Former Black Stars midfielder Augustine Arhinful has questioned the demeanor of Black Stars coach James Kwasi Appiah while at the dugout and in his general approach to his work as a national team coach and has called on him to be more “vociferous” and “assertive” in his work.
The former Dortmund star, speaking to Fox Sports Talk on Fox FM, indicated that the Black Stars boss has always looked like an introvert in a posture that does not look much authoritative in discharge of his duties as a national team coach.
Naturally, Appiah has a quiet looking demeanor and that clearly displays at the dugout with no much aggression at the touchline during matches. Many pundits believe that coach Kwasi Appiah’s demeanor at the touchline, during press conferences and post-match interviews carry too much quietness which has the tendency to affect players’ morale, and Arhinful seem to share same opinion.
“Our coach if you look at his demeanor, he’s always been like that and maybe he’s not like me, maybe he’s not like any other person”, Arhinful started, speaking to Fox Sports Talk. “For a national team if you come to take it up (as a coach) you need to be vociferous, if not you then it has to be your assistant (coach)”, he stated.
Coach Kwasi Appiah’s backroom staff at the technical bench of the Black Stars include former Ghana internationals Ibrahim Tanko as assistant coach, Stephen Appiah (team Coordinator) and former goalkeeper Richard Kingston as goalkeepers’ coach, but according to Arhinful, none of the above mentioned for technical men carries that “vociferous” character which is required to lead a national team.
“Neither him (Kwasi Appiah) nor [Ibrahim] Tanko nor Stephen [Appiah] or Kinston is that, so even if it’s not him (Kwasi Appiah) has to talk, maybe one of them, you have to come out clear (about your policies) for people to know”, he opined.
In his assessment of coach Appiah, Arhinful further claimed that the former Black Stars captain is “too laid back” for the Black Stars coaching job and the media has taken advantage to use that against him.
“Because of that some of your (referring to the interviewer) people (the media) have taken advantage of that and they using that against him and it’s difficult for him to change into somebody else. For Kwasi I think if he will continue to do the Black Stars job he has to be a bit assertive, he’s too laid back for that position, as a national team coach, master…oh, because when you are talking about your format you should be clear, you need to be clear to the public, let them understand you, even if they don’t understand you let them understand, because it’s you who know what you want the team to be like”, he advised.
