Though Milovan Rajavac promised to stay on as Black stars coach by signing
a four-year contract extension, the Serbian tactician has capriciously gone
ahead to sign for Al Ahly, a Saudi-Arabian club side instead.
This development has split Ghanaian football fans into two groups: the first
comprises those who feel that despite his huge success with the Black Stars,
Milo’s departure is good news for Ghana and an opportunity to appoint a more
competent coach. The second group comprises those who think Milo’s departure is
a great loss and that the F.A should have done more to keep him. Already the
debate about who succeeds Milo has begun. This development, also, has split
Ghanaians into three groups: The first group is made up of F.A officials, Ken
Ezaga of Africaplays.com, and other fans who think that competence, rather than
colour or race should be the criterion for hiring the next Black Stars coach.
In essence the next Black Stars coach could come from anywhere on the
globe-Afghanistan, Ghana, Iraq, France- as long as he is competent.
The second group comprises fans who think the next Black stars must be a
Ghanaian coach. Members of this group are of the resolute opinion that the
situations whereby mediocre foreign coaches come to Ghana, take advantage of
our extraordinary human resource, better their CVs and then desert the national
team must come to an end. The third group comprises those who think that our
local coaches are not competent enough to manage the Black stars and therefore
another foreign coach must be contracted.

According the G.F.A’s spokesman, Randy Abbey, over fifty coaches worldwide have
officially sent in applications to coach the Black Stars.
It’s imperative that we analyze Milo’s departure and efforts to replace him
within the context of prevailing circumstances: Milo’s two-year stint with the
Black Stars saw him qualify the team to the final of Angola 2010 and the
quarter-finals of South-Africa 2010. His successor must possess the ability to
achieve greater success, such as winning the Nations Cup in 2012 and reaching
the semi-final of the 2014 World Cup.
The question now is ‘who is the right man for the Black Stars job?’


Local or Foreign coach?
This writer has paid attention to the discussions and analyses that have been
made with regard to who the next Black Stars coach should be. On air and
online, in the pubs and on the subs, in the market and work places, in the
mosques and in the churches, Ghanaians, home and abroad are enthusiastically
debating whether a local or foreign coach should take over as coach.
A significant number of fans have expressed strong opposition to the hiring of
a local coach. Some have described our local coaches as ‘incompetent’ and
‘technically bankrupt’:
‘If our local coaches are good enough, why don’t they prove it in the local
league and in the CAF Champions League? When was the last time a Ghanaian club
qualified to the money zone of CAF competitions? Or have you forgotten that
CAF has reduced from four to two, Ghana’s slot for CAF competitions? If our
local coaches are good they should first prove it in CAF competitions’’, a
visibly angry Daniel Addo burst out when I sought ot suggest that Ghanaian
coaches are good enough to manage the Black Stars. Others have also expressed
doubts about the ability of our local coaches to earn the respect of foreign
players. ‘We need a coach who can manage the egos of the boys’, Nii Hanson
Sackey, a football enthusiast stated.
Needless to say, assertions that our local coaches are incompetent and
technically bankrupt are false and inaccurate. It is no longer news that with
the exception of the U-17 World Cup Otto Pfister won as coach of the Black
Starlets in 1991, all other football trophies Ghana possess have been won by
Ghanaian coaches.

The likes of Sir Cecil Jones Atoquefio, Herbert Addo, Sellas Tetteh, Sam Arday
and so on, no longer have anything to prove. They have proven over the years
that they are capable of achieving results at all levels, if given the chance.
Not only was Sir Cecil Jones, for instance, named Africa’s best coach in 2001,
his Hearts of Oaks side was the undisputed best side in Africa. Sir Jones went
on to qualify Benin for her first African Nations Cup ever. Also, Sellas
Tetteh’s feat as the first black man to win the U-20 World Cup, is enough
indication that Ghanaian coaches are not ‘egg heads’. They have delivered
before, and will deliver again if they are given the chance.



This writer is not going to sit here and preach that the Black Stars job should
be given to a local coach at all cost. So also, efforts must not be made to
give the job to a foreign coach at all cost. If the G.F.A and the Sports
Ministry can not hire a truly world-class coach such as Luis Felipe Scolari,
and Ottmar Hitzfeld, then they better give the job to a Ghanaian coach.
Coaches such as Kwesi Appiah, Herbert Addo, Abdul Razaq, and Sir Cecil Jones
are available to take the job.
Situations whereby coaches with poor professional background are contracted by
the F.A to manage the national team at the expense of Ghanaian coaches, mainly
because they are white, must end. These are ‘fake expatriates’ who come into
the country with poor CVs, but end up leaving with vastly improved CVs.

According to ghanasoccernet.com, certain Black Stars players including John
Mensah and Richard Kingson have called for the Black Stars job to be given to
current assistant coach, Kwesi Appiah. And Why not? It is only proper that I
quote Kingson’s exact words for the benefit of readers:
“Akwasi Appiah is down to earth, he is humble and we all respect him. When he
speaks to everyone in the team, he is listened to. Every Black Stars player
loves him and I personally want the job to be given to him permanently because
we I know he is a competent coach and he can do the job.”
Having been assistant coach for two years, Kwasi Appiah has amassed invaluable
experience and expertise, a development which makes him qualified enough to
replace his former boss, Milo. In any case, if he wasn’t qualified to take over
as coach one day, why was he appointed as assistant coach in the first place?
I laugh when I hear pundits such as Metro T.V’s Christopher Opoku and Nana
Agyemang, denigrating Kwesi Appiah’s ability to coach the Black stars. They
aforementioned pundits have described Kwesi as ‘incompetent’ and ‘unqualified’
even for the position of assistant coach. Suffice it to state, however, that
‘competence’ in football is a vague term. How do we predetermine that a coach
is competent or not? This explains why the ‘incompetent’ Avram Grant qualified
Chelsea to the 2008 UEFA champions League final (and almost won, but for a
Terry Penalty miss), a feat even the ‘competent’ Mourinho failed to achieve
in three seasons.

Unnecessary Craving for foreign coaches.
In searching for a new coach, the G.F.A must look beyond ‘white colour’ and
unnecessary certificates. Needless to say, the fact that a coach possesses the
UEFA Pro License or other certificates is no guarantee that he would succeed.
Since Ghana cannot afford to contract a world class coach, let’s look to
Ghanaian coaches to do the job.
According to reports, Marcel Desailly, is on course to become Black stars coach.
Though his lack of coaching experience may turn out to be his undoing, he is
still worth the gamble, just as the F.A gambled with Milo two years ago. Few
would deny that despite Milo’s success as Black Stars coach, his technical
deficiencies (such as his inability to analyze matches and make meaningful
substitution) were glaring.
The F.A could even go for a team of local coaches: In the words of Mark
Adjetey, ‘a team of three coaches-one head and two assistants- will be best so
that there are checks and balances!’



In conclusion, it’s time we ended our unnecessary craving for foreign coaches.
After realizing the futility of investing millions of dollars in foreign
coaches who in the end achieve nothing, countries such as South-Africa and Cote
d’Ivoire have handed control of their national teams to local coaches. Nigeria
is on course to follow suit. From Stephen Keshi, who did the impossible by
qualifing Togo to the 2006 World Cup to Sellas Tetteh who won Africa’s first
U-20 World Cup, African coaches are proving that they are capable of matching
up and even surpassing the best in the world. What is Ghana still waiting for?



Credit: Samuel K. Obour
Email: samuelkwason@aol.com