Venables' superb management to deal with England star who was "winding him up"
Legendary England goalkeeper David Seaman has hailed Terry Venables for his man-management as he paid tribute to the former Three Lions boss following his death on Sunday.
Venables was in charge of the national team for two years from 1994, famously leading them to the semi-finals of Euro 96. He inspired a team that was much-loved by many supporters throughout that joyous summer.
It was a team full of characters, from Tony Adams to Alan Shearer and Gary Neville. But the most loved of all was undoubtedly then Rangers star Paul Gascoigne, who was infamously a nightmare for managers to deal with despite his incredible talent.
Seaman has now hailed the way that Venables approached the legendary midfielder. And he revealed that 'El Tel' would ask the Arsenal icon to take Gascoigne fishing to 'calm him down' when he was getting rowdy.
“First of all, it was a really sad day. When I started seeing all the clips and tributes coming in, all I can remember is the smile on his face. He always had a smile on his face, even when he was angry, if I’m honest. He was just a great guy," Seaman told Good Morning Britain, broadcast weekdays from 6am on ITV1 & ITVX.
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“He was brilliant at man-to-man management. I remember during Euro 96, he’d be in the hotel and we’d been locked away for a quite a long time and he’d be like, he'd say to us, ‘David, will you take Gazza fishing, he’s really winding me up'.
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Terry Venables has been hailed for his management of Paul Gascoigne (ExpressStar)“So his man-management was brilliant. I would take Gazza off fishing and calm him down. “It was the best. It was coming from El Tel, he was English, and he was like, “Do it for the shirt, do it for the badge, do it for the county’.
“The way he would tell you, it really got you ready and up for the games. He was special and he’ll be sadly missed."
England's run at the tournament was ended by a penalty shootout defeat to Germany in the semi-finals. Current Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate missed the infamous spot-kick, but Seaman has revealed that Venables dealt with the disappointment in the perfect way.
"He wasn’t outwardly disappointed, he’d known what had gone and he knew what it meant to Gareth and the England team. He was more bothered about Gareth’s feelings than his own. That was the measure of the man," Seaman added.
“Gareth would have learnt a lot from Terry. He very rarely loses it and that’s what Terry was like. He was always calm and confident and I think that’s what Gareth’s learned from Terry.
“You don’t have to be really loud on the sidelines, you watch and you learn and that’s what Gareth did. The way Terry treated Gareth just shows the class of the manager. He was such a special guy.
“Terry was brilliant at it. You didn’t feel that disappointed because he told us, ‘Hang on guys, we’ve achieved something really special here. The England fans started to love England again.”
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