Tel Will Do ANYTHING For Money - Apart From Manage Toon!
Last updated : 26 September 2008 By Footy Mad - Editor
BUT .... he won't take up Mike Ashley's invitation and manage Newcastle ... even for £100,000 a game!
He has snubbed the Toon, insisting the club "means too much to too many people" to agree to a match-by-match deal.
Venables met with under-fire trio Dennis Wise, Tony Jimenez and Derek Llambias about the job, but he insists he was not worried about facing any flak from the Geordie fans over his London roots.
Venables: "There is one reason and one reason alone why I've turned down the chance to take temporary charge at Newcastle - time.
"Newcastle United means too much to too many people to take the job on a short-term basis. It demands total commitment and dedication from a manager who is prepared to throw himself heart and soul into the club.
"I didn't want to move up to Tyneside and find myself surplus to requirements before I'd even had the chance to get my teeth into the challenge.
"The way the job was offered to me meant that I might be working at St James' Park for two months, two years - or two weeks. There was far too much uncertainty involved.
"I was ready and willing to give it a real go but I was never offered the chance to do that.
"All they could guarantee was that I'd be in a job until Mike Ashley sells the club whenever that might be. As flattered and honoured as I was to be approached by Newcastle, in the end it wasn't that difficult a decision for me to decline their offer.
"The Newcastle supporters have suffered more than enough in recent years. I didn't want them to think I'd gone up there just to pocket a few quid from Mike Ashley and then wave 'cheerio' a couple of weeks later.
"I know only too well that many of the Newcastle supporters have been protesting about the so-called 'Cockney Mafia' running their club. But I honestly don't believe it would have been an issue for me. All my work would have been done in the dressing room, not the boardroom."