Hearts to confirm Preko if ...
Ex-Ghanaian international and Accra Hearts of Oak stop-gap coach, Yaw Preko, could be confirmed as the substantive coach of the club if he performs well in the remaining three matches.
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Preko, who was elevated to replace demoted Portuguese trainer, Sergio Traguil, could be handed the mantle depending on Hearts’ fortunes by the end of the season.
This was disclosed to the Graphic Sports by a board member of the club, Dr Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, who conceded that the over-reliance on expatriate coaches has not helped the club which is why they want to look within for their next manager.
“If he wins the rest of the matches and we are convinced he is good, we wouldn’t hesitate to make him (Preko) the substantive coach,” the board member said, and hinted that after observing a training session last week he was convinced that the 41-year-old former Hearts player was cut for the job.
The former GFA boss said after watching the team’s training yesterday he could see that the team lacked rigidity needed to play at the highest level which was the reason why they had appointed someone who had started working on the physical aspect of the players.
He, however, rued the exit of Kenichi Yatsuhashi, who he admitted was able to build the physical fitness of the team. “To some extent his (Kenichi) exit has cost us because he was good when it comes to physical training but weak when it comes to coaching”, Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe said.
Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe, who justified the demotion of the Portuguese trainer, insisted that he was put in charge of Hearts in an acting capacity and since his performance was below standard, the best thing to do was to revert him to his original position with the junior side.
He said Sergio was overwhelmed by the size of Hearts and that he did not believe the coach had total control over the players.
He praised Preko for what he had been able to do within the short time he had been in charge.