Quo Vadis Hearts Of Oak?

When big clubs fall on hard times, lovers of the game naturally get apprehensive. Billion-dollar clubs such as Real Madrid of the Spanish La Liga, Juventus of Serie A, and Dortmund of the Bundesliga have all experienced dips at one time or another in their history. Manchester United in the 1980s was a mediocre English premiership club, until Sir Alex Ferguson took over as manager, and fortunately the team has now assumed its rightful place as a giant in European football. On the domestic front, Champion Club Accra Hearts of Oak seem to be in their worst form in decades. The defending league champions could only manage 11 points after 12 league matches, giving a lot of soccer lovers a cause to worry. In their last league match against Real Tamale United (RTU), the Phobians played very badly, with their strikers muffing one chance after another. Their defence was so porous that Abdul Salam Alhassan, an RTU attacker, was doing what he pleased on the day. In the end, the Tamale boys whacked the Phobians 2-0. The 3-0 defeat of Hearts by FC 105 of Gabon in the first leg of the Africa Champions’ League two weeks ago was a shocker to many supporters of the club. Indeed officials of the Gabonese club had commented that the team they defeated was not the Glorious Hearts of Oak they had known. The Africa Champions League defeat, which came at a time Ghana was the highest ranked team on the continent, compelled Chairman of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of Hearts to concede that the bane of his team was its attack force. At present Hearts need a ‘saviour’ to solve the team’s myriad of problems; from Eric Gawu’s drinking habit to Reuben Senyo’s lack of self-belief. The question many are asking is that does Eyal Lachman, Hearts’ new Israeli coach, possess the talisman to transform the team? After watching the return leg of the Champions’ League encounter against FC 105 last Sunday at the Ohene Djan Stadium in Accra, a lot of pundits seem to conclude that the Israeli is indeed the man for the job. It is always said that in football, the best way to tell if a coach is good, is when things are not going on well in a match. The kind of changes he/ she would do and its overall effect on the outcome would be a pointer to the coach’s competence. Last Sunday, the time Kofi Abanga was introduced into the game brought out the best in the youngman. Eventually Hearts won the match 3-1, with Abanga scoring a goal from 25 yards.