Martin Samuel became the latest in a long line of frustrated English football fans to take aim at Ireland's exploitation of the Granny rule this week.
In the 1980s when Jimmy Greaves and Spitting Image were lampooning Jack Charlton's usage of the Granny Rule (introducing Paddy O'Gascoigne), the FAI kept their heads down and kept working.
U17 boss Tom Mohan, who guided his team to the European championships last month, has defended Ireland's unabashed use of the granny rule.
Samuel referenced the work of Mark O'Toole, an FAI scout dedicated to spotting talented England-based players of Irish descent. Mohan added another few names to the mix.
Mark is very useful, he has his finger on the pulse over the south of England and continues to do massive work over there like our other scouts. We have Gerry Murphy, Mick Martin and Don Givens; we are active in England. There are a lot of very good people.
Mohan said that Ireland are a small nation and should maximise their resources within the rules as they are laid down.
The rules are there and we're abiding by them. If there are players there who are eligible for us, we'll go after them and do our best to get them and that's it.
We're a small nation, the young players over there are eligible for us, you've got to make the most of it and the players that we have in are keen to play for Ireland, they're enthusiastic.
[Examiner]
