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The Board of Accra Hearts of Oak have appointed assistant coach, Abdul Rahim Bashiru to step in as the interim manager while the club actively looked for a permanent replacement for Martinus Koopman, who parted ways with the club on mutual terms on Tuesday, November 14, 2023.
Coach Bashiru's first assignment will be to tackle the Week 11 fixture against Accra Lions on Tuesday, November 21, 2023. The match will be played at the Accra Sports Stadium.
"Ahead of his appointment, Coach Bashiru had a very fruitful discussion with the management and thanked them for reposing confidence in him and promised to work for the betterment of the team. The management reassured Abdul Rahim Bashiru of their maximum support," a statement released by the club read.
The decision to part ways with Koopman fell within the broader context of the club's plan to restructure the technical bench for the 2023/24 season.
Koopman's departure marks the 23rd coaching change since the departure of the renowned Sir Cecil Jones Attuquayefio in 1998. He now joins the roster of expatriate coaches who have tried their hand at leading the Phobians in recent years, following in the footsteps of Slavko Matic, Kosta Papic, Frank Nuttall, Sergio Traguil, Kenichi Yatsuhashi, Can Vanli, Nebojsa Vucicevic, Eyal Lachman, Mitko Dobrev and Ernst Middendorp.
With a coaching career going back to 1989, Koopman has had notable roles with clubs such as Al Nasr, Aruba, Roda JC, Shenyang Ginde as well as coaching national teams like the Maldives, and serving as the assistant coach of the Saudi Arabia national team from 2002 to 2004.
Coach Koopman, whose coaching career started from 1989 as the youth coach of Cambuur has coached several clubs including Al Nasr, Aruba, Roda JC, Shenyang Ginde among others.
Prior to his appointment by Hearts, he worked as the head coach of the national team of Maldives, and had also previously worked as the assistant coach of the Saudi Arabia national team between 2002-2004.
