FEATURE: The Incessant Hiring and Firing of Coaches in Ghana
Brazil, the hub of the World’s most talented footballers, two years ago by an academic research was a leading country in terms of coach sacking. The research however showed how negatively the practice was affecting teams, players and development of football as a whole in Brazil. Fast forward about six months ago all major stakeholders in the football business in Brazil came together and agreed on having a rule to regulate the frequency of sacking coaching by limiting every team to only two coaches per a season.
Legendary coaches in the Ghanaian scene, like the late Sir Cecil Jones Attoquayefio , late C.K Gyamfi and late Ben Coffie demonstrated the effects of keeping a long-serving manager. Coaches like Didi Dramani, Selas Tetteh and Bashir Hayford are few, living in the legacy of the above mentioned legendary coaches
Ghana, after Anas’ expose went three years without an organized football league. The new football administration post the Anas Expose finally organized a league with the tagline ‘’bring back the love’’. Team owners, managers, administrators and most especially players were relieved after three years without football.
The GPL bounced back with high spirit and like an open secret, the coach’s job is always unforgiving, and losing your job could be sudden. Being fired is part of their job however as an organized league development, finances and tradition of individual teams must be taken care of. Is that the case in Ghana?
Out of the 18 teams in our league, only two teams (WAFA and Eleven Wonders) did not change coaches last season. Some teams changed as many as 3 coaches even before the first half of the season ended.
Fast forward to this season, before match day 5, four coaches had already lost their jobs averaging 1 coach sacked per a match day.
What are some of the implications of sacking a coach?
Finance ; Ghana went three years without football and it has hugely affected the team’s bank rollers. Covid has put extra financial stress on team bank rollers and there is even no headline sponsor for our league. Sacking a coach comes with extra compensation to the coach for the termination of the contract. Structure wise, our football is a developing phase but unfortunately, those leading the charge have had a lot of question marks integrity wise. Payoffs only benefit coaches and the likes of Jose Mourinho have become wealthier through this .Also it costs a lot of revenue to replace managers and their staff.
What has been the project of teams? Long term or short term?
The last time Ghana made a name for herself globally in football was as a result of a long term project. Unfortunately the two biggest clubs in Ghana and the technical director of the FA failed to mimic this approach. With the exception of WAFA who hardly sacks coaches, all other teams have demonstrated short term practices in dealing with coaches. The short term approach implies immaturity in technical relationship between players, under-development of players, culture and other technical members which creates an environment for inconsistency in technical development of the clubs. This also has a huge negative impact on young players.
Obsession of expatriate coaches
The national team and clubs in Ghana have always fancied foreign coaches over the local coaches but none of the foreign coaches have anything to show. With the exception of Ernst Middendorp and Ottoo Pfister who have won something for Ghanaian clubs and junior national team respectively, the rest have nothing to show aside their scintillating display. This is not to say we don’t appreciate the development that some of these foreign coaches have had on some individuals but rather, we want a system that will make a generational impact.
Every country has its own philosophy and style and every club’s tactical approach must have the basics of the philosophy which will indirectly make the job of the national team coach less complicated. The question is do we even have proper documentation of our philosophy and the way forward? And if we do, how are we ensuring it to be put into practice? The foreigners can only do us good if we have all these properly put together and enforced.
Until the FA sees to it that the philosophy of our game is properly documented and its modules properly spelt out, bringing any foreign coach at all to take charge of the national team and clubs will not do us any good. Clubs must have a properly documented tactical approach which will not be far different from what is being used at the national team level. This will not only solve this canker but setting rules to regulate the sacking of coaches just as Brazil has done.
