No coaches spared in Mideast quest for success

By Martin Petty

BANGKOK (Reuters) - When lifestyles are lavish and money is no object, jobs in the Middle East have proved irresistible to foreign soccer coaches.

The Gulf game, however, can be a ruthless coaching merry-go-round where patience is thin and no name is too big to be spared the axe.

Just this week, Asian champions Iraq sprang a surprise when they gave Egil Olsen the boot after only three games in charge, none of which were defeats.

Iraqi soccer chiefs said the Norwegian had refused to train the team in the war-torn country, so it was time for him to go.

To add to the misery, Olsen -- a man with a 100 percent record of taking teams to the World Cup finals -- discovered his fate only when he read the morning newspapers.

"I expect it's true but no one told me," the 65-year-old told Reuters from his home in Norway. "I think I'm sacked."

The oil-rich Sheiks who run the Gulf game are as famous for their impatience with foreign coaches as they are for their deep pockets.

In pursuit of places at the 2010 World Cup, they have splashed their cash for big-name bosses but shown no mercy if not instantly impressed.