Polo: I won’t quit

Beleaguered Accra Hearts of Oak coach Mohammed Ahmed Polo has dared his critics who are calling for his head, and said he was not ready to throw in the towel just yet despite a string of poor results suffered by the club under his charge.

A 0-3 loss to Wa All Stars at the Accra Sports Stadium on Wednesday was too much for the club’s supporters to bear, particularly having suffered back-to-back defeats to the Wa side by the same scoreline two months ago. Angry supporters, who started trooping out of the stands before the end of the match, gathered in front of the VIP box and demanded the dismissal of the coach who took over from David Duncan in December.

Stunned by the loss, Polo admitted the club was in crisis but said he won’t jump ship and was determined to get the job done and reverse the trend of bad results.

“I won’t quit,” he said in a post-match interview.

“There is crisis in the club, but somebody must do the job and I’m staying to get the job done.”

Despite his cult status among Hearts faithful as one of the finest players to ever wear the Phobian jersey, Polo did not enjoy red-carpet treatment from the fans when he was appointed on November 25 as successor to Duncan who was fired under controversial circumstances. Duncan had strong backing from the supporters who believed he was built a team capable of competing
for the Premier League title.

The onetime ‘Dribbling Magician’ is not oblivious of the poisoned atmosphere that heralded his arrival and believes the prevailing circumstances might have conspired against his determined effort to put Hearts back on track.
“If you look at the I took over then you’ll understand what is going on,” said Polo, who did not point accusing fingers at any particular person or group within the Phobian fraternity but admitted “there is no unity in the team”.
 
Under his charge, Hearts have won just one game (his first match away to Ebusua Dwarfs). But the 1975 Ghana Footballer of the Year could not sustain his winning start, as Hearts drew with Aduana Stars before losing three straight matches, including their shock elimination by second-tier side Bibiani Gold Stars from the MTN FA Cup competition.