Should Sven stay or should he go?

As the England manager was questioned yesterday over the affair that led to the resignation of the FA's chief executive, ' The Independent' asked whether he can - or deserves to - hold on to his job

Brian Aldiss

Writer

I think he should stay; he's supposed to be a very good trainer for the England team. Just because he's supposedly had it off with this young lady, well, I know nothing about her, and I dare say the press doesn't either. We should hope they both enjoyed it. Perhaps as a public figure he should display higher morals, perhaps he shouldn't, but the fact is, he didn't. It's nothing but a fit of British prudery and envy.

Jake Arnott

Writer

I think we should look to the French, who tend not to talk about their private lives. We have been in a crisis since Queen Victoria died. The only thing we [are] concerned with is it is all fine so long as we do not get caught. If someone is stupid enough to get caught, perhaps they should be prepared for the consequences. Another lesson [is] have an affair with someone who has as much to lose as you.

JG Ballard

Writer

I think he should be asked to leave because he is a failure as far as the England football team is concerned. We always seem to get stuck at the quarter-finals. For sexual services to the nation, he should be promoted to Lothario-in-chief, perhaps. He should not be sacked for having an affair with a secretary - three-quarters of the population would be out of a job if that were the case.

Alan Bleasdale

Playwright

I think he should go, not because of his private life - he's a sad middle- aged fellow but a lot of men are, that's no reason to sack him. He reminds me of Chancey Gardener in Being There. The character rises through the ranks, to his own astonishment, to become US President, simply through being in the right place at the right time. Sven should go because he's a terrible, weak manager.

Lauren Booth

Social commentator

It seems that Sven has shagged around again and men in football shag around and people lie about it. An affair is not the end of the world and I do not have strong feelings about Sven's future. If a football manager is shagging around, that is one thing, but what we should be concerned with is whether he is a good enough manager to get Beckham to score a penalty kick.

Adrian Chiles

Broadcaster

I don't think he should have to go. I can't say I'm fond of him because he is preposterous and it is an unbelievable situation in which two bosses [are] getting their leg over the same secretary. He looks foolish, but that is no reason to kick him out. The players seem to respect him and he has a calm temperament. If he does not get us to the World Cup, then his time really should be up.

Jilly Cooper

Author

He's obviously such a stud ... But the worst thing for Sven is not [the possibility of] losing his job, but that the other guy [Palios] is better in bed. What a blow for any man to hear! As for whether he should go, he has to, really. He's lost the gravitas with the players ... If he'd won Euro 2004 no one would have given a stuff, but he didn't. Once was forgivable [with Ulrika Jonsson], but twice is too much.

Hunter Davies

Author and biographer of Paul Gascoigne

I think this sexual behaviour is irrelevant. I despise him for the affair - he shouldn't have taken advantage of a girl of inferior status. But all this is irrelevant. He's a rubbish manager, he failed at the World Cup in Japan and Korea in 2002, he failed in Portugal this year. He should have gone two years ago. I'd be happy if this is an excuse to get rid of him.

Phil Greening

England rugby player

What happens in his private life is up to him and should be kept away, but taking into account the figure he is and the important role that football has in the country makes me think he should realise [his] responsibilities. We've had trouble with players and now the boss is doing it, too! He must set standards. But maybe if he has the backing of the players, he should have one more chance.

Simon Heffer

Columnist

If he is sacked, he should be sacked on his apparent failure to be a good manager, not for sleeping with a secretary. He was employed to run a football team and he should go if it is found that he is not doing his job. He is not married, so he can do what he likes. A lot of men got very cross at seeing him pick up a much younger, glamorous woman, which suggests this issue has an element of envy.

Alison Kennedy

Writer

If I look at this issue in the context of worldwide events such as the situation in Iraq, where 10-year-old children are being imprisoned, I tend to think this story is not terribly important. What I do think is important is to assess why we should care that the England football manager has slept with his secretary and to evaluate exactly why we are interested.

Steve Lemacq

Radio 1 DJ

I don't think he should go because I don't think his personal life should overshadow what he does as a profession. But at the same time, I get the feeling that things would be a lot different if he had done really well during Euro 2004. He's being portrayed as quite smug in the press, which is turning people against him. There's always a job going coaching Colchester if all else fails for him.

Stirling Moss

Former racing driver

Good luck to him, frankly. If he is good in bed, why should he suffer for it? Of course he shouldn't. He is an attractive man to some ladies. I would feel it grossly unfair if I had got the sack every time I became close to a lady. I do not think his personal life sets an example to younger players or fans. I think it's perfectly acceptable for him to be glamorous. It's the media which creates [these] stories.

Cynthia Payne

Former madam

I think someone's sex life is entirely private, so what he's done has nothing to do with his job. Men will always be men and if an opportunity is handed on a plate, I think every male will find it very hard to refuse. It is ridiculous if he were to lose his job. It is only in England where an unmarried man could lose his job for having sex. Europeans think we are wallies because of [our] Victorian attitudes.

John Peel

Disc jockey

He should not have to go for having a shag. You can argue people's expectations are unreasonable for wanting him to go for professional reasons, but there are not that many excellent footballers in this country so it is not surprising that we did not win Euro 2004. We label these kinds of people as glamorous figures and pay them high salaries. Envy discolours national life.

Claire Rayner

Agony aunt

People do not play football with their penises, as far as I understand. If they did, I would feel differently but it is not relevant to [Eriksson's] professional role. The fact that he is well known because of what he does for a living should not have anything to do with his private life. The only people whose private lives are relevant to their professions are MPs, and this is only football for heaven's sake.

Anita Roddick

Founder of the Body Shop

Everyone needs to get a life, starting with the media. It would all be very good fun if there was nothing else worth understanding, but this crowds out coverage of the dire straits in Bangladesh, Sudan, of the American election where the world needs everything to change. Who cares if a couple of execs have bonked the same secretary?

Will Self

Writer

His [Eriksson's] marital peccadilloes are neither here nor there. This is all disenchantment stemming from an earlier failure, of his own making, when he failed to chastise Beckham for his own marital failures which then led to him kicking the ball over the bar against Portugal which led to England going out of Euro 2004. What goes around ...

Tommy Smith

Liverpool defender, 1960-1978

I think he should go. Sportsmen are supposed to behave because of the young kids who grow up idolising [them]. His behaviour sends out a message to youngsters that they do not need to have any ethics. He had a girlfriend, but continued to get involved with other women. This just serves to relate football with sex and scandal.

Johnny Vegas

Comic

I don't want to put a bloke out of a job! If he's going to go I think he should go for what he hasn't done on the pitch. The story seems to be, 'Guess what? This bloke has sex outside of his working hours'. So he's had a fling? So what? If the FA want to sack him, sack him. They want to get rid of him because of what happened at Euro 2004 ... But coming out with this ... is pathetic.