President and bank roller of Obuasi based premiership side Ashanti Gold SC Dr. Kwaku Frimpong, best know as “Champion”, has firmly confirmed the exit of the club’s caretaking coach Kjetil Zachariassen and his imminent move to regional rivals Asante Kotoko following the recent release of Kotoko coach CK Akonnor from his position as coach of the club.
Asante Kotoko on Tuesday informed Akonnor of management decision to reassign him to a technical directorate position, while the club brings in a new coach to lead them to the 2019/2020 CAF Champions League. Unconfirmed reports say Kotoko have agreed terms with the Miners’ outgoing trainer Zachariassen to replace Akonnor, and Dr. Kwaku Frimpong has confirmed to Focal Sports that his outfit refused to sign the Norwegian on a permanent contract because they needed a coach who is better than him.
“It’s true (he’s left the club to join Kotoko), there’s no conflict, it was done amicably, we appointed him to finish this tournament (Normalization Committee Special Competition tier 2) before we take a decision (whether to give him permanent contract) but I think every decision has been taken so everything is on course, so when he finished too we’ve thanked him, we have a nice relationship with him. We didn’t sign a contract with him, we were looking at his performance that he should finish the tournament and if it’s okay, we will sign him, so that was the deal”, Dr. Frimpong confirmed.
To clear any doubt of Kotoko’s yet-to-be confirmed appointment of the Norwegian coach, Dr. Frimpong sarcastically expressed his delight for his former employer’s decision to join Kotoko, virtually confirming the deal after claiming his outfit needed a better manager ahead of their CAF Confederations Cup campaign which commences early next month.
“What excites me is the fact that he is going to Kotoko, I love it because they have to learn from me”, he cheekily expressed. “So Zachariassen is done with Kotoko, he’s about to be named coach of Kotoko”?, asked host of Focal Sports Rockson Adjei Yeboah, and Dr. Frimpong quickly answered “yea! Yea! Yea!”.
Contrary to expectations that Kotoko would appoint a coach whose CV is a much richer than the departing Akonnor, appointing Zachariassen may mean a settlement with the unknown coach in African football, and Dr. Frimpong whose Ashanti Gold SC is partaking in the Confederations cup, seems to have taken a swipe at the decision to replace Akonnor with Zachariason, by questioning the competency of the expatriate gaffer.
“We also have our plans; you know we have people who take care of our team for us so when we studied (him) we realized he’s not that bad but we needed someone who is faster (implying better) than him. You know we (at Ashgold) only do good things, we’ve never done anything and failed”, he implied
