Ogum, Konadu were Hearts’ target

A few days after sacking Coach Martin Koopman, it emerged that Accra Hearts of Oak's main target before the appointment of the Dutchman was either Maxwell Konadu or Prosper Narteh Ogum.

Sources close to the club told Graphic Sports that the 67-year-old Dutchman was not part of their options when the club was considering a replacement for Serbian trainer Slavko Matic as they were looking within the country for a trainer.

Koopman's record with Hearts has been very poor winning just two out of 10 matches which forced the management of the club with no option but to show him the exit door less than three months into his two-year contract.

According to the source, their main focus was either to engage the services of Ogum or Konadu who were their prime target and it appeared they had regretted ignoring local coaches for a foreign one.

''Our main targets were Konadu and Ogum because they are the best-performing coaches on the local scene now and for Konadu, he also had an impressive playing career,'' the source stated.

The Board Chairman of the club, Togbe Afede XIV, is said to be a big admirer of these two coaches following their contribution towards their respective clubs. While Ogum helped Kotoko to win the league title on his first attempt at managing the club, Konadu managed to steer struggling Legon Cities out of relegation last season.

Ogum has since reunited with Kotoko while Konadu is making a huge impact in the league with debutant, Nsoatreman, after he parted ways with the Accra-based side at the end of last season.

Following the axing of Coach Koopman, the Hearts coaching job has now become vacant, but it is unclear whether they will try to poach either of these two coaches to their fold again.

Hearts are noted for poaching coaches; about three seasons ago, they managed to poach coach Samuel Boadu from Medeama to handle the club that successfully helped them to win the league after a decade of drought, as well as the FA Cup and the Super Cup.

Similarly, they once poached Coach Sir Cecil Jones Attuquayefio from Olympics to come and reform the club about two decades ago and he also made a remarkable impact by helping them to win major domestic and continental trophies.