Three leading European coaches have joined the race for the vacant Black Stars coaching job as the Ghana Football Association (GFA) prepares to name a replacement for Kwasi Appiah before the end of the month.
Information available to the Graphic Sports indicates that former Real Madrid coach, Bernhard "Bernd" Schuster, Dutchman Patrick Kluivert and onetime Chelsea coach, Avram Grant, are among a long list of football tacticians who have expressed their desire to handle the Stars by sending in their applications ahead of the FA’s deadline last Friday.
Of the three candidates, 54-year-old Schuster has, perhaps, the richest coaching credentials which includes winning the 2007/08 Spanish La Liga title with Real Madrid and the Copa del Rey with Spanish side Getafe.
Nicknamed "der Blonde Engel" (the Blond Angel), the former German international’s 17-year coaching career has seen him handle clubs in his native Germany, Spain, Ukraine and Turkey. His long list of clubs handled include FC Cologne, Shakhtar Donetsk, Levante, Getafe, Besiktas and Malaga which he coached until he was sacked last May.
Grant, who was appointed coach of the Israeli national team in 2002, is famous for guiding Chelsea to the final of the 2008 UEFA Champions League after replacing the hugely popular Jose Mourinho during his first stint with the Stamford Bridge side.
The 59-year-old Israeli later handled English Premiership sides such as Portsmouth and West Ham United before moving to Partizan Belgrade where he led the club to the Serbian title in 2012 after which he resigned.
Assistant to Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, Kluivert is famed for scoring Ajax Amsterdam’s winning goal against AC Milan to clinch the 1995 UEFA Champions League title for the Dutch side.
His coaching career began six years ago as a member of the backroom coaching staff of Eredivisie club AZ and then served as assistant coach of Dutch side NEC where he was in charge of the strikers.
The former Dutch striker, 36, who scored 40 goals in 79 international appearances, was the youth and reserve team coach of Eredivisie side FC Twente until he was named assistant national coach two years ago.
The Ghana Football Association (GFA) is spoilt for choice in the face of the huge pile of CVs from various applicants, particularly European coaches, with Serbian Milovan Rajevac and Danish Flemming Serritslev as the frontrunners.
But the sources within the GFA have revealed that Serritslev looked the favourite on account of his terms and vision for the Stars.
In comparative terms, Milo’s salary demands of about $90,000 and signing-on fee, as well as bonuses are far above what the Danish who has been involved in three World Cup appearances with Denmark as an assistant coach is demanding, the source revealed.
By far the cutting edge is Serislev’s emphasis on youth development and his ability to communicate fluently in the English language.
Already, the GFA is still confronted with the task of assuaging the anger of Ghanaians over the decision by Milo to abandon Ghana after the 2010 World Cup when the nation needed him badly.
Of course, Milo who headed the Stars technical team between 2008 and 2010, comes into the fray with famaliarity of the terrain as his advantage.
