Venables admits his decision is made

Head coach Venables yesterday admitted that all could be revealed before Boro's final game of the season tomorrow at home to West Ham.

The 58-year-old former England boss has fulfilled his six-month brief to save Boro from relegation.

And now he will tell Gibson whether he still has a role to play at the Riverside Stadium.

Northern Echo Sport exclusively revealed in November that beleaguered manager Bryan Robson had recommended Venables should take charge.

Venables has confirmed for the first time that haulage tycoon Gibson wants him to stay with the club.

Gibson, due to return yesterday from a business trip, is understood to be ready to hand Venables a £2m-a-year two-season deal to be Boro boss.

The smart money is on Venables turning the offer down.

But even if he sticks to plans to take up a lucrative role as senior analyst with ITV next season, he could continue to work for Boro as a high-powered consultant, with Robson remaining as manager.

Many fans would baulk at that, but Venables yesterday endorsed Robson's credentials and insisted the manager had won back a degree of kudos following Boro's escape from the drop.

"I haven't made Bryan aware of my decision, but I know he wants me to stay,'' said Venables.

"Whatever we do has to be done with Bryan, the chairman and the chief executive, Keith Lamb.

"I hope Bryan stays. I said on my first day here that he'd made a very brave decision. He's been in a very difficult position.

"Maybe it hasn't solved all his problems, but I think it's a better situation for Bryan than it was before - he's won a bit.

"The chairman has also made it plain he'd like me to stay.

"I spoke to him last week, but we didn't have that sort of chat then.

"We talked about a lot of other things and he told me what his thoughts were about the future of the club.

"We said to everybody we'd come up with a decision at the end of the season.

"I've more or less made a decision. Once the decision has been made, there's no point hanging on; we'll let people know as soon as we've had our discussion.

"Things will be sorted very quickly now once I've spoken to the chairman. It's not impossible that the decision will be known before this weekend's game.

"We've got to sort things out - we're not going to go into the summer without things being sorted.

"I'm not having any sleepless nights now that we're in the Premiership next season.

"That's really the most important thing for this club, and I've been determined not to think about anything else until the job was done.

"But it has maybe been the most difficult decision I've had to make because there are things for and against, and there's a lot to think about.

"As I've said before, I've enjoyed it a lot here. It's been great and everyone has been terrific and received me well.

"It couldn't have been better; I was a southern softie coming up here and you never know what to expect, but it's been very good.

"Bryan and Viv Anderson have been on the training field with me and everyone has pulled together.

"We've all been through a difficult time and come through it well, and the supporters have suffered with us.

"Everybody I've spoken to in the street has been very kind and generous.''

Despite their desperate struggle to retain top-flight status, Venables maintains that Boro's future is bright.

"I don't think there's big job to be done here,'' he said. "I think there's the basis of a very good future - not only with the first-team squad but also with the youngsters coming through.''

Venables admits his decision has been made harder by the close ties he has developed with Boro in such a short time.

He said: "When I came here, I said I couldn't commit myself for longer because I had other interests.

"Those interests are still there and nothing has changed from that point of view. The only thing that has changed are things that have happened along the way and that's made it difficult.''

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