Ghana are hunting for another Black Stars coach after yet another failed reset — the sixth different manager to handle the national team in seven years — and former international Nii Odartey Lamptey says the next appointment must finally confront the deeper problems dragging the country’s football backwards.
The search has assumed greater urgency following the October 1 departure of Carlos Queiroz, barely a month after the Portuguese was handed a fresh mandate following Ghana’s 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign.
Queiroz and the Ghana Football Association (GFA) mutually terminated their agreement after the Black Stars lost their opening two matches in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, plunging another campaign into crisis and forcing Ghana into yet another coaching reset.
Now, as Ghana searches for yet another solution to a problem that has survived repeated managerial changes, Lamptey insists the next coach must be selected on more than reputation or short-term expediency.
A five-member committee, chaired by former GFA Vice-President Fred Pappoe, has been tasked with identifying and recommending Queiroz’s successor by Friday, October 9.
The search team, also includes former Black Stars captain Stephen Appiah; former Ghana international Anthony Baffoe; football administrator and legal practitioner Agbesi Dzakpasu; and high-performance specialist Faisal Chibsah.
Sports and Recreation Minister, Kofi Adams, announced the committee last Saturday, following talks between the ministry and the GFA in Accra a day earlier over the performance and management of Ghana’s national teams.
For Lamptey, who represented Ghana at all age-group levels and made 38 appearances for the Black Stars, the more important question is not simply who replaces Queiroz, but whether Ghana finally appoints a coach equipped to understand and confront the structural and technical problems that have repeatedly undermined the Black Stars.
“We have to make sure that the next coach that we are going to employ will be a person who knows our situation,” Lamptey told TV3.
Lamptey’s warning goes beyond the identity of the next coach. A former assistant coach of the national U-20 side, he said Ghana must first confront why repeated managerial changes had failed to produce stability, tactical clarity or sustained progress.
The former PSV Eindhoven and Aston Villa midfielder had already questioned the decision to retain Queiroz after the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where Ghana reached the Round of 32 before being eliminated 1-0 by Colombia in an uninspiring performance.
Queiroz had initially been appointed ahead of the tournament on a four-month contract and was reappointed on September 2 for what the GFA described as the “next phase” of the national team programme.
The Ghanaian icon said he had been “surprised” and “shocked” that the Portuguese was given another opportunity to lead the national team, saying “Carlos should have been released after the World Cup”.
His concerns about Queiroz’s conservative approach to the game became even more pronounced during the September AFCON qualifying window, as Ghana opened their Group C campaign with a 2-0 defeat away to Côte d’Ivoire before suffering a stunning 4-2 collapse against
The Gambia at the Accra Sports Stadium, having surrendered a 2-0 lead as the visitors ruthlessly punished defensive and midfield failures.
The back-to-back defeats left Ghana without a point from two matches and placed their qualification hopes for the 2027 AFCON finals in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania under severe pressure.
Only two teams will qualify from the group, leaving the Black Stars with four matches to rescue their campaign. Ghana are scheduled to face Somalia on November 11 and again on November 15.
It gives the next coach little preparation time to establish a tactical philosophy, restore confidence and reverse the slide.
