After Glo League Trophy - What Next?

Hearts joyous over Glo Trophy

As Accra Hearts of Oak’s players, officials and supporters continue to revel in the club's 20th league title triumph, a shake-up in both the playing body and technical team looks imminent as the Phobians seek to strengthen the team for major challenges ahead.

Hearts, who won the first league title in 1956, are just another title away from the record being held by their rival, Kumasi Asante Kotoko, who have won the elite competition 21 times.

A carnival atmosphere at the Ohene Djan stadium last Sunday greeted Hearts' annexation of the brand new league trophy, a magnificently crafted crystal trophy which resembles the African Cup.

But beyond the euphoria and bragging rights, Hearts, management admit their squad needs serious and immediate 'surgery' to make it battle-ready for domestic and continental honours.

Hearts nearly fluffed a 14-point lead and claimed victory from their arch-rival, Kumasi Asante Kotoko, only with the final match of the season after an unnerving photo finish.

Their poor finish cost Serbian coach Kosta Papic, his job but his successor, Nii Noi Thompson, who was recruited till the end of the season, looks unlikely to lead the Phobians next season, inside sources have revealed to the Graphic Sports.

Hearts director and deputy chief executive, Mr Frank Nelson Nwokolo, yesterday dropped the strongest possible hint of a 'shake-up' after admitting the team's performance in the last two months provided a reality check that they needed reinforcement on the field and on the technical bench.

His comments comes on the heels of a similar demand of a 'massive shake-up' by Dr Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, a Patron of the club and onetime chairman of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) who as Chairman of the club in the mid-80ís engineered a massive revolution by offloading the club’s big name stars for talented but untested youngsters like the late Sham Quaye, Ablade Kumah and Henry Acquah, a group affectionately named ‘twinkle, twinkle little’.

Just as Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe is demanding of the current Hearts administration, Mr Nwokolo admits Hearts' current performance hardly inspires hope and justification for an adventure into the CAF Champions League in view of its huge financial considerations.

Even Coach Nii Noi Thompson recently declared that Hearts' interest would be better served by opting out of continental campaign for stronger teambuilding.

'We have to be realistic and look at the situation on the ground. We need a shake-up of the playing team in order to stay on our vision.

However, such a decision will be taken after an assessment of a report by the technical committee,î Mr Nwokolo told the Graphic Sports in an interview.

While there is unanimity about the need for strong recruitment, financial consideration would be a key determinant of how far the Phobians are willing and able to go.

'Finance is central to whatever we do, be it recruitment of a top coach and very good player of even deciding on whether or not to go to Africa,' he said.

The possible exit of record signing, Eric Gawu to Israel on loan and the return of Bernard Don Bortey, Charles Vardis and Stephen Offei from similar adventures in the Israeli league presents interesting dynamics for the Hearts management to consider in their rebuilding for the next season.

Despite enduring a difficult run-in to their league title triumph, new league champions, Accra Hearts of Oak, insist that Serbian trainer Kosta Papic should have been axed earlier than his dismissal happened.

They hold the view that they could not have guaranteed their success in the season if Papic had been allowed to stay on longer than he did.

Frank Nelson Nwonkolo, a director of Hearts and a member of the interim committee that steered affairs during the last season, said various reasons, including Papic's failure to submit and discuss technical reports, forced management to reach the decision to severe ties with him.

'We had no choice because of conditions that prevailed then. In any case, there was no guarantee that we would have still won the title if he had stayed on,' Mr Nelson Nwonkolo told Graphic Sports in an interview.

He said Papic's failure to make adequate use of materials he requested for, and which cost the club huge sums, made little sense to management, while his inability to deliver on other targets such as winning certain matches breached contractual terms between the two parties.

'He was to submit technical reports on matches, but we never received them. He recommended the registration of certain players and yet he confined them to the bench or the sidelines.

'Management had a policy not to interfere in the work of the coach, but it still baffled many people, inlcuding the supporters who made their concerns public, how a player of the quality of Tawriq Jibril was also given 10 minutes playing time, or was never involved in the game at all,' Mr Nwonkolo explained.

He said although Hearts' fortunes hardly improved after Papic left, 'we had no regrets about his departure'.

He said the club's administrators would take stock of the past to make a judgement on the future of players, recruitment, technical direction, etc., for the coming season.

Maurice Quansah & Michael Quaye