Former Great Olympics coach against attempts to axe Black Stars manager
A former Accra Great Olympics coach, Ken Augustt, says it is too early to initiate discussions over the dismissal of Black Stars coach, Chris Hughton, when he has a major game like the World Cup qualifiers ahead of him.
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The Ghana gaffer has come under the radar of some media portals advocating his removal over what they claimed to be his poor performance since taking over the national team.
But the former Heart of Lions coach believes it was too early to be discussing Coach Hughton’s dismissal when he was yet to achieve the targets set for him before he was appointed head coach of the national team.
Coach Augustt told the Graphic Sports in an interview that the objective for which Coach Hughton was appointed was still in progress; he, therefore, did not understand why his appointment should come up for discussion when he was still working towards qualifying the team to the World Cup and playing in the AFCON.
“Why do some people think he should be sacked in the first place? I think they have a plan that he should qualify the Black Stars for AFCON and the World Cup and that is what the coach is chasing now. So, the question is, has he gone beyond that objective or is it achievable?” he asked.
He said the FA hierarchy who appointed the former Brighton and Hove Albion manager knew why they engaged him and once they still had faith in the coach, no individual has the power to decide on the future of the coach.
“The employers know why they have employed him, and I think that they should be able to assess whether, given the matches played so far, they are in a pole position to qualify.
“Looking at the nations that we are going to play (in World Cup qualifiers), I personally think the opponents are not too strong and that we should be able to qualify,” he said.
He was of the view that the limited time available to the coach to train with the players before any major competition was a serious hindrance and that contributed to the team’s poor performance but not because he was a bad coach.
Coach Augustt said he believed getting a replacement for Hughton immediately was also going to be a difficult thing and warned that our World Cup qualifying campaign could be disastrous should we decide to take this rout.