Asante Kotoko head coach Eric Tinkler has defended his comments about the condition of pitches in Ghana, insisting his concerns are not excuses but are centred on the quality of football and entertainment for supporters.
The South African coach said football is ultimately about entertainment and questioned how supporters can enjoy matches when poor playing surfaces restrict teams from playing attractive football.
“I’m not trying to make an excuse about the pitches. The fact is, football is about entertainment. People want to come to the stadiums and be entertained,” Tinkler told Akoma FM.
Tinkler believes poor pitches can force teams to abandon their preferred style of play and resort to long-ball football.
“How are you going to be entertained when the pitch is not in good condition? How are you going to be entertained if we go back to the old-school English football, where we’re just playing long balls because the pitch only allows us to do that?” he asked.
“Am I being entertained? No.”
The Kotoko coach stressed that his concerns should not be interpreted as an attempt to avoid responsibility for the challenges involved in winning football matches.
“It’s not a criticism in terms of trying to run away from the fact that you’re making it hard to win football matches. It’s about entertainment,” he explained.
Tinkler says his ambition is to build a Kotoko side that plays an attractive brand of football and brings more supporters to the stadium.
“We want to entertain. We want to play a brand of football that is entertaining and will bring fans to the stadiums. We want to develop players that we can move into Europe,” he said.
He also highlighted the importance of quality playing surfaces in developing players who can eventually compete at the highest level.
“How are those players going to be able to reach the level they need to reach if they don’t have playing fields that are suitable for them to develop to those levels?” Tinkler questioned.
His comments come after experienced Ghanaian coaches Karim Zito and Maxwell Konadu criticised his continued concerns about pitches, with both coaches suggesting that he needs to adapt to the realities of Ghanaian football.
Tinkler, however, says criticism from others does not automatically make their opinions correct.
“People want to criticise. As I said, I’m not on social media. I stay away from it because I know there’s only going to be bad comments and bad opinions, so hence, I don’t follow.”
“What’s their opinion? It doesn’t mean that it makes them right,” he concluded.
