Grant doesn't believe in meritocracy

The Israeli gaffer's continuous handing of call-ups to fringe-stuck Edwin Gyimah depicts lack of dynamism and the rejection of Atleti's Thomas Partey, Hamburg midfielder Gideon Jung and the exciting Inter Allies winger Evans Mensah means the former Chelsea manager failed to do proper modern scouting.

The 61-year-old has named his 23-man squad for the 2017 AFCON qualifying double-header against Southern African minnows Mozambique and there are huge question marks surrounding his zestfulness and lack of readiness to embrace new bloods who have demonstrated impressive qualities meritorious of berths in his Black Stars squad.

Swansea City star Andre Ayew has been confirmed out of the games with ankle problems while there are fitness concerns for captain Asamoah Gyan and Las Palmas midfield workhorse Wakaso Mubarak. But Grant has named the latter duo in his squad while their absence could have been an avenue to assess the readiness of promising young players who are excelling in Europe.

The Ghana FA had to formally write to Grant to end his stay abroad and return to Ghana to scout on local stars in the Ghana Premier League.

While outside of Ghana, the official communication from the Ghanaian football governing body remains that the former West Ham United coach was on a scouting mission abroad to monitor how Ghanaian players are faring abroad. Indeed scouting in modern football is one of the dynamic and key aspect in prolonging longevity of success and perpetuated desirous results. During Alex Ferguson's memorable era at Manchester United, the Scottish managerial colossus recounted scouting strategies that led to long-run success and how they affected Manchester United's long-term sustainability as world football superpower.

Cristiano Ronaldo - one of football's all-time greats and a lord of hard work and success of our times, was once scouted by Ferguson himself. The accomplished manager left his Carrington ground to travel to Portugal to see Ronaldo play for Sporting CP in Lisbon - Portugal. Ferguson's vision and eye for quality led him to buy Ronaldo for a lowly £12.24 million and sold him to Real Madrid for an astronomical £80 million after six seasons. And, before he ended his 26-year reign at United he brought Madrid back to the Old Trafford as the Spanish titans tried to sign one of his finest kidnaps - David de Gea. Ferguson had traveled to the Vicente Calderon to watch the Spanish custodian before shipping him to England.

At international level, Belgium - the highest ranked country in world football per the latest FIFA Coca-Cola rankings are living examples. De Rode Duivels coach Marc Wilmots is a firm believer of meritocracy and builds his call-up plans on the principle of high performance, consistency and top notch standards.

When Adnan Januzaj burst onto the scenes last term and, despite his tender age (17) Wilmots capped him at senior level. Five countries (England, Belgium, Albania, Turkey and Kosovo) were all vying for the youngster and but Belgium nailed him down after they built a solid case why he should choose them over Turkey, England and Albania. For his performance and talent, the Belgian head coach handed him his debut cap.

Ghana currently have two Januzaj but Avram Grant has demonstrated worrisome laxity towards Gideon Jung and Inaki Williams who could choose to play for Germany, Liberia and Spain respectively. Inaki has demonstrated in La Liga he is a more dangerous predator in front of goal than any of Ghana's strikeforce after Asamoah Gyan. Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has already got a long-term plan for the 21-year-old while there is an opening for Ghana, Avram Grant is relaxed, passing comments about the player's readiness to represent Ghana at senior level. The Ghana FA's failure to push for the nationality switch is a problem.

Hamburg SV's Gideon Jung also falls in the same bracket. When Ghana FA Vice President George Afriyie hinted the West African giants were monitoring the performance of the 21-year-old midfield whizz whose qualities have been likened to Yaya Toure. Jung, born to Ghanaian parents in Germany, has already turned down an offer to represent the world champions at U21 but is adamant on the latest call-up to the German Olympic Squad. Jung's precocity has been better than Rabiu Mohammed's experience and depth for Russian Premier League side Kuban Krasnodar. The former Evian TG midfielder's progress has been halted by his failure to adapt to the colds of Eurasian country. But he still manages to make the grades for Grant's squad.

Thomas Partey's absence from the squad even raises more questions about the depths of Grant's scouting work. The 22-year-old dynamic midfielder has warmed himself well in Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid side and has even scored two important goals for the Vicente Calderon side. Every player in the Atletico Madrid squad is a world-class talent and must walk into any international squad of Ghana's standards. The former Tema Youth midfielder can play in defensive and offensive midfield roles and his performance this season is a continuation of his work at Almeria last season. Along with Bologna's Godfred Donsah Grant has no basis to hand call-ups to Rabiu Mohammed and Edwin Gyimah who have not played any exceptional football at Kuban and Orlando Pirates respectively. Donsah has outshone Milan, Inter, Fiorentina and Napoli midfielders in games he has come up against them this season.

Edwin Gyimah has done nothing exceptional at Pirates to merit a place in the Ghana squad at this particular point.

But Inter Allies winger Evans Mensah alongside Samuel Tetteh are the most exciting flank-men in the league. Mensah was the standout player when Avram Grant watched Inter Allies share the spoils in a 2-2 stalemate with Dreams FC in Tema. The 19-year-old's dazzling movements, electrifying pace and artistry are of Black Stars standards. But Grant seems to lack the testicular fortitude to invite the youngster who can provide a formidable challenge to Malaga's Christian Atsu and Chicago Fire speed-king David Accam.

Grant has continued the old ways of stale and has shown us he is not ready to blood in new players to give hope of continuity to the Black Stars in his absence.