Terry Venables, having agreed to hand over control of English first division strugglers Portsmouth, has hinted that his reign as Australia coach may also be coming to an end. Venables, who yesterday agreed to an English High Court order banning him from holding company directorships for seven years, is still in charge of Australia, after narrowly failing to guide them to the World Cup finals.
But the former England coach will fly to Sydney next week to discuss his future with chairman of Soccer Australia, David Hill, and does not appear keen to carry on.
"I'm going out to meet the Australian officials who are offering me a new contract, but there are obviously problems," admitted Venables.
"It is a long time between the World Cups, and the distance between England and Australia and access to the players for tournaments are difficult. I have had a great relationship with David Hill, and I owe it to him to sit down and listen to what he has to say before I talk to anyone else."
The court ruling will put a hold on Venables' business dealings, but has not prevented speculation linking him with a return to football management. Among many others, Venables has been linked with the Rangers job which will become vacant in the summer when Walter Smith steps down.
Venables decided to admit, or not contest, 19 specific allegations of serious misconduct made against him by the Department of Trade and Industry at the High Court.
The case arose from alleged mismanagement of four companies - London drinking club Scribes West Ltd, Edenote plc, Tottenham Hotspur plc and Tottenham Hotspur Football and Athletic Company Ltd.
Still on the international front, Scotland manager Craig Brown has confirmed that even his worrying shortage of strikers for the World Cup will not allow Everton's Duncan Ferguson an opportunity to return to the national squad. The player voluntarily withdrew his service to his country last autumn when he intimated that he no longer wished to be considered.
Two of Brown's three main forwards, Darren Jackson of Celtic and Gordon Durie of Rangers, are currently not regular first-team choices for their clubs, which leaves Kevin Gallacher of Blackburn Rovers the only Scotland international with consistent match practice at a high level.
Brown would have liked to have Ferguson at least available - if only to swell the numbers - although the towering Everton man has not been conspicuously successful in a dark blue jersey, having failed to score a goal in seven appearances.
"I'm resigned to not having him," said Brown, "and it's a shame. It's not personal, because I deliberately asked him that, if it were Alex Ferguson or Kenny Dalglish in this job who was sending for him, would the answer be the same? He said yes, it would make no difference."
In transfer news, Patrick Blondeau last night completed a £1.2 million transfer from Sheffield Wednesday to Bordeaux - after his wife put a block on a move to Tottenham.
Blondeau's nightmare six-month stay at Hillsborough finally came to an end after he agreed to return to France to try to push his claims for a place in the World Cup squad.
Newcastle have laughed off a report that striker Faustino Asprilla is to rejoin Parma for £7.3 million. A Colombian radio station claimed that the 28-year-old is to return to the Italian club he left in February 1996.
But Newcastle assistant manager Terry McDermott said of the report: "It's rubbish."
Coventry have confirmed that they have received "two substantial offers" for £5 million-rated striker Dion Dublin. Chairman Bryan Richardson declined to name the interested clubs, but one of them is believed to be Middlesbrough.
German striker Andreas Thom has completed a cut-price move from Celtic to Hertha Berlin. The 32-year-old, signed for £2.2 million in August 1995, has been allowed to return home for a reported £100,000.
A prize of £5,000 awarded when supporters of the Republic of Ireland team were named as the winners of FIFA's Fair Play award is to be distributed among Supporters' Clubs and designated charities.
The trophy was presented in Paris on Monday night to Caroline Hanlon, who has come to be identified as typifying the qualities which have won Irish fans so much respect around the world.
