The scales have turned again in Ghana’s Premier soccer league and it looks as if those campaigning for the halt to the duopoly of Accra Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko may have the laugh last after all. For the first time in nearly two decades, both Hearts and Kotoko lost their respective home matches on the same day.

Hearts were beaten 2-1 by Wa All Stars at the Ohene Djan Stadium in Accra and Kotoko lost 1-0 to city rivals King Faisal Babies at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi .Following the recent brilliant performances by Hearts which had shot them into the top brackets on the log, their defeat did not affect their second spot placing, but their traditional rivals Asante Kotoko went further down to the 11^th position out of 16.

The standing joke in football circles is that if Kotoko continue with their lethargic performance the 21 time league champions could face relegation. In eight matches of the second round, Kotoko have gathered only 13 points from a possible 24 - three wins, two draws and three defeats. Football historians will tell you that this is easily the worst performance of Kotoko in the 52 year history of the national league.

The reputed crowd pullers are fast losing credibility and the faithful that packed the Baba Yara stadium the other day to watch the “El Classico” against Hearts of Oak did not see why they should pay to see a corpse hanged for the second time; so the stadium was sparse in the match against King Faisal. It is a serious situation.  The thought of a possible relegation has hit the Kotoko management with a bang and it is reported that a crisis meeting would soon be convened to avert what the Kotoko faithful consider to be an abomination for their darling club to lose their premiership status.

The fact that there are seven more matches to go does not give any comfort to Kotoko fans who believe that with the current laissez faire attitude of those entrusted to run the club especially the technical bench, and to a large extent the players, the future really looks gloomy for Africa’s club of the century. Kotoko boast of a rich history and command the largest fan base but the way single ownership clubs like Kessben, King Faisal,Wa All Stars, Berekum Arsenal, Bechem Chelsea, New Edubiase and Liberty Professionals are catching up  these newcomers may sooner than later erode their influence in Ghana football.

Kotoko would have to play well to attract a typical crowd like this.

It takes a lot of careful planning and consistency for a so called big team like Kotoko to remain on top as Manchester United have shown to the football world. Alex Ferguson has proved that with consistency as his weapon it would not be easy to supplant United as the best English club for the last two decades.

There is this popular saying that big names don’t play football. I disagree. Big names do play football and that’s the reason why the Ronaldos, Messis, Rooneys and Kakas attract fans to the stadium and they are paid well. It is rather past reputations that don’t matter these days. Real Madrid is a good example. They can no longer take consolation in their past enviable record in Europe. They have to be consistent to shine again in Europe and the rapid changes in the technical set up have robbed them of any European honours for the past six seasons.

A wind of change is blowing in football worldwide and the co called minnows are becoming a big threat and the big ones need the consistency of Manchester United and Brazil to survive. Asante Kotoko needs to buck up

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.

FROM MY ARCHIVES

March 22nd 1995: Diego Maradona has volunteered to perform community work instead of serving a jail sentence for shooting at a group of journalists with an air rifle.