Venables sceptical over Baldini remarks

Former England manager Terry Venables has cast doubt on whether Fabio Capello and his backroom team can improve the technique of national team players in the short time they spend together.

England general manager Franco Baldini claims the players need to work on their technique and find a way to transfer their club form to the international stage, but Venables, who also served as assistant manager to Capello’s predecessor Steve McClaren, insists that cannot realistically happen during the training sessions before international matches.

“I was intrigued to learn Fabio Capello and Franco Baldini are planning to use England training sessions to raise the technical levels of our players,” Venables wrote in his Sun column.

“Good luck with that one. It will be a great trick if you can do that in three days. But I wouldn’t hold your breath.

“I’ve met Baldini and he seems like a nice guy. But the way he is attacking his new job as general manager seems a little strange to me. It’s all very well talking about raising standards and improving fitness levels.

“But he needs to understand there is only so much you can achieve in the limited time they have with the squad.”

Venables has backed former AC Milan and Real Madrid coach Capello to be a success but warned him he has to keep Premier League managers on side.

“No club will object to Capello, Baldini or his fitness coach watching their training sessions,” he said.

“But they won’t change their methods and rightly so. After all, it’s the clubs who have spent millions to buy these players and pay their wages. Not the FA.

“If Capello doesn’t appease his fellow managers, there’s a danger that some of the players might not be so readily available for England.”