El Tel

The nickname for Terry Venables the former England football manager. Terry Venables is a name synonymous with success in English football, and it was his track record as a coach and manager that led Leeds United to appoint him as David O'Leary's successor at Elland Road in July 2002. Prior to taking the Leeds job, Venables had only six months experience in the Premiership having been drafted in as head coach to help Bryan Robson keep Middlesbrough in the top flight in the 2000/2001 season. He was tempted back into full-time management at Leeds by the prospect of working with a squad who just two years earlier had reached the semi-finals of the Champions League. Terry had formed a largely successful partnership with Bryan Robson in the mid-nineties when the pair worked together at England level, and it was this experience that led to the 'Boro boss bringing Venables in to The Riverside to undertake, and accomplish, a rescue mission. It had been England's Euro '96 performance that cemented Terry Venables' name in the nation's consciousness and indeed, the reason he found himself linked with every high profile management job available when he walked away at the end of the tournament. Terry built his coaching reputation in his early spells with Crystal Palace and Queens Park Rangers, having played for both clubs in the latter part of a career that saw him earn honours at every single level for England. His playing career began at Chelsea, where, having come up through the junior ranks, he made over 200 appearances in midfield and helped the Blues to victory in the 1965 League Cup. After six seasons at Stamford Bridge, Terry moved to North London and Tottenham, where he spent three years before moving back west to join QPR, and then south to join Palace. Having retired as a player, Terry took on the manager's job at Selhurst Park - taking over from Malcolm Allison - and guided the club into the top flight, as champions of Division Two, in the 1978-79 season. He then returned to take charge at QPR, and took the Superhoops to the FA Cup final in 1982, and to the Second Division title the following season. His success in charge of the two London clubs attracted the interest of a number of others, in England and Europe, and in 1984 Terry became the manager of Spanish giants Barcelona, earning him the nickname 'El Tel'. Taking some of Britain's best players to Catalonia during his three-year spell in Spain - such as Mark Hughes, Gary Lineker and Steve Archibald - Terry managed to win the Spanish League title in 1985 and the League Cup the following season, when Barça lost in the European Cup final - beaten by Steaua Bucharest on penalties. Terry returned to London in 1987 to manage another former club, Tottenham Hotspur. With Gary Lineker and Paul Gascoigne in the side, he led Spurs to glory in the FA Cup where - despite Gazza's infamous self-induced injury - they beat Nottingham Forest at Wembley in 1991. A falling-out with the then Spurs chairman Alan Sugar led to Terry's departure from White Hart Lane just a month after the FA Cup triumph, and it was with England, three years later, that he returned to management. Terry's style seemed perfectly suited to international management. Riding the crest of a patriotic wave on home soil, England went all the way to the semi-finals of the Euro '96 tournament. Having beaten Holland 4-1 in the opening phase - commonly regarded as one of the greatest England performances of modern times - and auld enemies Scotland, they went on to beat Spain on penalties before losing the same way to Germany, who went on to win the final. Spells at Portsmouth and Crystal Palace followed for Terry, as well as a short period in charge of the Australian national team, who were desperately unlucky not to qualify for their first World Cup in 1998 under 'El Tel'. It was two years later when Terry first tasted life in the Premiership, very much at the sharp end, with Middlesbrough. His remit was to save the club from another quick return to Division One, and once more he was ultimately successful. Terry decided his business interests and media work could not allow him the time to take up a permanent role on Teesside, and he continued to work as a pundit on ITV; seen particularly during the 2002 World Cup. Just days before the end of that tournament, David O'Leary was sacked as manager of Leeds United, and Terry's name was one of those mentioned as a possible successor by the press. Although Celtic manager Martin O'Neill, Republic of Ireland boss Mick McCarthy and the recently appointed Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren were also linked with the Elland Road vacancy, it was Venables who was appointed on July 8, 2002. Having worked with Leeds' Australian forwards Mark Viduka and Harry Kewell during his time in charge of the Aussie national team, Venables was a popular choice and, with his proven track record, was expected to bring further success to a club that had qualified for Europe in each of the previous five years and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2000. One of Venables' first dealings as manager was to attempt to persuade Rio Ferdinand to stay with the club, although the England international's mind appeared to be made up and he joined Manchester United for a British transfer record £33million in July. His departure at least helped Leeds repay some of the £80million debt and gave the new manager some scope to bring in new players to Elland Road. Terry brought Nick Barmby to Yorkshire, having worked with him during his days at Spurs and England, and also drafted in another Australian international, midfielder Paul Okon. Leeds began Terry's first season in charge brightly, but their form quickly dipped and the fans grew restless. After a tricky period, things settled down at Elland Road, but there was something of a mass exodus during the January transfer window as Lee Bowyer and Olivier Dacourt both left, to join West Ham and Roma respectively, while Robbie Fowler and Jonathan Wooodgate also moved on as Leeds looked to reduce some of their financial debt. Terry admitted he had considered quitting following Woodgate's £9million move to Newcastle, but decided to soldier on, as Leeds fans turned on chairman Peter Ridsdale. Less than two months later, Terry's reign at Leeds did come to an end as he parted company with the club by mutual consent after a disappointing run of results that left the team in 15th place in the Barclaycard Premiership, and saw them knocked out of the FA Cup in the quarter-finals by Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United.