Should FIFA ban foreign managers?

[AyewJoking]

I would like for International managers to be of the same nationality of the country they coach but I wont hold my breath waiting for Fifa to do something about it.

[Trav Le Bleu]

Not sure you could outlaw it, at least not in Europe anyway . Would it not break European law saying for example a Spanish manger can not work in England ?. I suppose they could have it as a guideline but they could never force any nation not to employ a foreign manager .

But if that was the case then you couldn't stop Lionel Messi from playing for England.

Which he wants to.

[AKCJ]

this is stupid!!!!

so your saying for example Brendan Rodgers cannot manage Liverpool because he is from Northern Ireland? i am sorry but that is discrimination.

How did you work that out?

[Trav Le Bleu]

Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski were both born in Poland.

To those who voted yes in the poll, If Guardiola, Mourinho or even Arsene Wenger wanted to manage England in the 2014 World Cup (assuming we qualify), do you really doubt they would do a better job than the current incumbent?

They probably would, but that's not the point. If England had a team that was actually full of Brazilians, Spanish and Argentines, we'd do a better job that the present collection of neerdowells?

[Pride_Of_The_Midlands]

Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski were both born in Poland.

To those who voted yes in the poll, If Guardiola, Mourinho or even Arsene Wenger wanted to manage England in the 2014 World Cup (assuming we qualify), do you really doubt they would do a better job than the current incumbent?

You're missing the point.

I'm sure we would do better under a foreign manager but it wouldn't be our achievement if we had to get help from a foreign nation.

Let's say we win the World Cup under Capello.

We would have to cut the trophy in half and give half of it to Italy because we used Italy's talent to help us win.

[Carl the Llama]

Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski were both born in Poland.

To those who voted yes in the poll, If Guardiola, Mourinho or even Arsene Wenger wanted to manage England in the 2014 World Cup (assuming we qualify), do you really doubt they would do a better job than the current incumbent?

Klose's Dad already lived in Germany & had a German passport when Klose moved there at 8. Podolski lived in Germany from 2.

W/r to your list of managers - obviously they'd be just as capable as, if not more than, Woy, but that isn't the question.

[ozleicester]

Yep,

same as with players, this is about the country and it playing the best side it can...from within its borders and that includes managers.

Otherwise, just play Barca as the spanish national side

[Guest MattP]

No problem with a ban at all, a national team's manager should be from that country.

[Guest MattP]

Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski were both born in Poland.

To those who voted yes in the poll, If Guardiola, Mourinho or even Arsene Wenger wanted to manage England in the 2014 World Cup (assuming we qualify), do you really doubt they would do a better job than the current incumbent?

Missed the point completely, if we had Messi and Ronaldo up front we would do better, it wouldn't make it right though.

[Aus Fox]

this is stupid!!!!

so your saying for example Brendan Rodgers cannot manage Liverpool because he is from Northern Ireland? i am sorry but that is discrimination.

Oh dear

Is this a wind up?

[Haydos]

But you can not by law stop a Spanish manger from being manager of England. Maybe they should treat managers and staff of national teams like they do players and say that they at least have to work in England for x amount of years before they can manage the England team.

Look i'm not a lawyer i was just stating that you can not stop free employment in the European union , I don't know the in's and outs of it.

Why can't we select foreign players to play for the England team then?

[Guest MattP]

Why can't we select foreign players to play for the England team then?

Not to mention the fact that the FA can actually appoint who they want.

You can't stop a Spanish person applying would be accurate.

[BlueSi13]

Considering that English managers find it utterly impossible to get the top jobs with English clubs, as well as English players struggling to break through the sea of cheap foreign imports, taking away the possibility of managing the England national side is just another sad reality of English football today.

Any way of combatting this im all in favour for!

[AdamN]

No! How else will the lesser and developing football nation be able to bridge the gap, with out foreign coaches?

If a country cannot produce a single competent manager, then why should they deserve to bridge the gap, exactly?

[shen]

I don't really care either way, but if they're going to do this, they should also tighten up the rules on which nations you're qualified to play for. There was a Premiership footballer on Football Focus the other day who can pick and choose between FOUR different countries. Half the Wales, Scotland and Ireland teams are full of Englishman. France won the world cup with some players who were essentially Africans, and some of the best German players are in fact Polish and Turkish.

It's getting a bit silly now, players are moving to a country for a year and then rush through citizenship and are allowed to play for them. The manager's nationality is just water under the bridge these days.

Oh no, don't go there. Not again!! It's been done to death. While I understand your point about the decreasing meaning of nationality (which is, of course, debatable) and thus the banality of international teams, don't 'black or white' what is essentially a very 'grey' topic. From a moral point of view, it seems odd that a foreign manager can coach a national team, when the same does not apply to players. That logic can be extended to every employee within the national football associations. However, the line has to be drawn somewhere, and it seems consensus is that line that players cross when on the football pitch, as they directly influence the results of a football game, which is what this is about.

No! How else will the lesser and developing football nation be able to bridge the gap, with out foreign coaches?

I understand that point of view too. We send all kinds of experts to developing nations with the intent of helping them develop. The lesser football nations will never realistically catch up to better teams if they're not allowed exterior help. Then again, if coaches have such a big influence on a team's performance it is in no way uncontroversial...

[Pride_Of_The_Midlands]

Keshi raises concerns over white coaches in Africa

Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi has strongly criticised the role of some white coaches in African football just weeks before the Africa Cup of Nations.

Frenchman Herve Renard coached Zambia to the 2012 title but Keshi has concerns about some who work on the continent.

"The white guys are coming to Africa just for the money," he said.

"They are not doing anything that we cannot do. I am not racist but that's just the way it is."

However, Uganda's Scottish coach Bobby Williamson does not agree.

He told BBC Sport: "I never came here for the money. I came here for the job, for a new experience and a new working place. I've never regretted it.

"When I first came here, the money I was being paid was just enough to pay the mortgage. It has improved because I have been relatively successful; at the regional African Cecafa tournaments and I've also get close to qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations.

"We are all professionals, if he [Keshi] could get a better job in Europe and earn better money, then I'm sure he would be off like a shot.

"It's just like most African players who are playing in Britain: they're not just there for the love of football, they are there to make money - they are professionals."

Keshi, who won the Nations Cup as a player in 1994, was also critical of the attitude taken by some of the continent's governing bodies.

The former Togo coach feels that there is a substantial difference in the way that local and foreign coaches are treated by football associations across Africa.

"African coaches - when [federations] employ them, [the federations] want them to win the World Cup, the Africa Cup of Nations and every game," said a man who has steered Nigeria into this month's finals in South Africa.

"Meanwhile, if you give a white person the same job, you tell the white person they need one year to adapt, to know the country and the players - they are told 'don't worry, take your time'.

"That is unprofessional and is one thing that is killing African football."

But Williamson believes it is up to African coaches to improve their standards.

"It is not about being black or white, it is about having the qualifications," he added. "I've got them. My Uefa licence doesn't expire until until 2016 and I'll be doing what I need to in the meantime to keep it up.

"I'm not sure that many African coaches have that qualification and that is the biggest problem. They have Confederation of African Football qualifications but I don't think they match the level of the European qualifications."

"I'm not sure that many African coaches have that qualification and that is the biggest problem. They have Confederation of African Football qualifications but I don't think they match the level of the European qualifications."

Of the 16 coaches who will be leading out sides at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, nine hail from either Europe or South America while seven are from the Africa.

Foreign, mainly-European, coaches have long had an influence on African football.

A Hungarian coach - Pal Titkos - led Egypt to Nations Cup glory in only the second edition of the tournament in 1959.

In all, Africa's premier football event has been won by a local coach on 13 occasions, with foreign coaches triumphing 15 times.

BBC Sport

Strong words from the Nigeria coach.

The fact that there will be more European (8 ) managers than African (7 ) managers at the Africa Cup of Nations is a sad and shocking statistic.

The Africa Cup of Nations pits the best African players against each other.

It should also pit the best African managers against each other.

If FIFA outlawed foreign managers then we would be able to see this.

[ADK]

No, it would be hard to enforce. It also makes sense for less developed footballing nations to bring in foreign expertise. The fact that our FA have made several stupid foreign appointments is our problem.

[Guest]

definitely.

If only national players can play for national teams then only national managers should manage them.

Alternatively allow anyone to play for any country.

[Pride_Of_The_Midlands]

Much has been said about Ghana's lack of success at the Africa Cup of Nations over the last 31 years, but former Black Star Osei Kofi believes there is one major reason as to why they have not been African Champions since 1982.

Kofi, who was part of winning sides at the 1963 and 1965 tournaments, feels the Ghana Football Association's "obsession" with foreign coaches has cost the country dear.

"There is no consistency, coaches get two years and then they are sacked, that has killed us along with some of the coaches that have come to Ghana," he BBC Sport.

"I told the last two Serbian coaches (Milovan Rajevac and Goran Stevanovic) that we have had, that Ghana is a gifted football country, we don't train them in a football school like in Britain, no. You go and stand there and children are playing and you watch and you pick up on who will be good."

Kofi, who was considered one of the best players in Africa in the 1960s, said the managerial record of coaches since leaving the Black Stars has been less than impressive.

"Most of the coaches that we have had have not been up to the required standard," he added.

"For example, Ratomir Dujkovic left for China immediately after the World Cup in 2006, but he was sacked by the club after only three months. I believe that the players in Ghana were helping him to be a good coach.

"Then Milovan Rajevac took us to the World Cup in 2010, but then he got an offer in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ahli and he was also sacked after only three months.

"Rajevac then had a spell in charge of the Qatar which lasted six months and has not coached a professional team since."

It is not only the coaches that Kofi has criticised, the GFA has also come under fire.

"I will also attribute the last 31 years to the poor organisation of football in this country, and our officials," he said.

"One funny thing is that not a single member of the FA has played professional football before."

That said Kofi, who is now 70 has backed the GFA's decision to appoint Kwesi Appiah.

"If you bring raw gold from the dust, most people don't know what it is until it is polished. We need someone who can recognise raw talent and polish it up and that is why Kwesi Appiah will do well. He is combining the coaching methods from Europe with the knowledge of African talent.

"No white coach has come to Ghana and been given one year to win the Africa Cup of Nations and let's hope Kwesi Appiah gets more time.

"If players in Africa want to help their coach sometimes they will say 'hey coach, don't worry we will win this match for you' and they will. That is what is going on in the camp right now."

So does Cofi think that Ghana will win the Africa Cup of Nations?

"Everything is possible, as a patriotic Ghanaian I am hoping they can. I am hoping that for the first time in 31 years a black coach will bring the cup to Ghana."

Ghana are top of Group B after a draw with DR Congo and a win against Mali in their first two games. Victory over Niger in their final group game will guarantee them a place in the last eight.

Hoping for a Ghana vs Nigeria final.