Taken for granted
Like a hooligan dealing in shenanigans, Avram Grant has been in the news, lately, for all the wrong reasons.
Advertisement
The Black Stars coach has invited dangerous tackles, going rogue a la his indiscreet agent, Saif Rubie, drawing fire from many quarters.
The not-so-illustrious coach, hitherto soft-spoken, has issued a faux-pas, blanketing the sports reporting community with misguided aggression. I think he forgot that, when you stink, you don't fart. That is exactly what Grant has committed, poisoning the oxygen.
Shelving his gaffe, for now, let us examine his handiwork, so far. At the time of his appointment, Ghana was ranked 25th by FIFA, the sports governing body. Yet, its latest rankings put Ghana at 41st, fourth in Africa behind Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire and Algeria
Besides, the current corps of Black Stars lack a succession plan, relying heavily on injury-prone captain Asamoah Gyan, his deputy, Andre Ayew and midfield enforcer, Mubarak Wakaso.
In their absence, Grant has not uncovered any new talent; neither has he groomed any of the average players he keeps inviting into real stars worth donning the Black Stars jerseys. Again, they hardly score from open play nor set-pieces.
In short, the football community has been taken for granted, under Grant, specialising in vacation duties, whereas the Black Stars have been reduced to disjointed build-ups, uninspiring play and failure to perform mundane tasks such as trapping the ball.
The Black Stars have turned into black scars, evidenced by their poor marksmanship in their recent AFCON 2017 qualifier against Mozambique in Maputo, in sharp contrast to England's lethal duo of Harry Kane-Jamie Vardy, whose creativity turned ordinary situations into marvellous goals in their recent 3-2 inspiring comeback win over world champions, Germany, in Berlin.
For the record, Kane and Vardy are vying for the goalking title in the English premiership, Vardy perching his side, Leicester, at the summit of the premiership with 19 goals, while sharpshooter Kane has banged in 21 goals for Tottenham, just a breath away from Leicester, eyeing the league title, this season.
In recent international friendlies, England captain, Wayne Rooney, led his side to victory over Euro 2016 hosts and favourites for that tournament, France, scoring once in the process.
Against reigning world champions, Germany, in Berlin, in the second such friendly, England boss Roy Hodgson had to do battle without Rooney.
Yet, he did not need Rooney. For, he improvised with trigger-happy marksman, Kane, who created out of thin air in a crowded goal area and fired a salvo past German goalie, Manuel Neuer, to pull one goal back and cut the deficit.
Again, Hodgson reinforced the strike- force by introducing the premiership goalking race pacesetter, Jamie Vardy, who scored a sensational back-leg flick from a precise Nathan Clyne cross, to pull England to par, before Eric Dier headed in the winner to shock the home fans.
Lesson? In the absence of captain Rooney, Hodgson has a reliable strike-force in the Kane-Vardy tandem, a sharp contrast to Grant, who has failed to get the Black Stars to shine, in the absence of Gyan, against good competition.
Since he took the reins from Kwasi Appiah, Grant's handiwork has not unveiled any new discovery in any part of the field, particularly the business-end, sharpshooters.
In goal, there has been no improvement, transitioning from Fatau Dauda to Razak Braimah; the full-backs have stayed great, while the central defence have stayed a sieve, leaking goals from aerial balls, be they from midfield or crosses from the wings.
So, what bull is Avram Grant talking about? Taking the bull by the horns or blowing horns with empty hands? Cut the bull, Grant.
Oh, by the way, before I forget, somebody tell Grant to shut up, fix the central defensive frailties and get the team a better tandem of sharpshooters for big-time football, or it would be time to ship him out of town, definitely.