In 2010, the Ghana FA were roundly blamed for the eventual departure of then coach Milovan Rajevac because they had failed to contractually tie him down properly.
Is it going to happen again?
Sources tell Citi Sports that the contract of Kwesi Appiah, the current coach, reportedly expires on July 18 this year.
Bigwigs in the football fraternity are chewing on the topic.
FA boss Kwesi Nyantakyi believes coach Kwesi Appiah has done more than enough to earn an extension.
“Kwesi Appiah has done very well to be the first indigenous coach to qualify the team to the World Cup. He just didn’t qualify us but he did it in grand style – smashing teams six, four and so on.
“But it is a decision that will be taken at the Executive Committee level but personally I have been very impressed by his work.”
Kwesi Appiah has won 58.3% of his games in all – competitive or otherwise – and his failure to beat any non-African teams in addition to not winning the 2013 African Cup are widely seen as blips.
“Do it before Brazil starts”
Former Ghana FA boss Ben Koufie also wants Kwesi Appiah’s contract to be renewed before the 2014 World Cup.
“Kwesi (Appiah) has done extremely well to deserve contract extension. There is no need to delay in renewing his mandate. In my view we should extend his contract before the World Cup.
“He needs to focus on the job and therefore we should not leave the matter of contract renewal hanging on his head. To qualify a country to the World Cup is no mean achievement. We need to impose confidence in him by giving him a new deal.”
The danger
These calls from Nyantakyi and Koufie are legitimate because with three months to the end of the deal, Kwesi Appiah will have the freedom to begin talking with potential employers elsewhere should the FA not talk about renewal now.
But Citi Sports understands that the FA are planning to give him a new deal soon.
Public opinion
On Citi Sports’ African football show – done in collaboration with supersport.com – that airs on Fridays, FC Africa, BBC journalist Michael Oti-Adjei and veteran journalist Christopher Opoku provided professional insight into the two year tenure of the coach.
The discussion was driven by the public’s views on social media.
@oluwashina @garyalsmith He failed to win Afcon 2013 by selecting poor players but he’s done well as native coach to take Ghana to WorldCup!
— coudjoe amankwaa (@coudjoeamankwaa) April 11, 2014
@garyalsmith his success is geting the stars to score more goals in a single game.Failure,team nt living up to expectations at the ACN in SA — Ebo Dadzie (@Ebo_dadzie) April 11, 2014
@garyalsmith Bad: hasn’t really made an effort to find a replacement for Gyan up front. Created a reliance on him. Agree with Maher’s also. — Säm Crocker (@Sam_Crock) April 11, 2014
@garyalsmith he has been under some element of luck though. but his tactics are questionable. and also failing to win #afcon is a bit failur
— Jermpapa Kabore (@Jermpopito) April 11, 2014
@garyalsmith I think his substitutions have been his weakness but qualifying us to the world cup is his success
— musah walbi zenabu (@zenabuwalbi) April 11, 2014
@garyalsmith Kwesi Appiah is a good coach but I fear for him when i comes to making bold decisions when Ghana is on the losing side — Stephen K. Assan (@pakashassan) April 11, 2014
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By: Gary Al-Smith/Citifmonline.com/Ghana