Sports
The ‘Papic’ revolution must start now!
Hearts of Oak have been hit by a double whammy of misfortune: First, it was the resignation of their Serbian coach Kosta Papic, followed by the club’s goalkeeper’s trainer – Ben Owu. Perhaps, the latter’s action is no big deal.
The Serbian trainer handed in his resignation on Monday, attributing his decision to interference from the Hearts top hierarchy.
“The influence from the management and board in player selection will make every professional coach uncomfortable at Hearts of Oak,” Papic told Accra-based Angel FM.
Papic, who was having his second stint with the Phobians, had been in charge of 10 games – winning four, losing three and drawing the rest.
For a club that is fiercely hunting for its first silverware since the 2008/9 season, the Serbian’s run may have given many fans some discomfiting sense of worry.
That is fair enough.
Of course, in a situation where the coach is pointing to a panoply of interferences in his work, one cannot entirely fault him for the slump that has seen the Phobians now occupy the 11th position on the log with 17 points – eight adrift the leaders – Karela United.
The worse situation a coach can face in the course of his work is when his employers attempt to select players for him. This is one perplexing aspect many Ghanaian coaches encounter, but for fear of losing their job, they ‘hold their noses’ and endure the pain.
When you interfere in the job of the coach, you must as well share or take the blame when he performs abysmally. Sure, you do not pass the bug. You do not give the dog a bad name with the solitary intention of hanging it. That is the modus operandi of some big wigs in management positions.
One must, therefore, gild the lily of Papic for deciding to leave the club in the lurch. It was a smart move by a coach who appears clairvoyant to the catastrophe that awaits him if he continues to be at the helm of affairs.
Clearly, he could no longer take the bunkum-baloney anymore!
But more important, Papic’s exit must spark off a revolution in the club. It must be known as the ‘Papic’ revolution. The club’s faithful must wake up and ensure that the right thing is done. They must smoke out the bad elements in the club whose only preoccupation is to interfere in the work of coaches by insisting on players to use – without which they are victimised.
Indeed, in the last decade or so, Hearts have sacked more than 12 coaches, averaging about two in a season.
In 2012 alone, the club showed Serbian Nebojsa Vucicevic and C.K Akonnor the door. Coach David Duncan was the next to follow in 2013; same as Mohammed Polo (2014) and Herbert Addo (2015).
Others are Kenichi Yatsuhashi (2015-2016), Yaw Preko (2016), Portugal’s Sergio Traguil (2016), Scottish Frank Nuttal (2017-18), Henry Wellington Lamptey (2018), Seth Hoffmann (2018), Kim Grant (2018-19) and finally Kosta Papic (2020-21).
Question: With this string of recklessly thoughtless dismissals, what has it achieved for Hearts? Nothing! Instead, tears and heartbreaks! What stops the club from maintaining some consistency? Are we saying all these coaches sacked were not up to it or because they did not enjoy cooperation from the players? Certainly, something must be wrong somewhere!
It is the reason a good number of the fans think the current Board and Management of the Club appear clueless, bewildered and befuddled as to how to turn the tide around and must be flushed out.
On Wednesday, management of Hearts held a news conference and attributed the exit of Papic to things other than interference, insisting that they did their damnedest trying to convince the Serbian to stay.
Well, truth is, Hearts supporters are going through some harrowing moments now. Undeniably, if the worst comes to the worst and the club falls, it will be supporters who would pick up the pieces. But would the fans want to pass the time, sit aloof until such worse moment arrives?
It does not seem so!
PlainTalk with JOHN VIGAH
Ghana Premier League side, Nations FC, may have suffered the drop in the just ended Premier League and are destined for a fresh campaign in the Division One League (DOL).
But they stand a huge chance of remaining in the elite stage of the game as they face Dreams FC in an epic MTN FA Cup final at the University of Ghana Sports Stadium tomorrow at 6pm.
Dreams FC have been there before; going ahead to taste the honours in the 2022-23 season after defeating King Faisal.
Coming from a season that saw them crawl from the initial stages of the league to finish on a respectable fourth position, they come in as strong favourites to double their honours in the nation’s second top football competition.
History favours them in this regard. On their first final, they conquered and based on this, connoisseurs of the game have tipped them to make it ‘two-on-two.’
But Nations FC have been empowered by the age-old adage that “He that is down need fear no fall.”
Nothing can be worse than suffering relegation and exiting the limelight as far as exposure is concerned.
But the FA offers a decent opportunity to make them stay relevant.
Conquering Dreams FC would not just make them MTN FA Cup champions. It will grant them the prestigious slot to represent Ghana in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) second tier club competition- the Confederations Cup.
With Dreams FC harbouring the same ambitions, the stage is, therefore, set for a final that promises to be explosive and uncompromising.
The situation of Nations FC might have come to many as a surprise, considering their promising start to the season, with their defence especially, marshalled by Black Stars defender, Razak Simpson, and colleague central defender, Raymond Grippman, earning a lot of reviews.
But despite the struggles they endured at certain times of their campaign, the MTN FA Cup always provided slices of good fortunes as they managed to navigate their way to the final.
Road to the top
Nations FC began the MTN FA Cup competition on a promising note, enjoying some good runs with a win over DOL Zone Two side, Ebony FC, in the Round of 64.
That landed them in a tricky encounter with another high-flying Zone Two candidate, AshantiGold SC, a side that eventually won the title from the zone to qualify to the Premier League, but escaped.
At the round of 16 stage, they encountered and defeated Ghana Premier League side, Swedru All Blacks, 2-1 to gain progression to the quarter final stage where they edged Berekum Chelsea on penalties.
A dicey semi-final awaited them against Aduana FC in Swedru. It was a game Nations was given little chance to escape considering Aduana FC’s form but once again, they conquered to secure a final berth.
In total, the Abrankese-based club have scored eight goals and conceded only two throughout the competition, making them one of the strongest defensive sides in the tournament.
For Dreams FC, they defeated Division One League Zone Three side, Semper Fi, 2-1 to progress to the next stage of the competition where they accounted for Division Two side, Asanska FC, 2-0.
That handed them a quarterfinal berth where they faced Inter Allies and drew one all before winning 4-3 on penalties.
The happiest moment in their success story was a 3-2 semi-final win over GPL winners, Medeama SC.
With that feat, Dreams have been touted as potential winners as the match comes at a time the Nations FC side may be psychologically down over the weight of the challenge they face in the next season.
However, the competition has gain notoriety for not following any form guide and outcomes mostly coming as major surprises.
In this regard, Dreams may be tipped as favourite candidates but though Nations are wounded, the stakes could revive an insatiable desire to apply the brakes to turn the dreams of Dreams FC into a nightmare.
Support
The support from MTN Ghana has no doubt improved competition among the clubs with the attractive incentive packages for participating clubs.
MTN Ghana, which is celebrating 30 years of operations in Ghana, formally became headline sponsors of the Ghana FA Cup in the 2010/2011 football season after the competition had returned from an eight-year hiatus.
The first edition under MTN sponsorship was won by Nania FC, who defeated Asante Kotoko 1–0 in the final at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Since then, the competition has been known as the MTN FA Cup, with MTN renewing its sponsorship several times — in 2013, 2017, 2020 and again for subsequent seasons.
By Andrew Nortey
The Black Stars have opened camp in Cardiff ahead of next week’s international friendly against Wales.
The team is being taken through training drills by head coach Carlos Queiroz.
Thirteen players trained at Dragon Park on Monday, with others expected to join the squad on Tuesday.
They include Ernest Nuamah, Brandon Thomas-Asante, Jordan Ayew, Caleb Yirenkyi, Abdul Fatawu Issahaku, Elisha Owusu, Gideon Mensah, Marvin Senaya, Jerome Opoku, Benjamin Asare, Joseph Anang, Solomon Agbasi, and Alidu Seidu.
The Black Stars will train in Cardiff for one week ahead of the international friendly against Wales on Tuesday, June 2, before traveling to the United States of America.
Coach Carlos Queiroz will use the period to assess his players before naming his final squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Twenty-six players will be submitted to FIFA on Monday, June 1, as mandated by the competition regulations.
The Black Stars are drawn in Group L with Panama, England, and Croatia. They will open their World Cup campaign against Panama on June 17 in Toronto before facing England and Croatia in their other group matches.
