Search for new Black Stars coach, there we go again!

The search for a new Black Stars coach has just begun, following the announcement by the GFA last Tuesday of the formation of a committee to supervise the process.

As usual, tongues are wagging as to the composition of the committee, which is being critiqued for being dominated more by administrators than technical experts or coaches.

The concern being expressed is that the process appears to be hinged on the same formula as previous ones and, therefore, it is too repetitive as to engender similar failed results.

But that may be neither here nor there, knowing that in times past such searches or appointments were even made by the political elite, since, like now, it was the government that footed the bills and yet the results showed thick and fast.

Many are quick to argue that the four-time AFCON successes achieved by the Black Stars had local coaches at the helm but are mute on the selection or appointment processes which, doubtless, were largely by the fiat of political administrators of sports in the country.

So it stands to reason that much as we need the technical experts in the selection of a Black Stars coach, we cannot downplay the role of administrators or managers of the sport who determine the attendant financial commitments or implications.

There is also the ongoing argument that a coach for the Stars should be head-hunted if we know what our preference is, instead of the application process where the tendency for a mixed grill of applicants is high.

Indeed, while head-hunting is the more preferable option everywhere in the world, as such coaches are often in hot demand, the process comes at a high cost, and for poor economies such as ours, the application process may fish out a coach with a comparatively lower budget.

It is the down-sizing of the budget for a Black Stars coach which has fueled the call for the consideration of a local coach over an expatriate (the Black-versus-White debate).

But instead of joining that chorus, it is our considered opinion that what must be crucial to the search team is the type of coach who will change our fortunes as far as the Stars are concerned.

However, what must be fundamental to the search is the acknowledgement that the functions of the modern-day coach are not only about tactics on the field of play but also the man-management of the team.

This is why even though many are wont to think that the former coach, Avram Grant, was not technically astute during the field action of the Stars, many on the team’s management, as well as some of the players, eulogise him for his expertise in the dressing room.

Remember: it was the inability to expertly manage dressing room incidents, as well as the general disposition of the Stars, at the Brazil 2014 World Cup that set the stage for the unheralded chaos and embarrassment that Ghana suffered at the highest stage of international football.

The debate has just begun and it will be worth the while of the search committee to factor in some of the laudable reasonings in their deliberations.