A good start for Top 4 clubs, but...

While Coach Mohammed Polo and the teeming followers of Accra Hearts of Oak suffered their worst trauma at the hands of Wa All Stars in the current First Capital Plus Premier League,  the dispensation by the African Football Confederation to revert to four clubs for Ghana was well catered for last Sunday.

Embattled Polo, a man of great promise who has passed through the game some decades ago with all the accolades, including "Dribbling Magician", last week wished he had not taken that awesome job as Hearts’ coach at this hour. He saw the earth crumbling under his feet, shook his head and wondered whether or not it was the same Hearts he was handling as a coach.

Of course, taking the job immediately after the Coach David Duncan crises during which the supporters and the playing body expressed their misgivings over the manner the board and management executed the firing of the coach who they described as the most progressive and buoyant manager left much to be desired. Many a coach in the world might have seen at once the challenges ahead after all sorts of demonstrations that greeted Duncan's sack. 

Hearts have a history of crises, but the Duncan episode made nonsense of all past records as unified supporters and the playing body galvanised as one body to tell the Board and management to change their decision.  Polo has been a great player before and he might have known very well how a playing body alone can sabotage a coach with all sorts of unfriendly and uncompromising attitudes. Never could it happen that in two straight league encounters, the boys from the Upper West would score six goals against Hearts, both home and away!

Did it come as a surprise when top Hearts officials had to be whisked away under police protection last Wednesday after the premier club had been walloped by the relatively young opponents? What did they expect to happen when a player boldly posted on his Facebook wall a message which read: "Duncan is a great coach", some weeks after the coach's sacking.

Hearts have survived all these years on account of the wild support they have enjoyed in variety of crises. Their supporters are most faithful and have the loudest voice when the going is good, and can express their wildest anger when things go the way they are going now.

I overheard Polo say that some of the players are not co-operating with him. If I may ask: are the supporters who are described as the owners of the club happy when they are told in the face to "clear off" because they had no money to buy shares when shares were floated and so they have no say in the club? The other day, I mentioned in this column that "The voice of the people is the voice of God", referring to the demands of the poor sympathisers who called for the return of Duncan to his post. I really wonder how the crises will be resolved after all the jigsaw court cases involving a "breach of contract".

As at now, things have become so complicated that there seems not to be a simple way of telling the Board to rescind its decision as demanded by the followers who suffer most in such crises. Many clubs pass through such crisis and come out stronger, depending on their understanding of issues and avoiding the dangerous dimensions they might travel. Please, let the authorities who control the club bite the bullet and do the will of the masses for the good of the club.

Meanwhile, it is gratifying that all our clubs in the CAF competitions have taken off in flying colours in their first matches at home and away. Medeama were at Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, to beat Panthers FC;  a result which can carry them through the second leg of the CAF Confederation Cup tie at Essipon on Sunday. The smiles on the faces of Medeama supporters speak volumes.

The other Confederation Cup contestants, Ebusua Dwarfs, had it tough against good old Jaraafs of Senegal. At the end of the day, despite the low position of the Cape Coast club in the First Capital Plus League table, they came out triumphantly to boost the confidence of their followers.

Thank God, Dwarfs’ Coach, Professor Joseph Mintah, and former Chairman, Nana Aidoo, who suddenly quit their posts out of frustration, made a sudden u-turn to boost the morale of the playing body and the supporters to work hard for their domestic and international assignments.

Kumasi Asante Kotoko's opponents from Liberia, Barrack Young Controllers (BYC), who trooped to Kumasi in high hopes, might have realised by now that they would need something extra to overcome  their opponents in the return leg in Monrovia after their 1-2 defeat. Coach Mas-Ud Didi Dramani has his plans to hold tight to what he has even if hell will break loose in the second leg.

Berekum Chelsea also came out successfully at the Golden City Stadium, and for obvious reasons, threw a bigger challenge for their Southern Sudan opponents, Atlabara. It will be just great if the club, would return to their winning ways as they did two years ago when they conquered such continental giants as TP Mazembe, Al Ahly and Zamalek.

Indeed, the four clubs made a good start, but my hope is that they would put in greater preparation for their respective second legs which are expected to be uneasy. Good luck!