The debate is on and judging from the current unimpressive state of football in the country, do we blame the coaches for poor work or the talents are simply not available to harness?
My Abusco Headmaster the late C.J. Bannerman once said at a Speech Day that “were Teachers magicians, no pupils would ever fail examinations. But where native intelligence is lacking even the Gods are powerless.” In other words intelligence or talent is a major factor to ensure progress in life.
So the pertinent question is do we have the football talents or not? Is it the case that the coaches are incapable of discovering and moulding the talented players to become stars?
I don’t have the answer but from what I gather from public discussions in the media those in charge of our football administration should take the blame.
Many ordinary football fans unfortunately regard the Ghana Football Association leadership as a cabal of self-seeking opportunist club owners solely interested in transporting abroad half-baked and immature players for foreign cash.
GFA President Kurt Okraku Photo Courtesy: GFA
To add to the confusion to disbelief selections for age group national teams are manipulated to suit the football entrepreneur club owners who style themselves as bank rollers. The allegations are that age cheating is prevalent and this explains why frustrated handlers often don’t stay long enough to build reliable nursery teams for the Black Stars.
Serious football analysts feel the low standard in the Premier League is the result of mushrooming clubs all over the place some with funny and meaningless names.
GFA President Kurt Okraku (middle) joins Black Stars players to celebrate qualification to 2026 FIFA World Cup Photo Courtesy: GFA
Gone are the days when every league club could uncover at least one potential national star at the end of the season and the fans would give him fantastic nicknames thus encouraging the player to show improvement and attract more fans to the stadium.
Anybody who says names don’t attract fans is being careless with the truth. We go to the stadium to see the big names in action. A couple of years ago I heard of Sunyani Neymar. I am anxious to know his whereabouts.
Albert Amoah Photo Courtesy: AKSC
Some of these potential national stars need to be carefully nurtured to benefit the nation in the long run. I hope he has gotten some good contract outside the country. This brings to mind the sudden transfer of Asante Kotoko’s Albert Amoah to Libya. Amoah is definitely a talented goal poacher and Kotoko will miss him a lot. However, Kotoko will make some financial gains as compensation.
Selling of players is a legitimate practice where professional football is a beautiful venture. All transactions are made in the open. It is my hope Kotoko will use the resources to look for an acceptable replacement.
Albert Amoah trains with Al Ahly Benghazi Photo Courtesy: GoalRoots
I still maintain that Ghana is yet to appreciate what real professional football is all about. Indeed that’s why some people still think the government or the GFA must do something about the salaries of our professional players.
My advice is that this topic must not be discussed again to avoid international ridicule. If after 20 years we still don’t know the nuances of professional football, it’s not surprising that we still have low patronage for many of our haphazardly arranged fixtures on weekdays.
Meanwhile let me return to my original question of poor coaching or lack of talented players.
Sir Jones Attuquayefio comes to mind as an outstanding coach. He was part of the historic success of Accra Hearts of Oak winning unprecedented six back to back league titles from 1994-2004. As national coach he fielded a virtually Hearts of Oak side to hold Super Eagles of Nigeria in a crucial international match at Accra Stadium.
info@businessghana.com
