Venus' career shaped by McGhee rejection

WHEN Celtic kick off their quest to reclaim the SPL title in August, Mark Venus will find himself in the opposing technical area to a man who once decided he was surplus to requirements.

It was in 1997, after almost a decade as a popular Wolves player who helped the club climb from the depths of the old English Fourth Division into the Championship, that Venus was shipped out by Mark McGhee.

At the time, he was resentful of McGhee's decision to offload him to Ipswich Town. Yet if he had not moved to Portman Road, Venus would not have become a team-mate of Tony Mowbray and forged the bond which has made them an unbreakable managerial double act.

As he was formally unveiled as the new Celtic assistant manager yesterday, Venus reflected on his rejection by McGhee and his subsequent appreciation of the need to make unpopular choices.

"I thoroughly respect Mark," said Venus. "When you are sat on this side of things, having to do some of the same things he had to do, then you understand why he had to make the decisions he did, even if you didn't agree with them. It will be nice to see him again. Our paths have crossed a few times and it's been fine. There are no grudges or anything from me.

"Mark sold me to Ipswich. He came in at Wolves and, as managers do, he had his own ideas. He had a blueprint for the club and I could see he was a very ambitious guy. Sometimes in your career, when a new manager has different plans, you have to go elsewhere to play football.

"As it turned out, George Burley took me to Ipswich and they were the best six or seven years of my career. He had total belief in me and encouraged me to be a total footballer. I'm eternally grateful to George for what he did for me."

Although they were born and raised less than 30 miles apart in the north-east of England, it was not until their paths converged in Suffolk that Mowbray and Venus were able to make the connection that has linked them in management at Hibs, West Bromwich Albion and now Celtic.

"We respect each other's footballing opinions," said Venus. "We are both football people above all else. We are probably quite different as people away from football. Tony believes and embraces what I do. I enjoy the end product of what we put on the pitch and the challenge it brings. The blend between us is the shared belief in how football should be played.

"After five years together as a managerial team, we have developed a relationship and we understand each other more. You know what is expected of you and you grow into your job.

He gives me a lot of leeway. He has a lot of trust and faith in me and I totally respect and appreciate it."

Venus has relocated to Edinburgh, where his children remained at school even after he and Mowbray left Hibs in 2006, as he prepares for his second stint in Scottish football. He insists he is ready for the more acute demands he will face with one of the Old Firm clubs.

"I realise the rivalry is much more intense than in Edinburgh," said the 42-year-old. "I understand that Edinburgh is more cosmopolitan and the clubs are not as big as the two in Glasgow. I've been to a lot of Old Firm games and I understand the end line of what it is all about.

"If people tell me in the street that we aren't doing well, I won't walk away from them or ignore them. I'll be listening and understanding. I might disagree with some of the things they say, but the bottom line is that I will be feeling it as much as anyone.

"Everyone at Celtic has been really supportive since we arrived and I think they are really excited about what we can bring to the club. Let's hope we don't let them down.

"I see this as a massive part of my education as a coach and assistant manager, to be working with these players and with these expectations from the fans. As a manager, coach or player, you want to win things. I didn't achieve as much in terms of medals as a player, so I'd like to be part of that in my coaching career. West Brom won their first championship in 80 years when we were there and I feel very proud of that. Now I'd like to win things here."

Venus is unconcerned by any budgetary restraints he and Mowbray may encounter and says there will be no mitigating factors if they fail to win back the championship from Rangers.

"In the league we are in, we have a big budget," he said. "Let's be honest, there are no excuses about finance when it comes to the league we are competing in. We are big in the league we are in. When we talk about Europe, then that's when I think a sense of realism has to kick in.

"There has to be a sense of realism about what type of footballer you can afford to bring in. You can't bring in the finished article from England, Spain or Italy. That's not going to happen.

"You have to nurture players, you might have to bring some in from lesser leagues. You might still get the odd one or two from the top leagues who haven't matured properly yet as players or were fringe players in those leagues.

"Part of the challenge as a coach is that you can still improve players. I'd like to think that over the past five years, Tony and I have helped some players move their careers forward.

"Teams in the bottom half of the Premier League can compete with us financially and some of them can beat us on salaries. It doesn't matter. At Hibernian, the salaries were poor. When we were at West Brom, we had a limited budget and a very low budget in the Premier League. The bottom line is you work with your budget and get everything out of it. It's not unachievable."