I would like to resurrect the ancient debate of what’s in a name. I have a sneaky feeling that whoever gave Charles Kofi Assampong, that talented Ghanaian footballer the nickname of “Charles Taylor” has done a lot of harm to the young footballer.

The original Charles Taylor, the world can testify is a real controversial international figure. I suspect that as he battles it out at the International Court of Justice to answer charges of human rights atrocities his name might be sending evil vibrations to Kofi Assampong in Ghana. That can be my only conclusion because the talented player has been behaving irrationally since he hit the limelight at the turn of the millennium.

At the peak of his career after he had helped Accra Hearts of Oak to win the Africa Cup, he decided to switch camp to age old rival Kumasi Asante Kotoko without any formal transfer transactions between the two clubs. It became a long legal feud and eventually the Football Association had to step in and somehow Kotoko managed snatch him to Kumasi where he almost became a cult hero.

Surprisingly, Assampong became unstable after only one season and he hurriedly negotiated a transfer to Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia. Apparently Assampong could not cope with life in North Africa and typical of him, he left Tunisia unceremoniously. Back home, he could not decide whether to return to Kotoko or Hearts. There were a lot of complications in his contract so he opted to sign for Kotoko. It was a brief appearance for Kotoko and he once more chose to play for Hearts. It was detected that he had a nagging knee injury and Hearts spent a lot of money to get their prodigal son back into full fitness.

Assampong soon got back his own sparkle contributing to the forward march of Accra Hearts of Oak in the on going league. He caught the attention of the national selectors who picked him for the maiden Africa Nations Competition for home based internationals in Cote d’Ivoire and he was a useful member of the Ghana squad that won silver at the Games.

Buoyed by his impressive show in the Africa tourney, Assampong became a regular choice for Hearts and the adoration from fans soon got into his head. Assampong has been staying away from training because Hearts have not been able to fully pay his transfer fees. The young man won’t accept any compromises and this has got the goat of the club who are calling his bluff.

This to me is most unfortunate. I have monitored the behavior of Assampong especially when he was with Kotoko and was featuring for the Black Stars. And my layman’s intuition tells me that he is most of the time not responsible for his actions. He appears distinctly naïve and without showing any disrespect could easily be led by the nose.

I sympathize with the management of Hearts who must be fed up with the player’s unprofessional attitude to a sport that has raised him from the doldrums. I am not a psychologist but I have benefited a lot from my friends in the field and I suggest that this talented player must get full counseling.

On a lighter note, I would plead that he drops the nickname Charles Taylor. This name is not sporting and synonymous with irrational behaviour at least this is what we have been hearing from the international Court of Justice trying the original Charles Taylor, the warlord. Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.