Former Republic of Ireland manager Jack Charlton yesterday expressed his support for Terry Venables becoming the new national manager but cautioned the Republic currently doesn't enjoy the same quality squad of players that were available to him.

Asked if he thought Venables had the attributes necessary to manage the Republic, Charlton said: "I've known Terry a very long time . . . he's worked abroad and he's worked in England - he's been out of the game for a little bit of time now which has always surprised me but he's a very knowledgeable lad - I wouldn't be at all upset me if he got the job,"said Charlton.

However, Charlton stressed that the availability of good players was more important than any particular qualities Venables or anyone else could bring to the position and he was forthright in his view that Ireland currently don't have a quality squad.

"It's not the qualities you need (to be manager), it's what you got - it's how many players you've got, what are the players like, how good they are and I think you're going through a period where you're a little bit short of some very good players.

"When I came to the job 20 years ago there were people there who could play, we had Packie Bonner, Frank Stapleton, Mick McCarthy, Kevin Moran were already here, Tony Galvin - there were lots and lots of good players.

"All I had to do was put a team together and give them a way of playing and let them get on with it which we did," said Charlton who was speaking at University College Cork prior to delivering a lecture on sport entitled "Building Successful Teams".

Asked about the FAI's treatment of Steve Staunton, Charlton was sympathetic to his former player and although reluctant to be drawn on the FAI's handling of the matter, he expressed surprise they didn't give him more time in the job.

"I was a bit annoyed that Stan was only given a very short time to establish himself - he was there to learn and I thought somebody sensible within the FAI people had looked at him and said 'yeah, he will be a good manager but he needs time and a bit of help'. I felt sorry for Stan because he's a smashing lad - he's done very well for his country over the years as a player, I was very impressed with Stan - I thought they would give him time but after they had a few bad results, here and there, they got rid of him."