Tough-minded managers are not hesitant when it comes to straightening out players whose ego problems constitute a threat to instilling discipline in the team.
As a matter of fact Ghana football, at both national and club levels, has had a history of some footballers tending to see themselves as being in a world of their own, for which reason they expect society to succumb to their ego trips without question.
It was this canker that manifested itself in the worst possible manner when three senior players of the Black Stars, who should have known better, misconducted themselves and brought Ghana’s name into disrepute at Brazil 2014. The expulsion of Michael Essien, Sulley Muntari and Kevin Prince Boateng from the team instantly won a great deal of admiration for the Ghana Football Association. Suddenly, whatever perception people had of the football governing body as a toothless bulldog gave way to a more respectable image of a body capable of barking and biting hard when necessary.
Maybe the GFA itself has underestimated the full measure of the no-nonsense action taken against the three players. If there is any truth that has to be told, it is the fact that some kind of “positive fear” has been put in the other members of the squad that the days of stinking arrogance and arrant disrespect for the good people of Ghana are, perhaps, gone forever.
Ghanaians will forever love their football and adore those who continue to do this country proud through their exploits, but what they will not countenance again is an attitude steeped in total disrespect for them. A lot in this regard depends on how steadfast the authorities are in the fight against indiscipline.
A statement attributed to the Communication Director of the FA last week brought a lump to my throat. Mr Sannie Darra was reported to have said in an interview that the three players could make a return to the team if the in-coming coach was convinced they had shown sufficient remorse. I wonder what might have informed this fundamental shift in the position of the GFA on a matter that brought the whole country so much shame and public ridicule.
No one should be talking about the players finding their way back to the team now, given the gravity of the offences that necessitated their being thrown out. To do that will only amount to having stabbed discipline and steadfastness in the back.
Is it being suggested that without these three players Ghana football will go to the pieces? What happened to the time-proven assertion that no player is bigger than Ghana football?
It is imperative we refrain from doing things that can lead to the tying of the hands of the incoming coach even before he assumes duty. What happened to us at the World Cup isn’t something that should be taken lightly, regardless of the intensity of the campaign that may be waged in some quarters for us to forgive and forget everything.
As has been said over and over again, what became of our Brazil 2014 campaign offers us a great chance to put so many things right in our football. We don’t have to let it slip by.
