Be patient with coaches — Akonnor urges Kotoko, Hearts of Oak
Former Black Stars coach, Charles Kwablan Akonnor, has offered a critical diagnosis of the persistent coaching turnover at Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko, attributing it to the clubs' struggle in the league this season.
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Akonnor, who himself has coached both giants of Ghanaian football, highlighted the detrimental impact of the clubs' impatience with coaches and their fixation on instant results as the cause of the decline of their performances.
In an interview with the Graphic Sports, Akonnor emphasised the need for Hearts and Kotoko to exercise patience with their coaches and allow them ample time to implement their philosophies and strategies.
The ex-Black Stars skipper noted that the clubs' illustrious pedigrees, both domestically and continentally, were not reflected in their current league standings, suggesting that their frequent change of coaches was a contributing factor to their poor performance.
''Patience is always good but they are kind of result-oriented so they don't take their time. If you go in for a coach, you might have understood what he is doing right before you went in for him and if you get him on board and the results are not showing immediately, you need to give him some time'', he advised
Drawing parallels with successful coaches in Europe such as Mikel Arteta at Arsenal and Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, Akonnor underscored the importance of giving coaches time to build and execute their plans.
The former VfL Wolfsburg player stressed that immediate results should not be expected upon a new coach's appointment and urged management to have a long-term vision for the club's success.
Akonnor acknowledged the pressure faced by management from supporters, demanding immediate results but urged them to resist succumbing to hasty decisions and urged management to prioritise their vision for the club's future over short-term outcomes, as well as to be resilient against pressure from fans.
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While acknowledging that there may be valid reasons for dismissing a coach, Akonnor cautioned against jumping to hasty conclusions and advocated a more measured approach to evaluating a coach's performance.
He urged Hearts and Kotoko to strike a balance between accountability and patience and emphasised the importance of understanding and supporting the direction in which the coach is taking the team.
"Management is there to manage affairs and to take care of the team. They must have a vision about how they want to see the team in the next two or three years but for a team like Hearts and Kotoko, a lot of emphasis is on results and if they don’t win, the supporters get agitated and they will come at you."
''But if you are management and you understand what you want and know that eventually, it will yield good results, then you must be patient unless the direction is changing'', he noted.