Sam Johnson rejects Gyan, Ayew brothers Black Stars premature sideline calls

Former Ghana defender Sam Johnson has expressed his displeasure with premature calls of retirement of some senior players of the Black Stars following recent underwhelming performances.

In the wake of the Black Stars 1-1 stalemate in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Congo, established players such as Asamoah Gyan, Jordan and Andre Ayew came under heavy criticisms for their performance in the game, with some suggesting that their time in the team is up hence they should be sidelined.

But the calls did not go well with Sam Johnson, who insisted that they still have roles to play in the team.

“I don’t understand why some people are saying Asamoah Gyan should retire and Dede and Jordan Ayew should not be invited into the national team again," Johnson said, as reported by Football Made in Ghana.

“Yes indeed their strength might have got down but we can do it in a nice way than [cutting] them off from the team.

"We shouldn’t forget that these same players have made Ghana proud before, so we must exercise patience other than calling for their early retirement."

"It is very bad, people must stop that."

“They have big roles to play in the team and we must not be ungrateful to them."

"Ghanaians are fond of doing that, we have done this to so many players including Richard Kingston and Stephen Appiah but here they are today performing different duties for the nation in the team, we must stop killing the players."

Without the trio, Ghana put up a five-star performance in the return encounter against Congo on Tuesday, running out 5-1 victors at the Stade Municipal Kintele.