Hearts of Oak’s General manager Gerald Ankrah is optimistic the players can get better under new coach Kenichi Yatsuhashi.

The appointment of the Japanese-American has been greeted with scores of criticism against the Phobian club for choosing a low standard tactician to lead one of Ghana’s biggest teams.

But the General manager insists several factors went into the Coach’s appointment and the Phobians have open a new leaf with the 46 year old.

“We are embarking on a new course. We want to do something new that will restore what Hearts of Oak is known to be-various considerations were made in choosing Kenichi and it’s simply to ensure there is gelling between the coach and the players,” Ankrah told the media at the Coach’s unveiling at the club’s secretariat in Accra.

“The coach should not be too old or too young. He should be a coach that the players can easily identify with. It is all to ensure we move much stronger than we started last season and beyond.”

The former continental masters finished just above the relegation zone last season and will be hoping to at least get to the top four next season.