venables takes time before giving his own final verdict. Another player he talked to almost a positive man about Diego. But in the next conversation made by Venables with Maradona (Venables has taken several Spanish lessons and can communicate), making Argentinians surprisingly honestly about the situation, claiming that his time was on Barca has changed acid, at least with Nat Who he hates, and he wants to stop.

“From what Maradona said to me, I felt that the situation in Barcelona if he lived would be very difficult. The damage might not be repaired.”

Venables decided not to debate the case for Maradona to stay at Barca. The photo he has collected is a very talented player who can no longer be trusted to show loyalty and give at the club, both because of his hatred Nat and as a result of his financial problems.

The fact that Maradona faced a three -month suspension at the start of the new season because of the match with Bilbao athletic players in the Copa del Rey final was also included in equation.

Venables’s decision to encourage Steve Archibald as a substitute for Maradona, was originally accepted with skeptics by local fans, turning into good news when ‘Archigoles‘When the Scottish people were nicknamed, contributed to bring the Catalan club to their first Spanish League victory in eleven years.

Terry will never forget the celebration. When he told me: “I witnessed how Barcelona’s paths were filled with colors Barca and Catalonia color. What I learned that day was that Barcelona people could show themselves more than willing to emphasize their sense of togetherness, which was almost tribal, but more like a giant partyThe ritual of involvement is set instinctively in the collective subconscious. “

Under Venables or Tel When some close people came to write about him, Barcelona also reached the 1986 European Cup final, the first performance by the club in the European Cup final since 1961 even though they lost to Steaua Bucaresti in penalties. Defeat, combined with Barca Lost the Spanish Cup and ended once again behind Real Madrid in the league of the season, making some disappointment Barca Redubbing fans’historic dreams‘From the wealth of the club that is revived-‘Historic nightmare‘From a number of clubs.

At the beginning of the 1986-7 season, Venables joined Gary Lineker who was transferred from Everton and has emerged from the World Cup in Mexico as the main goalscorer of the tournament.

It was Venables who introduced Lineker and his wife who at that time Michelle, to his own and what was their favorite barcelona drinking and eating haunted. This includes the beer bar at the top RamblasAnd the coastal club, southern Barcelona along the coast that serves excellent seafood.

When I interviewed Lineker for my book Barca He has pursued a career after playing as a successful BBC TV sports commentator. I remember how Gary’s eyes turned on when he remembered his life as a player in Barcelona, ​​as if this was some of the happiest moments in his life.

“I like this place. There are those who conquer … Mountains are extraordinary on one side, the beach on the other … we have a beautiful life when we live there. I will practice in the morning, then go to the beach or to the city and have a big lunch, followed by A nap from five to eight. Then about ten, almost every night, we will go dinner, it is a very beautiful relaxing lifestyle … “

Lineker’s satisfaction from the field during his first season at Barca reflects its success in the term football. Nicknamed ‘The killer‘, For almost a year he maintained a goal ratio from one or two matches, scored twenty -one goals in forty -one matches in his opening season at FC Barcelona.

But during the 1986-7 season, Lineker’s goal was the only bright spot Barca Fans felt in a period that are more marked by loss rather than with achievement.

The team failed to give a title, and Venables’El Master‘Official disperse on 23^RD September 1987 after getting what is considered a payment that is not too good during a series of meetings with Nat and Vice President Gaspart.

I met Terry several times after he moved. He defended, because most fans made an eternal interest in Maradona, and were too happy I brought his former manager Jorge Cysheszpiler he knew in Barcelona, ​​one night to his nightclub in Kensington.

But in Spain again, whether to greet guests at the hotel Hidden (Hiding in Spanish) in Alicante, or meet with a game at Nou Camp and meet old friends that he seems to be in the most relaxed or like, as they said in Spain, ”At home. ‘

I hope you rest, Meester TerryLai

Terry Venables: January 6, 1943 – 25 November 2023