Gyimah most in danger of Black Stars axe

The results of the latest Goal poll are in and you the Goal Ghana readers have named Mpumalanga Black Aces midfielder Edwin Gyimah the man most likely to be dropped from Avram Grant’s next Black Stars squad.

Speaking to the media last week, the national team coach suggested that while he largely intended to keep faith with the players who helped Ghana to the final of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, he was planning some cuts.

“It will not be all of them, but 60-70 percent will be in there if they continue to show quality, development, good mentality and good spirit they will continue because this is their time,” the Israeli coach began, speaking to Citi FM.

“The door will be open for other players, I think you will see,”

Following Grant’s comments, we asked the Goal readers which of the potentially in-peril players they felt was most likely to be axed from the Black Stars selection.

Many of you took to the polls to vote and the results are in.

32.1 percent of you believe that South Africa-based Gyimah is the player most likely to be dropped.

It’s easy to understand why. Of the five players considered—and indeed, of all of the outfield players who travelled to Equatorial Guinea with the national team—the defensive midfielder was the only one who didn’t get any game time.

While Gyimah played three times during the qualifiers, and started Grant’s first game in charge—the friendly victory over Olhanense—he played no part in the manager’s reshuffle during the tournament.

The second player most in danger of omission, according to Goal readers, is right-sided Solomon Asante who received 21.8 percent of the vote.

The diminutive TP Mazembe man made one brief appearance at the Afcon—as a substitute against Algeria—but was overlooked completely during the knockout stages.

Intriguingly, David Accam also only played in one match, but of the quintet considered in our poll, he was the player considered least likely to be dropped. Only 10.7 percent of respondents felt that the Chicago Fire hitman was the most in danger of Grant’s axe.

After losing their places in the first team during the tournament, Mohammed Rabiu (19.1 percent of the votes) and Mohamed Awal (16.4 percent) face an anxious wait to see if they will be retained by Grant. The towering defensive midfielder might have extra reason to be concerned, considering his inactivity at Russian side Kuban Krasnodar.