I have always maintained that football coaches must be good gamblers as far as substitution of players is concerned. The axiom that matches are won from the bench means that a good coach must be able to read the game well and predict right when and what kind of substitutions to make

And this is not easy. Even seasoned managers like Alex Ferguson of Manchester United fame at times fumbles with substitutions that often spell doom for his team.

I really pity Black Stars stand-in coach Sellas Tetteh for the last minute substitutions he made in the Black Stars World Cup/Africa Cup qualifier against Lesotho in Bloemfontein which resulted in two quick injury time goals against Ghana when the Stars were cruising to a comfortable 3-0 win. It was real nightmare for Sellas Tetteh. When and how he made the substitutions were to my mind questionable

The fast running Lesotho players had begun showing a lot of grit even though three goals down and instead of consolidating the Black Stars midfield Coach Sellas Tetteh decided to withdraw midfield general Michael Essien and brought in untested striker Agyemang Badu whose first touch was a violent tackle that earned him a verbal reprimand from the referee. It was no wonder from that moment the Black Stars midfield looked like a stable with the gate open. Lesotho run riot and the two astonishing goals they scored in two minutes really depicted the trend of play.

Some analysts said if the game had traveled some more minutes Lesotho would have got more goals. To my mind it does not work that way. The match was scheduled for 90 minutes and you don’t ask for more time because you think you are on top.

This is however a lesson for Coach Sellas Tetteh who must realize the wisdom in the saying that it is not over until it is over. He has to learn how to read the game scientifically and make the appropriate changes at the right time.

The Football Association has told those who are clamouring for Tetteh to handle the Black Stars on a permanent basis that the coach is not yet mature for such a tough demanding job and from his demeanour in the match against Lesotho I am reluctantly inclined to side with the FA

With the tonic of three classic goals by Laryea Kingston and Junior Agogo(2) it is a sad commentary that the Black Stars could not protect their comfortable lead. Some experts say the Black Stars were affected in the dying minutes by the high altitude. This may be true to some extent but that is the reason why we have the technical crew on the bench. And they should have made the right prescriptions to find an antidote. The Lesotho coach made three changes at the right time and those substitutes were real fast runners who forced the Black Stars defenders to work overtime.

The high altitude should not be used as an excuse the next time round because the experts will tell you that there is a way to acclimatize. One school of thought is that the Black Stars should have been in South Africa just a day before the match and that the six days spent there before the game might have affected their stamina in the closing minutes

Not many people agree on this altitude excuse. Some analysts who watched the Kumasi match against Libya swear that the Black Stars were lethargic in the dying minutes and were only left off the hook by the goal shy Libya attackers. The conclusion therefore is that the Black Stars are stamina suspect. Your guess is as good as mine

No matter how you look at it Coach Sellas Tetteh has a tough task convincing the fastidious Ghanaian football fan that he can take the Black Stars to the "promised land" even though he has notched two wins in a row and the Black Stars top their group with the maximum six points. The fact of the matter is there were few question marks in the first match against Libya and this time round we have had even more question marks in the match against Lesotho. Let us hope that the question marks would be minimal in the next two assignments against Gabon in Libreville and Accra on June 15th and 22nd.