Dismissed coach of the senior national football team, the Black Stars, Kwasi Appiah has said he is still waiting for the official letter confirming his sack.
“I am still waiting for my letter to give it to those who know how to interpret it,” the coach told host of Metro TV’s Good Evening Ghana last Tuesday.
Kwasi Appiah who was sacked last Thursday used the occasion to fend off persistent criticism against him since the World Cup in Brazil in June. The Black Stars were eliminated in the first round failing to progress for the first time since Ghana began participating in the World Cup in 2006.
Player revolt saw AC Milan midfielder Sulley Muntari assault a Ghana Football Association management member Moses Parker. Schalke 04 attacker Kevin Prince Boateng was also suspended from the team indefinitely after verbally abusing the coach.
The team also refused to train after officials failed to honour their promise to pay their $100,000 appearance fees after their game against Germany.
Did the coach really lose his influence in the dressing room?
Responding to reports that have been rife that the coach lost control of the team in the dressing room, Kwasi Appiah said it was rather the management that had lost their influence over the players because of a culture of broken promises.
“It got to a time I was the one who could go and face the players in [Brazil]”, he said.
Those who use the refusal of the players to train as evidence that the players no longer respected him have not been fair to the facts.
“If you put yourself in my shoes, where they have been promised that they will get the money and they get there and the money is not there, as a coach what can you do?”
It was management’s inability to honour its promises that ultimately undermined the performance of the team, he pointed out.
Who is Nana Agyeman?
Leading another wave of criticism, a coach and sports analyst Nana Agyeman, has argued that the coach needs to upgrade himself with a UEFA license.
But Kwesi Appiah who owns a CAF FIFA License A dismissed the call as an ignorant suggestion. He said FIFA has segmented the licensing course across the continents so that European coaches take a FIFA UEFA coaching course while African coaches take a FIFA CAF license course.
But all these courses are FIFA-approved courses “that is why it is called CAF FIFA license.”
“I am surprised he [Nana] doesn’t know. I don’t believe he is a coach if he is, he would not be saying that”, Kwasi Appiah said.
He also dismissed Nana Agyeman as a “foreigner” who has simply “bought a name to criticize me”.
“He keeps getting on my nerves “Kwasi Appiah complained and advised Nana Agyeman to restrict himself to commenting on club football and stay out of senior national team issues.
He noted that after a football career spanning 11 years, four of which he was a captain, he is better placed to know about the national team than “a foreigner”.
Nonetheless, he acknowledged that his performance ultimately opens him up for criticism or praise.
Dede calls me Daddy
The coach once again disputed media reports some time ago that he was not on good terms with former Black Stars captain Abedi Pele and his sons, Dede and Jordan Ayew, who also play for the national team.
He said he has been a close friend with the Abedi family since their playing days in the national team.
“I have known them since they were kids. Dede [Ayew] calls me daddy.”
Dede Ayew was seen talking passionately to his younger brother, Jordan during Ghana’s last game against Togo in what has been interpreted as ‘coaching along with the coach’. Some fans have said this amount to disrespect especially after Dede Ayew showed his displeasure after being substituted late in the game.
“Any player you substitute will not be happy”, he responded. He also said Andre Dede Ayew was encouraging Jordan to track back whenever the team lost the ball in attack because the game was in its dying 5 minutes.
Touching on how his family was handling the pressure, the coach revealed that his wife has been urging him to quit coaching and join the family in London.