Even though Black Stars acting coach Sellas Tetteh has scored two straight victories in the on going World Cup/ Cup of Nations qualifying series fastidious Ghanaian football fans believe there is still enough room for improvement.

The 3-0 home win over Libya in Kumasi on June 1st received quite a good applause and when the Black Stars took that commanding 3-0 lead in the second match against Lesotho in South Africa the media might have begun searching for superlatives to describe Essien and Co when the burble burst in the dying minutes Incredibly the Stars conceded two quick goals in injury time and they were actually gasping for breath when the shrill whistle of the Rwandan referee brought matters to a close much to the relief of Ghanaians glued to their TV sets.

As is expected many theories were propounded by fans and the arm chair critics for the Black Stars rather unimpressive finishing. One school of thought was that the Black Stars did not have adequate acclimitation at that high altitude but others put the blame on technicalinadequacies. The coach was blamed for making bad substitutions and to some extent poor selection.

Most of the radio stations in Ghana criticized the coach for sidelining defender Hans Adu Sarpei who on the basis of his performance at the last Cup of Nations and at Bayern Leverkusen where he is a regular,deserves to be in the national colours.

The way the frustrated player left camp after the match in Kumasi does not promote camaderie in camp. It is a very dangerous trend if players begin to suspect that there is favouritism in selection and the coach must be on the look out.

The suggestion from many keen observers of the Black Stars game is that Harrison Afful should move to the right back. Paintsil has taken too long a time to master the defence and he should be replaced by Sarpei on the left

Of course as the football purists always argue the coach knows best and so we ordinary mortals can only suggest. So the suggestion is that any time the coach feels like replacing Essien for any reason like he did in the match against Lesotho, Francis Dickoh should be
around to partner John Mensah. We would have a solid pair.

Agyeman Badu of All Stars fame must be made to serve enough apprenticeship on the bench in friendlies and not be allowed to spoil the pattern of play in serious competitive matches like he did in Lesotho

The suspicion that the Coach wants to please FA boss Kwesi Nyantakyi’s player from Wa All Stars is not fair. After all the FA boss has made it clear that Tetteh is only a stand in coach; his natural habitat is with the Black Satellites, the junior national team

Coach Tetteh must be reminded that he may be officially the acting coach but I believe the FA could extend his services if he is able to perform creditably at the end of the four top matches lined up for him.

That is why I expect him to play his best cards in tomorrow’s match against Gabon in Libreville. The records show that Gabon eliminated Ghana from the 1990 Cup of Nations prelims The two ties ended 1-0 for each side and Gabon won the resultant penalty shootout 5-3.

But in the France 98 World Cup qualifiers the Black Stars easily dismissed Gabon. The first match in Gabon on Nov 10 1996 ended in a 1-1 draw and Ghana won the return in Accra on April 27 1997 3-0.

On current form the Black Stars should carry the day on Sunday. The experts say there is no logic in football. What this means is that even though Libya beat Gabon 1-0 and Ghana beat Libya 3-0 it does not follow that Ghana will surely win. Let’s leave those calculations to the mathematicians. Football is a game that the best team does not necessarily win the day that’s why football pools are such a big attraction.

Sellas Tetteh has a tough task on his hands but he also has the luxury of a cream of talented players to pick a good team from and if he sincerely means business success would crown his genuine efforts.

I had been watching television footages of American football but did not quite follow the game till I had the opportunity to visit the USA for the first time in 1975 when a friend fully explained the essence of the game. Apart from the frightening protective gear on the heads and shoulders of the players what intrigued me most was the way the players seemingly fought each other when the ball was not around. I was told the idea is to prevent your opponent from getting to your team mate who has the ball.

I like this bit of the game as it brings a lot of action into the sport. The idea of weakening your opponent tickles me. And it reminds me of a similar tactic adopted by the then management of Kumasi Asante Football Club in the early eighties when they had been crowned champions of Africa. It was a solid team but they went for many more outstanding players notably goal poachers Anane Kobo of Real Tamale United,George Arthur of Brong Ahafo United, Saarah Mensah, Opoku Sampene of Bofoakwa Tano and others.

Asked why they were creating such a glut of star players the explanation by Asante Kotoko’s team strategist Charles Gyimah was that it was meant to weaken their opponents and keep Kotoko on top for a long time.

Indeed this strategy worked to perfection. Kotoko could assemble two strong standing teams at any given time and they remained a dominant force winning the league six times within a decade.( the 80s)

I am inclined to believe that is the tactic Portuguese national coach Felipe Scolari wants to adopt as he plans to take over the management of English premier club Chelsea. Having realized that Manchester United is the team to beat to win honours in England he wants to get rid of United’s talisman Cristiano Ronaldo to pave the way for him to have things easy. That is how ardent supporters of United see in his advice to Ronaldo to leave for Real Madrid.

Scolari’s sermon that opportunity comes but once and that the life of a footballer is unpredictable seems a bit disingenuous. If you want to stretch the argument far then players should change clubs annually for the highest bidder "because life is short". Scolari has been long in the football business and he should know that contracts are not signed just for the fun of it. If Real Madrid want Ronaldo the FIFA regulations say it must be put into writing. The shadow boxing must therefore stop.

These young football millionaires definitely need pieces of advice here and there for the good of their future and to this writer submits that it is dangerous to implant in their minds that life is short so they must exploit their skills for big money no matter the circumstances. Therein lies prostitution.

Ronaldo is in the thick of Euro 2008 and he should be given the piece of mind to ply his trade. I pity him. He appears confused. One moment he says he would like to play in Spain if United would permit him, another moment he declares his love for United and he is on record as saying that he would talk about his future after the European Cup. The young man is understandably confused. The media has succeeded in unsettling his thoughts and in my capacity as an ardent admirer of this young Portuguese football gem I would plead that he should be left alone for the moment.

In my 40 year plus career as sports journalist I have had the privilege of making close contacts with footballers in the dressing room before and after matches and off the pitch and I can say with some kind of authority that many of the high profile players cannot be said to be as fast thinking as they do on the pitch. They can be easily upset by what one may regard as trivial issues and extremely sensitive to media reports about them. Sports practitioners in general are a special breed and you need special managers like Alex Ferguson to handle special kind of players like Cantona, Rooney, Giggs and Ronaldo.

Please leave Ronaldo alone

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.

Those of us who thought the foreign football coach- local football coach debate in Ghana was over would have to revise our notes. The issue is still alive. Football Association President Kwesi Nyantakyi has made it clear that even though local coach Sellas Tetteh has been mandated to handle the senior national football team Black Stars for their first four World Cup qualifying matches this month it is a temporary assignment and that the search for a foreign coach continues unabated.

In a press interview the FA boss emphasized that Coach Sellas had been told in plain language that he needed more experience to be able to manage the Black Stars and he would have to contend with the junior national team for the meantime. This stance by the FA has come as surprise to many followers of the game in Ghana. Popular opinion is that since Sellas Tetteh has started so well with the Black Stars impressive 3-0 victory over Libya in Kumasi he would be given the encouragement and the opportunity to be assessed at the end of the four matches lined up for the Black Stars this month. It is hoped the FA has not got a fixation for foreign coaches

Many regard the pronouncement by the FA President as ill timed coming in the thick of the crowded programme lined up for the Black Stars that continues on Sunday June 8 against Lesotho in Bloemfontein, South Africa. The match is being played in South Africa because Lesotho has no playing field of international stature.

After Sunday there are two more matches in quick succession for the Black Stars. They play Gabon in Libreville on June 15 with the return in Accra on June 22. The prayer of most Ghanaians rooting for a local coach is that Sellas Tetteh comes out with a clean sheet in order to strengthen his claim to handle the national team on a permanent basis

The question of whether a foreign or local coach should handle the Black Stars is still a major topic for discussion in football circles and some people are so passionate about this issue that it would not be surprising if the National Electoral Commission is called to hold a national referendum on it

Meanwhile I back the moderates who are advising the Football Association to tread cautiously on this sensitive national issue bearing in mind that the game of football is a passion of the nation.

There is no doubt that the presence of Ghana's international star Michael in Chelsea has won a lot of support from Ghanaians for the West London Club. In certain parts of the country it was real mourning when Chelsea lost the European Cup to Manchester United.

A large number of Ghanaian football fans have grown to love Chelsea so much that when word got round that former Chelsea Coach Jose Mourinho now with Inter Milan plans to snatch Essien to Italy they took it with a pinch of salt.

A random survey conducted in the capital of Ghana, Accra shows that most fans would like Essien to remain in Chelsea because he has really made his mark in the team. "He is a real champion and we don’t want him to lose his glamour like what happened to Arsenal’s Thierry Henry in his move to Barcelona where he became so ordinary” said Samuel Inkoom of Accra New Town.

A tiny minority who think he must leave are not too pleased with the way club owner Abramovich treat his managers. “He sacked Mourinho without any tangible reasons and look at how he treated Avram Grant who only narrowly missed two huge trophies”said Emml Ansah of Osu in Accra.

A British football analyst has described Abramovich as treating Chelsea like one of his businesses in Russia. “This is not about metal, oil and gas, its people he is dealing with and he is being totally ruthless” said the analyst.

The analyst feels Avram Grant was sacked unfairly and the fear is that this could happen to any of the players.

At his first press conference since taking over Inter Milan. Mourinho did not name the players he intends poaching from Chelsea. It is good that the flamboyant Mourinho for once wants to keep his cards close to his chest and no names have been mentioned yet. It is the prayer of Ghanaian football fans that he will continue to shut up so that Essien will have peace to concentrate on the numerous national assignments for the Black Stars.