Le Roy`s Exit…Good Riddance!

The abrupt departure of former Black Stars Coach- Claude Le Roy, is not good for the senior national team’s building process, taking into account the proximity of the Stars’ first World Cup qualifier. However, I can say without any shadow of doubt that 98% of the Ghanaian sporting fraternity were happy when the French man decided to lay down his tools. And like the adage says; coming events cast their shadows, I saw it approaching long before the expatriate coach turned his back on the FA, when he was offered the chance for an extension of his contract. Like his predecessors, he gave the FA no tangible reason for his decision. For me, the Frenchman, who is on record to have said that contract extension is not in his lexicon, brought nothing new to the team which performed creditably in their maiden Mundial in Germany. Before his employment, the team was plagued with a striking problem and whether or not he did something to right that wrong is a question crying for an answer. His tactical bankruptcy cost Ghana her fifth African Cup of Nations silverware, when it was obvious that the time had come for Ghana to win her fifth continental laurel. Most people, including myself tipped the Stars to win the Nations cup tourney, however, as the competition progressed, it became obvious that the Stars were close to clawing a feat that has eluded them since 1982. When the former Chelsea Manager, Jose Mourinho, visited Ghana, he told the press that “I strongly believe Essien will help you win the Nations Cup.” And like a clairvoyant, Essien nearly fulfilled that ‘prophesy’ but for poor selection and tactics which robbed us of the opportunity to equal Egypt’s fifth time record. The French trainer’s sheer arrogance and impunity created some friction between him and the media. The expatriate coaches-the Ralf Zumdicks, Milan Zivadinovics, Mariano Barretos, Ratomir Dujkovics to mention but a few, have for a long time taken Ghanaians for a ride, and it is high time we acted on Ghana’s first President’s admonishing that “The Blackman is capable of managing his own affairs.” I share the same view with senior colleague, Kwabena Yeboah of Africa Sports fame that proper coaching policies are the only sure way to salvage the Stars coaching dilemma. We have fine candidates in Emmanuel Kwasi Afranie, Emmanuel Quarshie, Kwasi Appiah, Abdul Razak and Sam Arday among others, and all we need to do is to provide them with the right kind of opportunities to upgrade themselves and accord them the respect that we give to the light skinned coaches, who come here and stab us in the back after improving on their CV’s. Egypt has shown the way and I believe it’s high time we all gave a black brother another chance to see how far he will take the Stars. After all, the four silverwares we boast of were lifted by black coaches, our own Ghanaians.