Le Roy - the task ahead

Accra, Sept. 15, GNA -- His appointment, to many was an open secret. This was confirmed by the absence of his compatriot Philip Troussier at the interview conduct by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) ahead of the announcement of the coach for the national team, the Black Stars.

The appointment was also announced, on authority, by the media days before the FA itself came out with it.


Le Roy, a consistent chaser of the job for many years, has now been handed his long cherished dream as he becomes the 35th coach to handle the Black Stars.


His capabilities, as well as his curriculum vitae are unquestionable and he looks suitable for the job, therefore no definite reason could be assigned for his consistent failure to secure the same job in the past.


However, he seems to be coming at a time when the task at hand looks more daunting than ever after a standard had been set with the Black Stars' performance at the World Cup.


Le Roy will have to surpass the achievement of departed Ratomir Dujkovic to justify why he was preferred to local coach, Cecil Jones Attuquayefio who would have cost the Ghanaian tax payer less money in remunerations.

Some still have doubts over what he really has to offer Ghana, because it is believed he has been on the continent for far too long, achieved all that there is to achieve and does no longer the drive to excel.


They argue that his only interest in the job is the money factor, adding that it he were worth his salt, he would have gone to Europe to continue his trade, after winning the Nations Cup with Cameroon in 1988 and leading them to the World Cup in 1998.


Known as the man with the lion heart, the French man's first stint in Africa was with Cameroon in 1986 where he supervised the team to the finals of that year's edition of the Nations Cup but lost on penalties to Egypt. He however made amends two years later when he led the indomitable to win the trophy.


Le Roy returned ten years later to supervise the campaign of the team to the 1998 World Cup. Though they qualified for the Mundial, the team could not move beyond the league stage.


In between his stay at Cameroon, he took over the Senegalese national team but failed to achieve the desired results for the West Africans, as they could only manage a quarter final berth in the Nations Cup. He went through the same experience with DR Congo where their dream of making a second appearance at the World Cup in 2006 was battered by the country he is now taking over.

From his records, Le Roy, definitely has vast knowledge of the African terrain and understands the dynamics of the African system of play as well as the mentality of African players as well as the talents at the disposal of the nation, having been on the continent all these years.


Le Roy also had some romance with club football where he handled the technical department of Al- Shabah of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Strasbourg of French Ligue One and Chinese Second division side Shangai Cosco.


With his impressive CV and track record, Le Roy will now have to prove beyond all reasonable doubts that he has more to offer African soccer and particularly Ghana.


This time around, it looks like he will be faced with a much more difficult task than before as he has to satisfy the ever demanding Ghanaian public, more especially when the nation had glittered at the last world cup, as the only African side, out of the five representatives, to reach the second round of the competition. Henceforth, Ghanaians will expect nothing less than a good performance, be it in friendly or competitive games, just to maintain their position on the international scene.


With the latest ranking of 23 by the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA), Ghanaians and for that matter, the sporting public will bank on the technical expertise of Le Roy to advance to the first 20 in the shortest possible time and this will surely depend on the outcome of the impending friendly matches against Japan and South Korea on October 4 and 8 among other assignments.

The above could be described as immediate challenges, but on the long term, the entire nation is looking forward to another continental glory when the sleeping giants of the continent will rule Africa again. Ghana, will host the next competition and apart from the enormous benefits that come with the event, nothing more than the trophy will gratify the souls of the 20 million soccer crazy nation.


Having enjoyed the glory that came with the participation in the World Cup, Ghana cannot afford to miss out of the next edition, which will be hosted on the golden soils of Africa and should the French man remain in charge, then another qualification and participation is what we expect, monsieur!


This, from obvious reasons will be achieved through a much stronger team than what the nation saw at the last world cup.


On the other hand, he would have to handle the media with much patience and understanding. In a chat with the media after the interview, Le Roy dropped a bombshell, "I heard the media here is aggressive and criticise a lot."


One wonders where in the world nothing of such nature exists and it's refreshing to hear from him, because the media is more than alert in Ghana. In times of praises, the media will dully offer that but when things go wrong he should expect the bashing.

Many coaches who left the shores of Ghana named the media as their major reason, though their assertion might not be totally correct because the English and for that matter the Europeans press are more critical of soccer coaches than the press in Ghana.


There is no 'cool' media anywhere, even the president has been getting his fair share of the bashing especially in this era of interactive programmes on radio.


Le Roy should take a cue from what happened to his friend Domenech, head coach of the French national team, before the last World Cup and what Sven Goran Eriksson went through as English coach; even his private life was not spared.


The media will stick to their watch dog role constructively and ensure that the nation continues to enjoy the success it is enjoying now.


Generally, the Frenchman could be said to be a successful coach and has what it takes to deliver on the Ghana job, as already indicated in a previous interview "I'm used to dealing with extremes." The whole world now waits to see what he has been hiding up his sleeves for Ghana all these years as we welcome him to his new job. Bon venu, monsieur.