How Venables was sidestepped for England... but Irish may offer a way back

Those precious moments, the nugget of information or the tactical insight from an experienced member of the backroom team, can make players feel a million dollars.

The following evening — August 16, 2006 — Ferdinand did just that during England's 4-0 destruction of Greece in Steve McClaren's first game in charge.

Venables had won the players over and McClaren was convinced his appointment was the right decision.

A little over a year later, McClaren and Venables' professional relationship was shot to bits. Their body language on Wednesday confirmed it and they were sacked together.

The cracks began in Croatia when McClaren went with the former England head coach and adopted a 3-5-2 formation — except it was 3-5-2 with a sting in the tail.

McClaren proposed John Terry, the British bulldog defender, play sweeper. Venables nominated Ferdinand. McClaren went with Terry and it was a disaster.

The pair soldiered on, despite the rumours, but they went on to disagree publicly over the omission of Stewart Downing from the Euro 2008 qualifier in Zagreb.

McClaren claimed he had been left out for tactical reasons but Venables cleared the matter up for the nation in his newspaper column: 'We didn't have him in Croatia because the relentless negativity (of the fans) had got to him.'

After that, their relationship was never the same. McClaren did what most managers mistakenly do under pressure and buried his head in the sand. The rumblings from the FA were crystal clear: 'If Steve is going to fail, he is going to do it his way.'

McClaren would call regular meetings to consult Venables and firstteam coach Steve Round over training and tactics.

It got them nowhere, of course, because McClaren had isolated himself. He no longer knew who trust and he became an increasingly insular figure.

Venables felt marginalised — any England training session confirmed that his role was little more than frustrated spectator — and his wisdom was rarely called upon.

Life as a No 2 never quite suited Venables but at least he will get another opportunity at international level.

Ireland want Venables to become their new head coach and Venables, it seems, may yet want Ireland.