Former Black Queens trainer, Bashir Hayford has urged both Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko to embrace the youth development policy.

The two arch-rivals have been criticized for their poor performance in the 2022/23 BetPawa Premier League, with Hearts of Oak dropping to seventh on the log with 45 points while Kotoko occupies the fourth spot with 47 points.

However, the two clubs are out of contention for the league title and the FA Cup which paves way for the winners to participate in the CAF Champions League and the Confederation Cup respectively.

“They should plan well so that in the subsequent years they prove that they are the two giants in the country. In terms of quality players, I always advise that they should always embrace the youth policy. If you give yourself two or four years and you are not worried about winning the league at that time and by the fourth year you spring up and win the league continuously for about three to four years, it means you have planned for”, he spoke to Radio Gold Sports.

Crediting former Premier League campaigners AshantiGold, Hayford said “AshantiGold did it, they had their academy and they won the league three to four times and the national team was constituted with the academy boys of AshantiGold. It is not about always wanting results but if you don’t plan well, you don’t get the good results you want. But I always advise that their youth policy should be strengthened, they should take it that we are not winning the league for two or three years. Let’s plan well so that from the third year we can begin winning”, he added.

With three games left to climax in the ongoing 2022/23 season, Hearts of Oak will play as guests to Legon Cities at the El-Wak Stadium on Friday, May 26 while Kotoko host Karela United at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium on Monday, 29.

The veteran coach has over 20 years in the field, having handled Hearts of Lions, Asante Kotoko, Medeama and Power Koforidua.

He also took charge of Ebusua Dwarfs, Somalia, Black Queens and most recently Legon Cities in 2020.


LSN/DO