The plight of Ghanaian football coaches has been the subject for public discussion over the years and it seems it would continue for a long time. The issue of emoluments and contracts has been the moot point and there is every indication that the debate would continue for a long time to come.

The recent hullabaloo over the salary and contract of Kwasi Appiah the deputy national coach for the Black Stars is a case in point. Appiah had asked for a contract and politely put in a proposal for a monthly salary of $6000 dollars. His Serbian boss Milovan Rajevac takes home $46,000 dollars a month and many Ghanaian football enthusiasts felt that the request by Appiah was modest enough. Unfortunately, the Football Association could not back the local coach and after a see-saw battle, Appiah had to agree to the original proposal of $3000 dollars on a one-year contract.

Knowing Appiah as I do, I was not surprised that he did not drag the issue and settled for what the sports authorities claim they could afford. This unnecessary controversy over the salary of the assistant coach came on the eve of the Black Stars preparation for the crucial World Cup/Africa Cup qualifier against Lesotho. It was a match the Stars had to win by a comfortable margin to top the group, and absolute peace and harmony was needed in camp. It would have been an indelible scar on Appiah’s reputation if he had walked out of the Stars camp and, touch wood, Ghana had lost the match. All his credentials as former captain of both the junior team, the Black Meteors and the seniors the Black Stars, and Asante Kotoko would have counted for nothing.

It is a welcome relief that Kwasi Appiah put the interest of the nation first and wholeheartedly accepted to contribute his quota to make another World Cup appearance for Ghana a reality. Many people are however not too comfortable with the short contract of one year and I would like to suggest that it should be extended to at least two years. No matter how you look at it, Kwasi Appiah has scored a first by being the first Ghanaian to be appointed assistant national coach on contract and who will be paid in dollars.

I believe it was Appiah’s gesture that inspired Coach Sellas Tetteh to brave all the odds to qualify Ghana’s Under 20 team, the Black Satellites for the Africa Youth Championships in Rwanda in 2009. This was at the expense of Gambia and the execution was perfect. Ghana won both the home and away fixtures. Gambia had scared the Satellites with an early goal in the first match in Accra, but the Satellites struck fiercely and scored twice to carry the day.

With the tonic of an away goal the Gambians were expecting an oracle to be fulfilled with a foregone home win but Sellas Tetteh’s rejuvenated Black Satellites featuring rising international star Dede Ayew, performed a miraculous away win. And now Coach Sellas Tetteh can walk in the streets of Accra with chests out whether he has a contract or not.

Unfortunately, the same thing cannot be said for another brilliant local coach Bashiru Hayford of Asante Kotoko who will be absent in Sudan this weekend when his club faces Merreikh in the last group match of the Confederation Cup. The coach was suspended on the eve of the team’s departure to Sudan, for “showing gross disrespect to the club”.

Hayford is said to have deserted the club, following death threats he received from some irate fans after the club’s ill fated 2-2 draw with Etoile Sahel of Tunisia in Kumasi.

The Coach maintains that his life was in danger, so he followed the adage that “he who runs away lives to fight another day”. The puzzling question is why management did not search for the coach as it was public knowledge that supporters were openly threatening his life. Some of us are prepared to hazard a guess that the coach has no contract with Asante Kotoko, otherwise he would not have gone AWOL – (Absent Without Leave). In other words, one may say that Kotoko are not bound by any contract to be chasing absentee coaches.

The plight of Ghanaian football coaches is a very interesting subject indeed and I am sure it will continue to dominate the media so long as the coaches and administrators are on different wavelengths.

Well, the Serbian magic has worked again for the Black Stars. Coach Milovan Juvenac, like his predecessor, Ratomir Dujkovic has managed to steer the senior Ghana national football team on the path to another World Cup qualification.

The Stars beat unsung Lesotho 3-0 in the last preliminary group match at the packed to capacity Chinese-built sports stadium, in Sekondi on Saturday to merit inclusion in Africa’s top 12 teams to gain automatic qualification for the next round of the World Cup qualifiers.

The 3-0 win may be a tidy score-line all right, especially if you consider the fact the Stars started the series with a similar 3-0 defeat over Libya, but football purists will tell you that the team’s total output in Sekondi was almost colourless. There was scanty finesse in the style of play, at times unimaginative and superfluous square passes, lack of dribbling skills and woeful lack of accurate shooting in front of goal.

In sum, coach Milovan has a tough task ahead. If he needs to dive into the bottom of the sea to unearth dribblers and goal poachers he must hurry up. With this kind of static play with only a quarter of begging scoring chances being utilized, the going will definitely be tough in the final stages ,where we would have to remain in top gear to see South Africa 2010.

A top striker like Manuel Agogo gives the impression that his contribution only lasts 45 minutes. The way he misses chances is extremely discouraging and it would be in his own interest to polish his work rate and striking power. Another suggestion is that the coaches must try as much as possible to take quick decisions on substitutions. It is true that some players can make a difference even if brought in during injury time but when certain players are constantly made last minute substitutes without success then there definitely should be a change in strategy.

Now that assistant coach Kwasi Appiah appears to have settled his contractual problems with the Ghana Football Association, he should have a clear mind to help the Serbian mould the team for the arduous task ahead. What is puzzling the football public however, is why Appiah should have a one- year contract as against three for the Serbian. The assumption is that all parties are comfortable with this arrangement and what football loving Ghanaians want to see is a formidable national team that is worth paying to watch.

It was a good experiment that the Football Association decided to move the match to Sekondi for the benefit of football fans from the Western Region, known for their craze for attractive football. Incidentally the match coincided with the qualification of the most popular club in the Western Region, Sekondi Eleven Wise, to the Premier league after 10 years in the wilderness and you could see that most people were in high spirits. The fans may not have fully enjoyed the unadventurous game exhibited by the Black Stars but they filled the stadium to capacity and they deserve another show in the next round matches.

Too bad that crowd control became lax at the initial stages and there was stampede at the main gate resulting in some casualties. Let’s have tighter security next time as Tamale awaits their turn to see the Black Stars in the World Cup round two qualifying series.

It’s all about sports with emphasis on football arguably the most popular and patronized sports discipline in the world. We shall be talking about how the game was introduced to Ghana more than hundred years ago and the impact it has made on the lives of the sporting youth.
The question is, what should be the government’s involvement in professional football and can football or for that matter sports in general be absolved from politics.
What is the future of sports in Ghana and the world as a whole?

Look out for a lively discussion.

Ken