[ 2014-10-07 ]

Desailly backs Kwesi Appiah’s dismissal
World cup winner Marcel Desailly has backed the
Ghana Football Association’s (GFA) decision to
terminate the contract of coach Kwesi Appiah.

Kwesi Appiah led Ghana’s abysmal showing at the
world cup in Brazil, losing to the United States
and Portugal, either side of an encouraging 2-2
draw with eventual champions Germany.

Even though Appiah set a record as the first
Ghanaian to qualify the Black Stars to the world
cup, his tenure also saw many reports of rebellion
by players against him.

It was also under his tenure that the Black Stars
crashed out of the tournament in the group stage
for the first time and was sacked after a draw and
a win in his opening AFCON qualifiers against
Uganda and Togo respectively.

Answering questions on TV3 about whether he agrees
with the FA’s decision, Desailly said, “Yes…
the answer is yes,” he chuckled.

“If they have done it, they have gathered all
the elements to make that decision. Kwesi
Nyantakyi has collected all the information to
make that decision.”

Speaking about coach Kwesi Appiah, Desailly said,
“He [Kwesi Appiah] made internal mistakes that
did not suit them, on the way of managing the
players, and that is why he got sacked.”

“Our president of the federation [Nyantakyi] is
clever, he is competent, he has made the decision
and he has to find the best coach for Black stars


Desailly was one of the shortlisted candidates for
the black stars job when the Serbian coach Milovan
Rajevac left the job after the 2010 world cup.

The former Chelsea captain has, however ruled
himself out of the running to replace Appiah this
time round.

And speaking about the FA’s attempt to replace
Appiah, he said the FA needs a coach who “is
capable of taking off [pressure] and bring a
better environment around the team for the players
to focus on delivering with the talent they have,
because we have talent.”

Three leading European coaches have joined the
race for the vacant Black Stars coaching job as
the Ghana Football Association (GFA) prepares to
name a replacement for the sacked Kwesi Appiah.

The former France captain also defended the Black
Stars players who demanded their $100,000
appearance fee before their last group game
against Portugal.

Desailly argued that apart from just about eight
players in the team who earn a lot in their clubs,
most the other players are not rich, and they have
to deal with a lot of pressure from their
families, hence the need to sort out all money
issues way before the tournament started.

“Some of them are second choice players in their
clubs, there is this aspect of the players we
should understand, it is not all the players who
earn money like Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi or
Asamoah Gyan is earning, so its not a simple
matter,” he added.

Source - Citifmonline

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