Kumasi Asante Kotoko’s beleaguered coach Paa Kwasi Fabin joins his two other counterparts in the English Premiership, Benitez of Liverpool and Manchester City’s Roberto Mancini in celebrating very momentous victories during the yuletide.

Whilst Mancini passed a crucial test by winning his first match as manager of Manchester City courtesy a 2-0 win over Stoke City, Benitez brought back Liverpool on the winning trail after a disastrous run of defeats in the first half of the season. As for Paa Kwasi he has been such a disappointment that Kotoko supporters had reportedly planned to physically remove him from the bench in the club’s next match if Kotoko had lost to Aduana Stars. Thanks to Nii Adjei’s injury time goal, Kotoko bagged maximum points and are beginning to move away from a most unfamiliar relegation zone having bagged a paltry 15 points from 12 matches.

Sunday was Kotoko’s first win since the 6th week narrow 2-1 home victory over Real Tamale United in a league that has seen Paa Kwasi change starting line ups like you would change your underwear. The Kotoko coach is most likely to go into Ghana league history as the coach with the most assorted line ups.The triumph over Real Tamale United has been followed by a 1-0 loss to Kpando Heart of Lions; 1-1 draw with King Faisal, 1-0 defeat at the hands of Accra Hearts of Oak; 1-1 draw with bottom club Sekondi Hasaacas and another 3-3 draw with new comers Edubiase Stars The high expectation of relived supporters of the Porcupine is that this victory would be the open sesame to unlock the key to good fortune for the 21 times league champions and twice Africa’s best.  For better or for worse Paa Kwasi will continue to attract the media spotlight like Benitez and Mancini.

Some Ghanaians are already trying to compare the English Premiership with the Ghana league because of the powerful emergence of new title aspirants like Kessben, Berekum Arsenals and Wa All Stars but I don’t really see it. The English top three is still intact featuring Chelsea, Manchester United, and Arsenal .It is the race for the fourth spot that is in doubt.  The exciting aspect is the way the fixtures are arranged in such a way you can never bet safe on a clear winner until the concluding stages.

One moment, Chelsea would look like tearing away from the rest but suddenly they are struck by series of unlikely draws. Another moment Arsenal with a couple of outstanding matches appears the favourites but disappointingly start dropping valuable points. The old horses, Manchester United give the impression of no hopers as they lose heavily to clubs they used to whip with minimum effort but suddenly show real championship stuff. You can never tell. Oh it’s so exciting.

I strongly believe the Ghana league this year will really see an exciting finish depending on these two factors- when the old warriors are able to catch up with the pace setters or when the pace setters manage to stay on top.

From all indications, the New Year will witness a lot of quality football worldwide especially in the south of Africa -Angola CAN 2010 and the FIFA Mundial in “Mandelakrom”.

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.