No one can question Venables's durability but if the next England manager was to appoint El Tel it would be the most surprising England call-up since Michael Ricketts, wrote Rick Broadbent in The Times.
The FA had concerns over Venables' business dealings in the build-up to Euro 96, and told the 1991 FA Cup winning coach, that his England contract would not be renewed after the tournament hosted by England.
White and other senior FA figures had decided to replace him with Glenn Hoddle, but Venables went on to lead England to the semi-finals, eventually missing out to Germany on penalties at Wembley.
Venables blamed Noel White, the chairman of the FA's international committee for driving him out of the FA, despite two successful two years at the helm. In 1998 Venables was banned from acting as a company director for seven years.
However, White - a member of the FA's full board, is known to have told chief executive Brian Barwick, he would not stand in the way of Venables returning to the England fold, if McClaren believed it would be in the best interests of the national team.