Hearts Coach Damns Critics

Head coach Kosta Papic has denounced attempts by some leading figures of Accra Hearts of Oak who blame him for the club's inability to add some top Premier players to his team-building programme.

Hearts of Oak last Sunday drew 1-1 in a friendly game against the national U-17 side, the Black Starlets, at the El- Wak Stadium and this allegedly drew a wave of reactions from the fans, including some top members of the club blaming the Hearts head coach for not encouraging the recruitment of seasoned players into the team.

But Papic has described the accusations as misleading and unfounded, saying, “I am in Hearts to work and then make sure that what I do conform with the structure of the club as well as with the resources at the disposal of the club.”

“There is no way that I will prevent a good player from coming into the team. I am only working within the constraints of time, the truth is that our resources are limited and we are only learning to work within that limitation, because the club is struggling with money.

“Hearts is a big club with history and only players with a certain level of quality should be given the chance and for me in particular, I often think about the history of the club and the level to maintain in my work,” he stated.

Coach Papic said that notwithstanding, the rebuilding programme of Hearts holds a lot of promise for the club, urging the rank and file to inspire the team with their support and encouragement.

He said the rebuilding process was not far from his target of registering 30 players, including three from Auroras, and further disclosed that his search now was on one seasoned midfielder, two attackers and two goalkeepers which might call for the signing of another sponsorship deal to get their signatures for the Phobians.

He contended that at this stage of the pre-season programme, the results of friendly matches did not matter, saying that though his team drew 1-1 in the last game, the team did not commit the mistakes it committed in their earlier game with the Satellites which ironically was described by many as a brilliant outing.

Story by Andy Quao