Desailly's appointment to open doors into Star's future - Arday

Accra, Sept 16, GNA - Coach Sam Arday, the newly appointed stopgap coach of the senior national team, the Black Stars has thrown his weight behind moves to recruit former French captain, Marcel Desailly as the coach of the Stars on a long term basis.

Sam Arday said in an interview with the GNA Sports that nobody should hold any contrary view against his appointment on the grounds of inexperience since Desailly has played football at the highest level and would know what to do when the need be in order to survive. The coach explained that he was touched by a statement by Desailly to the effect that he is prepared to serve the country's soccer in any capacity even for free to help push the nation forward. "To me, statements like these only come from patriots and truly so because comparatively Ghana stands to gain more from our association with him". "He will also not have problems adjusting to our game as he has closely followed our game and understands the psyche of Ghanaians and therefore the capabilities of our players which is a very important ingredient to be able to survive".

Arday said Desailly is a Ghanaian and that also is a plus because he will feel it when things are just going bad and would do everything within his power to ensure the success of the country. "Another important feature that his appointment would bring to the team is the European mentality of most Ghanaians of which the local Ghanaian coaches are accused of not having, hence the preference for Europeans over the local coaches". "His achievement in the game will also win respect to the Black Stars and would surely reflect in the team's performance", he added. The position of the national coach of the Black Stars became vacant after the unceremonious departure of the former coach, Mariano Barreto to join Portuguese first division club Maritimo.

The urgency of the situation became apparent with the Stars' World Cup qualifier against DR Congo fast approaching which forced the Ghana Football Association to appoint Coach Sam Arday as the stopgap coach for the match on October 10 whilst the search for a substantive coach goes on.

Born as Odenke Abbey to Ghanaian parents, Marcel had his name changed when his mother married a French diplomat who adopted all the children and changed their names accordingly. Desailly played all his football in Europe winning the European Champions league twice on the trot with Olympic Marseille and AC Milan. He also won everything a player can achieve on the international stage winning the World Cup and the European Cup with his adopted country, France.