Kotoko coach under pressure to beat Hearts
Champion Club Kumasi Asante Kotoko head to Accra for Sunday’s showdown with age-old rivals, Accra Hearts of Oak, with pressure growing on Coach Didi Dramani to overcome the Phobian hurdle to save his job.
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The former Black Maidens coach, who guided the women’s Under-17 team to bronze medal at the FIFA World Cup last year, was burdened with huge expectations on assumption of post as successor to Kotoko’s title-winning coach Maxwell Konadu at the beginning of the season.
The expectations have yielded mixed results, however, and pressure has come from all angles as the Porcupine Warriors fight to keep pace with the main contenders for the league title.
His task in Accra looks even more tough as he risks losing of one of his key players, Kofi Nti Boakye, whose fitness remains questionable.
Doubts over Boakye’s availability has reduced Coach Dramani’s arsenal even though he still has the likes of Michael Helegbe, Michael Akuffo Michael Anaba and Small Boy Cobbah in his squad.
Dramani’s mission to overcome a resurgent Hearts side who have won all of their home matches in the second round of the league could not be more difficult at this time.
Coach David Duncan has managed to transform Hearts from virtual whipping boys to a competitive side in the second round, and their gradual rise from the bottom rungs to the top half of the standings could largely be attributed to the massive change that has happened to their quality in terms of personnel and competence.
The return of Emmanuel ‘Obuor’ Osei, and the arrival of Joseph Mugri, Winful Cobbina and James Bissue have complemented the talent of Mahatma Otoo, Nuru Sulley, Moro Abubakar, Kofi Abanga and Ashietey Ollenu into a winsome unit that has managed to turn their once dire situation around into a compact lot.
Such has been the influence of Coach Duncan on the squad that their march into the semis of the MTN FA Cup with a 2-0 win over Gold Stars last Sunday was a tribute to the transformation he has brought to the team.
Indeed, while he raised Hearts from the throes of possible relegation, his counterpart on the Kotoko bench, Dramani, inherited a team that had reached their peak already.
The contrast in personnel and history is what has defined the measure of expectations on either trainer as they head into Ghana’s version of the Spanish ‘El-Clasico’.
In other matches, relegation-threatened Tema Youth host relegated RTU at the Tema stadium, King Faisal play Heart of Lions in Kumasi, Aduana Stars play AshantiGold at Dormaa-Ahenkro, Arsenal take on Amidaus Professional at Berekum, table-topping Medeama welcome Liberty to Tarkwa, New Edubiase United and Berekum Chelsea clash at Bekwai, while Ebusua Dwarfs entertain All Stars at Cape Coast.