Richard Kingston? Are We Serious?

The decision by Coach Kwesi Appiah to invite Richard Kingston to the Black Stars team could turn out either as a most inspirational coaching manoeuvre or the daftest move ever made by a football coach. There is nothing in-between. And I wish the coach would be allowed to speak for himself and to defend his actions rather than leaving us to make do with the bits of information occasionally being sneaked into the press by the GFA and the Sports Ministry, which makes one wonder who actually is in charge of the Black Stars.

Inspirational decisions are as much a part of football as anything else; those decisions that a coach makes based on some feeling or hunch or some inside knowledge that no one else seems to appreciate. So for instance, the decision by Cameroon to take Roger Milla to Italy 1990 was an inspirational decision that bore fruits for the country. However, even inspirational decisions, must be based on some amount of common sense. So for instance, in 1990 Roger Milla had finished playing for Montpellier in France from 1986 to 1989 and scored 37 goals in 98 appearances. He was to join Tonnerre in Cameroon after the World Cup where he scored an incredible 89 goals in116 appearances. In his prime, he had been one of the greatest players Africa had seen. Despite controversies as to what his real age was, taking such a man to the world cup was defensible and a well-calculated risk.

When a coach makes such a decision, it is often because he has identified a specific role in his tactics and strategy that fits a particular player. When Burkhard Ziese decided to bring Opoku Nti back into the Black Stars from virtual retirement, he knew exactly what he was doing and he had decided that there was a specific role that suited him more than anybody else playing for Ghana at the time. Burkhard Ziese did not bring Opoku Nti in from virtual retirement to compete with two other players for a position. That is what good coaches do for younger players who, if for nothing at all, may benefit from the exposure and the experience of rubbing shoulders with more experienced players.

That said, it takes a really brave coach to decide to bring into the Black Stars team, a goalkeeper who, to be fair, was only average even at his best, who played no active football for two years and has recently played all of four matches in, of all footballing countries, Cyprus, conceding seven goals. And it is not as if the coach has identified that he is the man to save us against the might of Egypt. If the GFA is to be believed, this player is being brought in to compete with the two younger players for a place in the post. And for that decision to be made, the coach actually travelled to Cyprus at taxpayer’s expense, to watch Richard Kingston in one match and became immediately convinced, that this was the guy he needed, just to compete with Dauda and Kwarasey.

The great Dino Zoff played till he was 41. But he went on and on because he was simply the best goalkeeper for Juventus and the Italian National team. He retired the number one goalkeeper for both. Which serious footballing country would even consider Richard Kingston to play at his age when he has been out of action for two years and just started playing in Cyprus? And is goalkeeping the major problem the Black Stars face now? We have watched our team in recent times completely outplayed by the likes of Cape Verde, Zambia and Burkina Faso and our coach’s answer to that is to travel to Cyprus to see if he could bring in Richard Kingston.

Did I hear Kwesi Nyantakyi say we were going to Brazil to win the World Cup? It is good to be optimistic. We cannot begin to take away the hopes of men. But in his heart, unless he is completely daft, he must know that is empty rhetoric. I don’t know which country will win the Brazil World Cup. But I can promise you, that whichever country it is will not be parading a retired “octogenarian” goalkeeper, playing semi-professional football in Cyprus. Could we get serious with our football, just for once?

Papa Appiah

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