To be frank with you, I didn’t know what to make of the appointment of James Kwesi Appiah as the new coach of the Black Stars. It is not because I do not like him or I think of him as incapable of doing the job, no far from it.
In fact it would be unfair if not unethical to discredit him even before he starts his job.
My indifference is a matter of principle. I am not one of those who believe the colour of your skin should be a pre-requisite in securing a job, simple.
But with that said I wish to congratulate Appiah on his appointment. He has been around for some time as assistant coach of the Black Stars (2010-2012) and coupled with the fact that he has served this country in the capacity of Black Stars captain, I hope he succeeds.
Wishing him luck and success is no guarantee he would get a grip of the job, what all of us say won’t matter. What matters is how he would go about his job.
His firmness and fairness in the dispatch of his duties is what is going to make or unmake him. How he gets a hold of the Black Stars dressing room is supreme above all else.
But like a friend of mine said, getting there may be difficult and not all change is pleasant, but when we’re being led to a better place by someone who loves us, we don’t need to fear it.
Kwesi Appiah has been an apprentice for sometime now and perhaps this is the right time to hand him the job. Many had always clamored for the appointment of a local coach to handle the Black Stars and indeed his appointment has been greeted with great unanimity.
What is however important is to be assured by the top brass of the GFA that Appiah would get all the needed support to deliver.
That he would be well catered for in terms of his salary, accommodation and indeed all the perks that come with the position of the Black Stars coaching job.
If you give a man a position/mandate, you may as well give him authority if not then there is no point.
In my heart of hearts I wish this is not a ploy by the ‘big men’ at the GFA to silence all those who have clamored for a local coach for the Black Stars. The FA should help banish my fear that they would adopt a ‘do it let us see’ approach, hope the local coach fails and then they would tell all Ghanaians that the local coach that majority wished for failed, thereby closing the door on local coaches in the future.
Last week when I spoke to Kwesi Appiah on his appointment, he was in no denial about the enormous task that was ahead. He knows that he carries the hopes of many of the local coaches and he admits he would do his best because it is about time to believe in the Ghanaian coach.
The job is a difficult one and the post AFCON 2012 fallouts make it even harder for the new coach of the Black Stars.
Allegation of juju use and general mistrust is rife in the team and Kwesi Appiah must work on the psyche of the players to get the best out of them.
Kwesi Appiah also takes charge of a team that is loosing most of the players that made it a formidable unit the last six or so years. Michael Essien, Asamoah Gyan readily comes to mind, not forgetting Kevin Prince Boateng who unlike the others has called time on his international career. There has been speculation in some quarters that the German born former Ghana player will return to international football now that Goran Stevanovic is no longer the coach of the Black Stars. He was rumoured to be at loggerheads with the Serbian which ultimately prompted his retirement from the team.
Gyan has been at the receiving end of a lot of criticism and his penalty miss against Zambia at the semi finals of the 2012 Nations cup in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea was the last straw. He has since taken a temporary break for the national team. Essien has largely been absent from the Black Stars and truth be told he is not at his best after several injuries the last three seasons.
Coach Kwesi Appiah must begin forming a new team and good thing is that majority of the gold winning U-20 squad are in the current Black Stars.
Appiah would also be expected to give more opportunities to the players in the local league and indeed when I last spoke to him, he signaled he would offer equal opportunities to all.
Ghana’s 2014 World Cup qualifiers begin in June and there would be no room for excuses for Kwesi Appiah.
He has been received well by the media and it is my fervent wish that the media stand by him when the going gets tough.
The mission is a difficult one but obviously not impossible and hopefully Kwesi Appiah would be a very good ambassador of the local coaches.
