Football's foreign legion... Your view

Giovanni Trapattoni's appointment as Republic of Ireland coach has increased the legion of men in charge of a country different to their own nationality.

We've picked out a host of other examples from the successful - Ernst Happel - to the disasters - Berti Vogts. You can read about all these chaps by clicking here.

But does the proliferation of cases around the world seems to contradict the whole idea of international football? Should football associations be banned from appointing men from outside their borders? Whatever your views, we want to hear them. Using the boxes below, send in your thoughts.

Comments

[Brian Wylie]

Mr Higgins comments are, I suppose valid but with the proliferation of players and managers from overseas we can, at least in England, say goodbye to International excellence. Premier League managers, especially the foreigners, see International Football as a minor irritation and irrelevant to their job of success and profits. They couldn't care less about the national team and foreign owners are the same. with up to 75% of premier players foreign we can never hope to develop any home-grown talent. The president of FIFA is quoted as saying that the English contribution to World Football is negligible. He is right, because it has disappeared. Arsenal fans might as well support Milan if their ground was transferred hereas the club has nothing to do with London apart from where it is, they regularly turn out teams of 100% foreigners.If you want tyo watch a spectacle, fine, support a local team? Forget it.

[Dennis Higgins]

We have always had so called foreign players in the game,it followed that eventually we would have foreign managers,we have always needed a good mix in the game,it brings different skills, different methods into our so called English Game after all we have had Scottish, Welsh, Irish players for a very long time and long ago we had South African players in certain top teams,so I do not understand the comments about keeping our game English or British,it matters not where a person was born,if he is a good manager or a good player then we should be looking to see if the manager gets results and the player entertains, a perfect example of a so called foreign player was Gianfranco Zola of Chelsea who was great to watch and nobody was bothered where he was born or what nationality he was.I mean if this new man in charge of Ireland wins games will the so called pre-knockers of having international managers also start to complain about having foreign players in our English game as well,So should the manager be only Irish?It would be a poor world of football if we did not allow players or managers to work where they want,let alone a human rights issue.I hope the new manager will do well and wish him luck, at least give him a chance to do the job,let us see if ex players like Roy Keane can do as well in the future instead of making remarks and complaining as he did when he often played for his country,there was not many people who complained when he was sent home from the Irish team once,I would say to him that he has yet to proof himself as a manager,great a player as he was,often his mouth was too often used at the wrong time.Let Trapottonies reign in Ireland Succeed and the Irish fans no doubt will be supportive and friendly as most Irish people are towards all nationalities.

[Paddy]

What are the football authorities thinking about?
This will not work - ask Scotland , they made the same bad decision a few Berty years back. Rubbish to the men in suits.

[Mynes a Pint]

With Jack we achieved our best - downhill since, but why do we have to resort to an OAP?

[aidan]

I'm sure the Irish fans will be more happy than they would if Terry Venables had got the job

[Rinky Dinky again]

P.S. Doesn't Trapattoni look like Joe, the next door neighbour in 'The Royle Family'?

[Rinky Dinky, Telford]

Of course it demeans the whole notion of international football. The players have to be English, Scottish, Ghanaian or whaetever so why shouldn't the managers? There was outcry when Jack Charlton announced that Andy Townsend was suddenly Oirish cos his grandma once had a pint of Guinness, but isn't it worse to have a Swede or Italian manage a group of players and call it 'England's national team'?