THE "COACHES ARE HIRED TO BE FIRED" CLICHÉ

All over the world coaches are shown the exit when things go wrong in their teams. They are made the sacrificial lambs even when it’s clear the fault is not from them. Big name coaches have all suffered at the hands of the powers that be in teams whenever there’s an abysmal showing by players. The usual cliché however takes centre stage, “coaches are hired to be fired”. This development is gradually turning into a truism statement which has gained worldwide notoriety and of course it is a bane to the steady growth of teams because there is no continuity at the technical department.

Vicente Del Bosque was sacked as Real Madrid coach even when he won the Champions League with them in 2002. Jose Mourinho was sacked as Chelsea Manager even after he helped the club to annex its first premiership trophy in 50 years. There are also about a million and one other examples including Avram Grant, Mark Hughes, Roberto Mancini, Rafael Benitez, Frank Rijkaard, Fabio Capello and a host of others.

These examples do not only pertain in foreign lands, it is also happening on the domestic front. Locally, some names readily come to mind; these include Isaac ‘Opeele’ Boateng, Paa Kwesi Fabin, Bashir Hayford, Ebo Mends, Herbert Addo and many others. These are tried and tested technical brains who were never allowed enough time on their jobs but were given the sack even before they could really settle down on the field to work especially by the so-called big teams - Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak.

The irony of the whole scenario is that, these same teams are able to have all the patience in the world for half-baked foreigners who patrol the shores of the country parading themselves as coaches of which they are not. They are given all the necessary incentives, support and the enabling environment, yet they fail to perform. The mentality of our soccer administrators in this direction is as poor as a Church mouse. They lack the finesse and always get it wrong with their decisions, however they are always not rather held accountable for their actions. Rather, the technical men are faulted for all the mishaps that befall the team.

Indeed, it’s quite logical to blame those who are in charge of mapping out tactical strategies on the football field but they should not always be the only casualties if the axe is supposed to fall. All the other stakeholders should also be blamed in one way or the other. From the top brass to the supporters of teams, each and everyone must be held answerable for their actions or inactions which in the long run goes on to affect the teams either positively or negatively.

It is however sad that when a team is performing well, the praises are showered on the players alone forgetting all those who work tirelessly behind the scenes for victory. The time to allow coaches to have the free hand to operate is now. Ghanaian soccer administrators should take a cue from the developed leagues to influence player selection, so that our technical men would have independent minds to work and would therefore be held culpable if things go bad.

For instance, Sir Alex Ferguson has been at Manchester United for 24 years and so has Arsene Wenger also been at Arsenal for 14 years. This wealth of experience on the job with these teams has translated into massive cup wins for them. As Ghanaians we should be able to give more time to our soccer tacticians so that they can have the serene atmosphere to work and work well.