Francis Oti Akenteng, former Technical Director of the Ghana Football Association, has expressed concern that the next Black Stars coach will face difficulties due to the lack of proper evaluation of the team’s poor performance at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations before Chris Hughton’s dismissal.
Ghana’s disappointing exit at the group stage of the tournament, where they failed to win any of their group games, has raised questions about the team’s performance and future direction. The Black Stars drew two matches and lost one, ultimately finishing third in Group B.
Following the team’s elimination from the AFCON, Chris Hughton, who led the team to the tournament in Ivory Coast, was swiftly removed from his position.
Oti Akenteng believes that Hughton should have been given the opportunity to provide a detailed report to assist his successor in understanding the issues within the team.
“We need proper evaluation in order to fix our game. A situational analysis should have been done before sacking Chris Hughton. We all know Hughton failed at the AFCON but we should have allowed him to submit his report before we embarked on making any decisions,” he said in an audio aired on Wontumi FM and monitored by Footballghana.com.
He went on to express his concerns about the challenges that any coach who replaces Hughton will face, as the lack of evaluation has meant that the underlying problems within the team remain unknown.
Oti Akenteng currently serves as the technical director of the Ghana Premier League side Bechem United and is renowned as one of the most experienced coaches in the country, having previously worked with Hearts of Oak. He also held the position of technical director of the Ghana Football Association during Kwesi Nyantakyi’s tenure.
