Asante Kotoko legend Samuel Opoku Nti has labeled expatriate coaches as perennial underperformers in Ghana.
Debates over the appointment of a foreign coach become topical anytime a vacancy opens at any of the prominent teams in the West African country.
The discussions have mostly centered around the Black Stars, as well as Ghana’s two biggest clubs Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak.
“This is my personal opinion, I don’t think white coaches have helped Ghana, whether Asante Kotoko or Ghana or any other club. At the end of the day, what happened?” Opoku Nti, who won the 1982 Africa Cup of Nations with Ghana and the 1983 Caf Champions League with Kotoko during his playing days, told Silver FM.
“Our terrain is not really suitable for the white coaches. So we the administrators need to seriously give this a thought. The kind of support we give these white coaches, our local coaches are deprived of such.
“But when things go south for the white coaches, we fail to condemn them equally as we do to our local coaches in the same or similar circumstances.”
Kotoko’s Portuguese coach Mariano Barreto has been in the news recently as the Porcupine Warriors have all but lost out on the Ghana Premier League title to archrivals Hearts of Oak.
The two clubs sat level on points ahead of match week 31 but a defeat to Hearts has seen the Kumasi-based fold lose ground in the title chase, now with just two more rounds of games to end the season.
The Phobians, who could clinch the league title with a game to spare on Sunday, are led by Ghanaian coach Samuel Boadu.
“Look at the working conditions we make for our local coaches. They are poor as compared to the white coaches but we criticize them more than we do the whites.
“Asante Kotoko should dive deep into their history, no white coach has won an African competition for the club. Even how many white coaches have won the local league for Kotoko? So let’s look at this critically and give our local coaches the needed support and respect.
“The song that we keep playing, this is our own, let’s cherish our own, are we cherishing our local coaches? If I have power, no white man will coach my team.”
Ghana has won Afcon on four occasions, with all four titles masterminded by home-based coaches.