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Soccer News of Tuesday, 17 February 2004

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Hearts fire coach Herbert Addo

The Interim Management Committee (IMC) of Accra Hearts of Oak has decided not to re-hire the services of their head coach, Mr Herbert Addo with immediate effect.

A statement signed by Mr Thomas Okine, Chairman of the IMC and copied to the GNA Sports said the decision, which has already been ratified by the Board of Directors of the club, followed a critical appraisal of the team's performance in the just ended Coca-Cola Top 4 competition.

It said a general over view of the club's performance in the past two years that witnessed protracted technical and tactical inconsistency had been obvious and all this was also taken into cognisance before the decision not to renew the expired contract was arrived at.

Meanwhile, assistant coach, Emmanuel Offei Ansah has been asked to act in a temporary capacity to prepare the team pending conclusion of arrangement to reshuffling and realigning the technical bench.

The statement said the decision was taken in the best interest of Accra Hearts of Oak given that the club is now undergoing a gradual metamorphosis with the assembling of young and talented footballers who need the right guidance to blossom into the unique sweet-flowing and free scoring system associated with the club.

Coach Herbert Addo was hired in February 2002 from Kpando Heart of Lions on a year's renewable contract.

The coach to his credit won the league on his first attempt in his first year for the record-breaking sixth consecutive league title win for the Phobians.

But the Coach has recently had some difficult moments when his archrivals Kumasi Asante Kotoko ended the championship run of the Phobians by winning the 2004 league.

To aggravate his already precarious situation, the coach failed to place the team within the first two spots in the just ended Ghalca Top Four (4) competition, which in effect ruled the Phobians out of a sequel to a competition in South Africa later in the year.

On the continental scene, the coach who once took Obuasi Goldfields FC to the finals of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions league rather failed to push the Hearts team to the lucrative league stage of the tournament on all two of his attempts.