Appiah’s Return Is Good For Our National Game

The announcement yesterday, that former Black Stars' coach James Kwasi Appiah has been handed back his job, must gladden the hearts of Ghanaians, who believe that after 115 years of organising football as a sport in this country, it is time to trust the technical direction of our senior national team in the hands of a Ghanaian.

It is not as if The Chronicle is xenophobic. But the reality on the ground is that foreign coaches have had their time in this country and messed us up. The return of Kwesi Appiah should signal a revolution in our game. We must adopt our own style of playing.

In this country, football is meant to entertain, as well as producing results. The average Ghanaian will want the authentic Ghanaian brand of football to thrill the terraces. We would like to believe that the Black Stars, as the senior national team, will imbibe the Ghanaian spirit and make it tickle down to the junior teams, as well as our club football.

We are happy that Kwasi Appiah will also take charge of the local Black Stars. In Maxwell Konadu and Tanko Ibrahim, the new coach's immediate assistants, Richard Kingson, the goalkeeper's trainer, and Stephen Appiah, the former national captain who is now the team manager, this nation has the technical brains to reflect the Ghanaian spirit on the field of play.

The Chronicle takes this opportunity to pat the backs of officials of the Ghana Football Association for listening to the voice of reason. From the Akufo-Addo government, down to the man on the street, the clamour has been for a Ghanaian to lead the technical build-up of the national team. Come to think of it, foreign coaches have been an expensive waste of time of late.

We would like to recommend for the consideration of Kwasi Appiah's employers to re-define the trainer's position as National Coach, instead of the Black Stars' Coach. We expect the technical team of the Black Stars to work closely with, and be an influence on all other national teams.

We believe that Ghana football shall rise again. In any case, it was not as if the Black Stars were a total failure in Brazil. In the 2014 World Cup, the Black Stars did their best. Ghana's 2-2 draw with Germany, the eventual winners of the World Cup, was rated the best game in the whole tournament. Ghana lost 1-2 to Portugal as a result of the confusion which had then set in, following the problems with the team's monetary emoluments.

The handlers of the team, including officials of the Ghana Football Association and political leadership in Brazil at the time, failed to resolve the matter, and got things out of control. We now have to put the Brazilian experience behind us and rally around the team once more.

There appears to be some lingering doubts about Ghana's chances of qualifying for the 2020, with Egypt five points ahead of the Black Stars. We do not believe all is lost though. Ghana has four more matches to play. If the national team prepares well, the four matches would translate into 12 points. The Pharaohs of Egypt still have to visit Uganda and come down to the centre of the earth.

We have faith in Uganda's ability to topple the Pharaohs in Kampala. If that happens, it will open the way for the Black Stars to even the scores with Egypt. All is not lost. Much will depend on the way the Ghana Football Association rallies its troops.

While we are at it, The Chronicle would like to draw attention to the need for a befitting camping ground for the Black Stars and all national football teams. We are not in favour of the national senior team and all national teams camping in hotels. Hotels are not the best places for building the technical competence of any football team.

We would like to believe that the Ghana Football Association would consider upgrading facilities at Prampram to make it possible for all teams to prepare for international duties in a serene atmosphere.

The GFA has done well so far in putting an artificial pitch at Prampram. It has a duty to improve facilities to ensure that the site becomes the camping ground for all national teams.

In the interim, The Chronicle welcomes Kwasi Appiah back to his job, and urges him to take up the challenge. There is no greater honour than working on a national assignment and doing it well!