Former England coach Terry Venables has revealed that he has turned down the offer of the Middlebrough manager’s job as he feels the stress of Premiership management is too much for him.

“It had not entered my mind to work full-time again, but chairman Steve Gibson was very persuasive.

“At 63 I couldn’t have committed to full-time management the way I would five or 10 years ago.

“I think I have had my years as a full-time manager now.”

With Steve McLaren leaving the job after the World Cup to take up the reins with England, Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson is left with a race against time to find a replacement in time to ensure adequate preparations are made for next season and his first choice was the 62 year old Londoner who helped Boro avoid relegation in 2000/2001 alongside Bryan Robson.

While Venables managerial record has been patchy overall since leaving Tottenham Hotspur under an acrimonious cloud in the early 1990s, his reputation has apparently went unharmed at Middlesbrough. He also still holds Gibson and the club in high regard:

“If it had been any other club bar Boro, I’d have made up my mind sooner.” Venables said.

“I had a great time there before and have a lot of happy memories of the area, the club and the fans.”

Coincedentally, Steve McClaren is now believed to be keen to use Venables as an advisor when he begins his own job of leading England after the World Cup.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 28th, 2006 at 9:48 am and is filed under Middlesbrough. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.