Wellington seeks to emulate winning sides

Title winning sides in the past in U-20 football have set the standard for every coach who is handed the reins of the Ghana team.

For Black Satellites coach Orlando Wellington, it's been an uneasy time at the helm of affairs since his days as the assistant coach of the team that won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt in 2009.

The Black Satellites are yet to replicate the form shown by the all-conquering title winning side but Wellington says his team preparing for the start of the 2013 Africa Youth Championship qualifiers later this month will come good.

On Sunday, Ghana opened the start of the three-nation U-20 tournament with a 2-2 draw with Namibia after allowing a two-nil lead to slip.

Wellington says he was left to rue the performance of his team in the opening match ahead of their final match in the competition against Egypt on Thursday.

"I was not impressed. If you look at the way we allowed them to come in from the free-kick, the boys did not do well. To avoid problems, I had to change them," Wellington said.

Unlike previous years where the U-20 teams gain from the gradual progression of players from the work done in U-17 national teams, Wellington says this generation have not benefited from that system.

"The Under 17 failed to qualify for the World Cup and so when they were disbanded we did not have a crop of players to inherit from," he added.

Wellington is hoping to turn around the team's fortunes.

"People should be patient with us and I'm sure things will be alright.

"As you know, building the new team has not been easy, especially with the whole age-grade process these days."