Watch it, Ebo Mends

Poor Dr. Kofi Kodua Sarpong! Since his appointment as the executive board chairman of Kumasi Asante Kotoko, the former boss of Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) has proven to perhaps be the missing steel-character in the puzzling jigsaw of Kumasi Asante Kotoko over the years.
His carefully selected board members and the institution of other structures and incentives to the playing body have given hope to many disillusioned Kotoko supporters that the club is on the way to re-claim its past glory as continental soccer power. But first the journey to the once legitimate continental right of the club needs to start from the local front.
However, the pre-season hope had been jolted by the shocking home defeat the Porcupine Warriors suffered at the hands of coach Bashir Hayford’s Kessben-Medeama at the once dreadful fortress of Asante Kotoko – the Baba Yara Sports Stadium.
It is early days yet to conclude that the club’s first defeat on the opening day of the Ghanaian premiership could be the beginning of another gloomy season just as the slump the club descended into last season.
Nonetheless, it offers another defining chapter that calls for urgent address, lest the club will be overtaken by events just as it happened the last two seasons. As all home teams took advantage of their territorial grounds on day one of the premier league, it was only Kotoko that surrendered its home advantage on the opening day of the Ghanaian league.
It is really disheartening and one wonders if the club’s newly adopted slogan of “support to win” would be carried through by the die-hard supporters of the club who have suffered enough heartache over the years. After all, the slogan is embedded in two-fold objectives of absolute support from the club’s supporters and a reciprocal win from the playing body.
Will anybody blame the Kotoko supporter who refuses to patronize the club’s matches because the players are not fulfilling their part of the slogan-bargain?
On the basis of the club’s sloppy performance against Kessben-Medeama, it is obvious that if all other organs of the cub are beginning to shed off the lethargy, the technical division is yet to get over the hang-over of the last two seasons.
For starters, Ebo Mends was given the freedom to select and build his own team for the season. That started about three months ago. He had the luxury and the time of beefing up the Kotoko team with players of his choice. And he settled on the likes of Ohene Brenya, Peter Amoah, Albert Bruce, Ekow Benson, Reagan Obeng, Wadudu Ozoro, John Kufuor and a few others.
Despite supporters’ disapproval of the transfer of especially Frank Boateng and Iddrisu Yahaya to other local clubs, Ebo Mends had the final say and indeed stuck to his decision. Other fine players like Isaac Owusu, Stephen Manu, Osei Kwame Jnr., also failed to convince the new Kotoko technical director of commanding a place in his team. In the end, they were also off-loaded.
Other foreign players from Cameroun and Burkina Faso were sent back to their countries because they failed to meet the Ebo Mends standard. It clearly showed that the former Asante Kotoko striker was given the free hand to decide on the kind of players he would need to prosecute the Kotoko agenda this season.
Unlike many Kotoko coaches who never had such opportunity, Ebo Mends had about three months to mould the newly acquired players with the old ones into a well knit cohesive team. Like in all rebuilding exercises, the coach’s decision to start off with physical training and other low profile matches, constituted a major format in team building that was applauded by the success-hungry Kotoko supporters.
And so many were not too much bothered about the matches the team played against some second division teams during the off season because it was a routine team building process. One would have thought, though, that after those low-keyed matches, Ebo would have tested the strength of his team with some high-profile premiership teams. That did not happen.
The best the team came close in that phase of the rebuilding exercise was to play two matches against Cape Coast Ebusua Dwarfs and Tudu Mighty Jets, all two newly promoted premiership sides . While Kotoko struggled to beat Ebusua Dwarfs by a penalty goal; the team was held to a one-all draw by the Tudu team.
The moment of truth however came during the Otumfuo invitational tournament. Kotoko were beaten by Wa All Stars through penalty shoot-outs after the club had laboured dangerously during a goalless draw regulation time.
It became clear after the All Stars match that Ebo Mends still had a lot to do. It became obvious that the coach had still not settled on his starting team. And the match against Kessben-Medeama clearly showed that Ebo Mends is running against time in finding a winning team.
The central defensive pair of Peter Amoah and John Kufuor who played in the Otumfuo tournament was substituted with Ohene Brenya and Prince Anokye, who did not only play in the Wa All Stars game, but also did not play most of the pre-season matches. The midfield pair of Daniel Nii Adjei and Iddrisu Ganiyu either as in the case of the former did not feature in the Otumfuo challenge cup or as was the case with the latter, came on as substitute.
Kabiru Moro was nowhere around the 18-man squad that took part in the All Stars match, let alone be part of the losing team. Both Louis Agyemang and Harrif Mohammed who starred in the starting line-up in the Meadema game were all substitutes in the Otumfuo tournament.
Indeed a cursory look at the starting line-up in the Medeama game may suggest that since Kotoko fielded as many as 10 old players in the starting line-up in the match against Meadeama-Kessben, that should have ensured cohesive play and a possible win for the Oseikrom lads.
But the sad thing about these players is that most of them were not active players in the trial matches that Kotoko played during the pre-season. Majority of them were also peripheral players during the last season and so to serve as the regular players meant the coach should have spent most and quality time on them during the pre-season.
Right back, Godfred Fosu, for instance, saw no action under coach Paa Kwasi Fabian until Johnson Smith took over during the final stages of the league; Louis Quainoo was injured almost throughout the entire season, while Prince Anokye was used sparingly.
Daniel Nii Adjei and Jordan Opoku had been the heart beat of Kotoko for the last three seasons. Save the first season, where they enjoyed wonderful partnership with Samuel Inkoom, Harrison Afful, Mark Sekyere, Eric Bekoe and others, the two had been very inconsistent over the last two seasons. It is still a gamble giving them a first team selection, especially at a time that Jordan and Nii Adjei have not shown any sign of picking up the pieces.
Notwithstanding his new status as the captain of the team, on the basis of his current form Jordan should not find a place in the starting line-up of any team in serious contention for honours.
Louis Agyemang and Kabiru Moro proved last year that perhaps they were not cut for the Kotoko jersey and are still exhibiting that sloppiness as it was evidenced in the Meadeama game. Harrif Mohammed is still budding and the coach should not rush him but nurture his sublime talents gradually through substitution.
Ebo might have his own philosophy, yet through the off season matches and the opening premiership match, it has become imperative he sticks to the many of the players who although struggled in the first round of last year’s league, showed glimpses of restoring some pride and dignity for the Porcupine Warriors at the end of the last premiership.
In that case, Omar Gariba and Prince Boateng should have a stake at the right back position currently being manned by Godfred Fosu. Fosu has shown a lot of promise, but his size and final delivery are major setbacks. I will settle for Omar Gariba.
With Gideon Baah out of action, the left back vacuum can easily be filled by Michael Ofosu Appiah with support from Prince Anokye. There should be no negotiating in the central defensive pair of Ofosu Appiah (Escobar) and John Kufuor. On the evidence of what had been seen, Ohene Brenya and Peter Amoah should be perfect substitutes.
The central midfield should be taken by a fitter and inform Louis Quainoo with Edward Affum and Samad Oppong taking over the right and left sides of attack respectively. Ekow Benson and Stephen Oduro could be deputizing for them.
The two other midfield positions should be competed for by Nii Adjei, Albert Bruce and Idrissu Ganiyu. I will bet on Bruce and Ganiyu on evidence of their current form with Alex Asamoah as the lead striker. Alex could be supported by Kwadwo Poku from the bench.
The current form of some of the players listed might not be the same as their awesome days. And that is exactly why the technical team is in place. I expect the technical handlers to have taken the days after the Kumasi debacle to work on these players by playing some two trial matches before the club’s next match against Liberty Professionals.
Unless those whose current form is just too bad, I believe a match fitter Alex Asamoah, Kwadwo Poku and others who are about 60-70 percent of their former selves are better than those Ebo is currently relying on.
No Kotoko fan would offer that maximum support if the club is not winning to make them happy.