Why traditional clubs are currently struggling in Ghana’s top flight

Something interesting caught my eye after match day ten of the ongoing First Capital Plus Premier League ended on Sunday.

I was scanning through my Facebook wall and saw an observation by my colleague and friend Saddick Adams which was striking.

He stated that four of Ghana’s top traditional clubs, Hearts of Oak, Asante Kotoko, Great Olympics and B.A. United were occupying the bottom four spots on the league log.

Even though I had already done the league table, I hadn’t really noticed, but after seeing Saddick’s comments, I went back to the league table and that was exactly the case.

Asante Kotoko, Olympics and B.A. United currently occupy the relegation spots with Hearts of Oak just a point above the bottom three places.

Of course, with only a third of the season gone, it will be far fetched to say that based on this, three of the four teams will definitely be relegated, but the current state of affairs only tells us a lot about the situation at traditional clubs.

This piece will attempt to give an insight into these issues, as well as highlight what has been an exciting season so far.

Let me start with Hearts of Oak.

Even though I back Herbert Addo to eventually turn things around, the club is still paying for unceremoniously sacking David Duncan last season.

At the time, he was building a young team, which looked like progressing, but his sacking was akin to destroying a house totally and rebuilding from scratch.

That had left Herbert Addo a lot to do and to be fair; the club has stayed unbeaten over the last two matches but keeping leads is now a problem for the club.

It is a clear example of how certain decisions can affect medium to long term planning, especially when the decision was not about results on the pitch.

Managerially, there has been relative instability, after Neil Armstrong Mortagbe resigned as Managing Director midway through last season.

Gerald Ankrah has taken over and for the team to progress, he has to stay on longer.

With the Phobians also in the CAF Confederations Cup, Hearts of Oak would have to lift its game to recover lost heights.

Asante Kotoko cannot buy a win these days, but have stayed unbeaten in its last three games.

It was clear that majority of the players who have been at the club for some time now have lost their hunger and that has affected the club on the pitch.

Mas-Ud Dramani was made the scapegoat, especially after the 0-1 loss to Hearts of Oak and he has since been placed on gardening leave.

The results since then have not improved; showing that he may not have been at fault, except perhaps not freshening up his squad with younger talent.

Asante Kotoko’s real problem is administrative, right from the management through the Board of Directors to Manhyia, the hub of ownership.

Is it not strange that management decides on David Duncan as a possible successor to Dramani, only for Manhyia to disagree and ask the Board to request for Maxwell Konadu’s services from the Ghana Football Association?

Clearly there is disunity, with the Board and management not on the same wavelength and with Manhyia responsible for the problem by appointing Opoku Nti as acting General Manager before reconstituting the Board, which has also so far failed to provide any form of policy direction for the club.

As things stand now, the stand off means that Michael Osei will be in charge for the forseeable future and that begs the question of whether it was even necessary to get rid of Dramani in the first place.

Only time will tell if that decision proves to be the right one.

Great Olympics has over the years been the object of fierce in fighting, in terms of who has the greater influence at the club.

In fighting at the club between two factions; one that backed the involvement of Optimum Media Prime and the other led by Eric Afotey Odai, resulted in David Duncan ducking out of coaching the club and so that meant that the players did not have a proper pre-season.

The results are showing for everyone and it is interesting that after thrashing Asante Kotoko 3-0 in an Independence Cup match on Friday, Olympics then lost 0-1 to Inter Allies 48 hours later in Accra.

There is an uneasy calm at the club at the moment and unless outstanding issues are resolved, the signings of the likes of Godwin Attram, Richard Kingson and Dan Quaye could come to nothing this season.

It is a shame to see B.A. United struggle after its return to Ghana’s top flight after a 10-year hiatus.

Results are everything in this business and Frimpong Manso had to leave the club after a run of poor results, but after Mohammed Gargo’s first match ended in defeat in front of the home support in Sunyani, questions would have to be asked as to whether Manso was indeed responsible for the poor results, or as Manso himself put it, lack of finance at the club which led to the club kissing out on targeted players could have had a part to play in it.

Indeed, it is time for all the well-to-do supporters of the club to come back on board because young businessman Roy Arthur cannot shoulder the financial burden alone.

It remains to be seen if Gargo can turn things around, but it does not look good at the moment.

In short, managerial instability and a lack of administrative expertise and finance are some of the problems plaguing these traditional clubs and it is a pity because the four clubs are amongst the most supported clubs in Ghana.

Ashanti Gold has to be credited with sticking with Bashir Hayford ever since he joined the club over two years ago, The results are beginning to show with the Miners on top after 10 games.

With twenty more match days to come, it will be interesting to see if Ashanti Gold can hold out as title challengers.

After narrowly avoiding relegation last term, Aduana Stars’ resurgence has been remarkable. After beating Ashanti Gold in Dormaa on Sunday, the club now lies two points off top spot and what has worked for the club is player retention over the years.

About 60% of the players that won the league in 2010 are still at the club and that is something other clubs will do well to emulate. Defensively, Emmanuel Akuoko has been immense, whilst Elvis Opoku is finally living up to his potential. With the likes of Richard Arhin and Daniel Darkwa still around, the team would be a threat for anyone.

The decision to hire Paa Kwesi Fabin as hew Inter Allies head coach looks inspired, with the Tema –based club moving to third.

The capture of striker Sherriff Mohammed has proven to be an important one, with the ex-King Faisal striker now joint leading scorer so far this season.

Even though Joseph Aidoo is now with the Black Satellites, defensive partner Baba Mensah’s call up to the Local Black Stars clearly shows how far the club has come.

Newly promoted West African Football Academy (WAFA) have so far been the surprise package of the season, with very young and skillful players on display.

The likes of Zakaria Mumuni, Matthew Antwi and Ashimeru Majeed have sold themselves very well and on loan goalkeeper Felix Annan has given the side experience from the back.

The club will however need to keep its good form to stay in the top flight, but at the moment, things are looking good.

After flirting with relegation over the last couple of seasons, Liberty Professionals are beginning to recapture some form and in Kennedy Ashia, the Scientific soccer lads have a player who could carry the club forward.

Defensive leadership by club captain Alfred Nelson is also helping and with time, the Dansoman club could climb the standings further.

Footballing twins Alhassan and Fuseini Nuhu are having good seasons with New Edubiase United, but New Edubiase United would have to improve their away form to make any impact this season, whilst Noah Martey’s consistent performances for Bechem United have deservedly netted him a national call up.

The season is shaping up to be an exciting one, but you can sense that there is a lot more to come.