Osei: My results will bail me out
Stand-in coach of Kumasi Asante Kotoko, Michael Osei, says he would prefer his work to portray his competence rather than push the club’s board of directors for a formal contract to name him as the substantive coach.
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An assistant at Kotoko, Osei took over from his former boss, David Duncan, when he was asked to step aside on the back of a string of poor results until he parted ways with the club last month. Since taking charge at the Porcupine Warriors, he has guided the team from the relegation zone to the second position on the league log.
The impressive results chalked up by him including two victories over archrivals Hearts of Oak in Accra, have strengthened calls for the Kotoko board to confirm him as the substantive head coach, at least to the end of the season, to motivate him to give of his best.
However, Osei maintains that the confidence reposed in him by his employers to temporarily hand him the job is already big motivation for him.
"I think being handed this chance itself is a big opportunity to prove my competence and capabilities. Kotoko is part of me and I'm motivated to help them succeed,” he told the Graphic Sports at the GFA Secretariat.
"People have been discussing the issue of a formal contract on various media platforms for a while now, but as far as I'm concerned, getting the right results is what is engaging my attention right now.
“I believe my performance at the end of the season will play a significant role in determining what happens next. But for now, I prefer to focus on my current job," added the soft-spoken Osei.
Meanwhile, Samuel Opoku Nti has been handed a fresh mandate by the club’s board of directors to stay in office till the end of the current season, writes Samuel Ebo Kwaitoo.
He disclosed to the Graphic Sports on Tuesday that he received a letter from the board only last Monday asking him to continue as the acting General Manager of Kotoko up to the end of the season.
Before then, he had been playing an interim role of an ‘overseer’ as defined by the board when his three-year term expired on June 30.
A week ago, Opoku Nti disclosed to this paper that he had written to his employers requesting for an extension of time and was awaiting a response to enable him and his management to see through their programme for the season.
The latest decision by the board came as a welcome relief to the former Kotoko playmaker, who had earlier expressed interest in staying in office with his management team till the end of the season.
“I’m happy about the decision and I thank the board for giving us the opportunity to continue till the end of the season,” an elated Opoku Nti, stated.