Oti Akenteng got the inevitable sack as Hearts coach ? but repairing the damage will require more than a change in technical leadership

It was lurking in the corner so it was not much of a surprise when Accra Hearts of Oak finally decided that Francis Oti Akenteng should pack bag and leave as coach of the club.

Constantly criticised and never really considered a good coach by many of the Hearts faithful, the ex-King Faisal coach and the man in charge of the national U-20 side has paid the price for a season when Hearts have looked out of sorts and in decline.

At times they have played breathtaking football but often with Oti in charge Hearts have looked disorganized, out of sorts and lacking in passion and the fighting spirit that saw them turn the domestic and international scene into their own road show where they were the only masters.

And while the villain of that has been Oti Akenteng, his sack does not necessarily look like the master stroke that will take this great club back to it?s winning ways. The Champions League is turning into a nightmare for Hearts of Oak partly on account of their own impressive history in the competition and on the African continent.

Winners in 2000, Hearts had struggled to make the group stages until Oti emerged. Qualifying for the money zone at the expense of nemeses Etoile du Sahel after a brilliant two-legged encounter was about the only thing that saved Oti his job.

Yet once the group stage kicked off, Hearts have struggled. In what was billed as the clash of the West African giants, it was Hearts that came off worse. A meeting between Hearts and Enyimba, two of the three clubs in the sub region who have brilliantly challenged North Africa?s dominance of African club football was supposed to inspire the best out of players.

Unfortunately for Hearts it didn?t. Brilliant in the build up but lethargic upfront, the Phobians more than justified the fear of many that this country is running thin on men capable of putting the ball at the back of the net. And in many ways Hearts had every right to feel they had not reaped what they deserved against Enyimba. But against ASEC it was a different story. The Ivorians, blessed always with youthful players full of running and trickery, are a handful for any team but you would have expected a team with Hearts? pedigree to cope.

Instead they went into the game having made too many changes, without a player upfront capable of holding unto the ball and gifted the skillful Ivorians too much room to operate. The result was a 3-0 loss that has now thrown into serious doubt Hearts? ambition to make it into the semi-final stage of the Champions League.

With four rounds of matches, every Phobian will rightly think that they can still make it. And inevitably you would expect the club to once again invoke talk of 2000 when they sold a master class in winning the African Champions League.

Nobody gave them a dog?s chance but they were still phenomenal in going through to the final before expertly beating Esperance of Tunisia. At the start of this Champions League when I suggested on Joy FM that this team didn?t have the class and quality of the 2000 group, that they didn?t have an Ishmael Addo or an Emmanuel Osei Kufuor, my lecturer and friend Mawuko Afadzinu was quick to remind me that I was comparing a team in the making to one that was the finished article.

And given that this is work in progress, then it seems Hearts will need all the patience required to complete the project. In the manner they have lost on the road in Africa against Saint George and ASEC and now at home against Enyimba, Hearts have demonstrated a lack of fighting spirit that is so unlike them and needs quick fixing.

First there is the need to find a replacement for Oti. Hearts have had some terrific managers and when they go searching again, it is inevitable that top of that bill will be someone in the mould of a Jones Attuquayefio.

He is even likely to be the man they would want to lure back to Hearts but if that does not work, then the Phobians will look invariably to Sellas Tetteh who does a dual job as assistant coach for both Hearts and the national team the Black Stars.

Coaches are in short supply here. Either the Phobians take a gamble on someone or they settle on the old system of recycling old hands. As Oti Akenteng proved recycling does not always help even though even the harshest critic of the Hearts coach will have to admit that he the materials have not matched up too. Reuben Senyo may have conjured one moment of magic against Etoile and Asante Kotoko but after living through strikers like Ishmael Addo, Emmanuel Osei Kufuor, Loius Agyeman and recently Prince Tagoe, Senyo won?t turn you on. And while Eric Gawu was hailed across the country for being so good all he has succeeded in doing at Hearts has been to hand more ammunition to those who insisted he is yet to prove himself.

Two weeks from now Hearts travel to Johannesburg for a date against Orlando Pirates. The last time the Phobians were in South Africa, they were magnificent in a 1-0 win over Santos that started their march to the 2004 Confederations Cup triumph. A similar result could resurrect their fading hopes of progressing but the ongoing works in Hearts does not look like one that will end in glory at the end of the Champions League.

Five goals let in without scoring one, no win out of two games, is a return that will frighten many Hearts hopefuls and with duels to come against Pirates, Enyimba and ASEC again, Hearts will have to get better and quickly.

Kotoko?s 4-2 win over CS Sfaxien suggest they could get better but just how the Porcupine Warriors conspired to concede the goals they did was amazing. The good thing was that they managed to find the appropriate responses. Now with El-Ahly due in Obuasi next two weeks, the biggest test is yet to come.