Time for Kotoko to win continental laurels:Nana Yaw Owusu
A former vice-chairman of the Ghana Football Association, Nana Yaw Owusu, has advised the management of Kumasi Asante Kotoko to put together a comprehensive programme that would enable the players to play together for a couple of years before releasing them to other clubs.
This, he said, would enable the players to compete favourably with teams playing in the African Champions League, win much laurels in the elite league and regain their past glories.
“When players play together for some time, they play more cohesive soccer and win trophies on both the local scene and in the international arena” Nana Owusu noted in a statement.”
Nana Owusu, who is also a former player of Kotoko (1959-60) expressed concern about the failure of the club to get past the qualifying stages of the African Champions League in recent times.
“The success of Kotoko in the continental championships demands that Kotoko parades a good squad, especially players who have played together for a couple of years, but that is not what is happening now,” he said.
“Some of us have advocated against the buy and sell syndrome without the club reaping the full laurels from such investment intended to win trophies and keep the club’s name and reputation intact,” he noted.
The former Kotoko player contended that the sale of players was normal in soccer, but it should be done in a way that would enhance the progress of the team.
“One thing we should not lose sight of is that Kotoko have been winning the local league in recent times but their standard does not match up to international standard for them to win trophies, hence their failure to get past the qualifying stages of the African Club Championships”.
He contends that if their recent recruitment exercise was done well and the technical team had the free hand and the right motivation mapped out for the team, I do not see why the club cannot rise to the top once again,”
It was his view that, so far the board and management were doing well for the club in many ways and, therefore, urged them to sustain their initiatives to enable the club to regain its past glory.
“It is worthy to note that in addition to the club’s achievement as two times African champions, Kotoko has also been to the finals on many occasions and been crowned as the club of the century in Africa, which is no mean achievement, so we have a reputation to protect” he added.
