Qualification is a fulfilled ambition- Mgt

Story: David Kyei

It was a match not fit for the faint hearted and yet Kotoko, parading a group of players that many a supporter did not have full confidence in for the reason that it was a Kotoko team that was going to miss the surging runs of Inkoom and Harrison at the flanks did all proud by securing a much needed win.

This lack of confidence was also based on the fact that the team was doing battle minus their influential skipper Osei Kuffour, who indeed became a victim of grand agenda to keep him out in order to weaken the Kotoko team.

With tears freely flowing down his cheeks after the referee had sounded his whistle to bring match hostilities to an end, the director of operations of fantabulous Asante Kotoko, Jerry ‘Show-Show’ Asare told Kotoko Express that the victory in the match did not only ensure Kotoko’s qualification, but also fulfilled an ambition and target he set for himself and his department.

According to him, qualification to the group stages of the confederations cup meant so much to him that with that fulfilled, he in tendon with his colleagues in management are soon going to roll out their next plan of action.

“As a strategic plan, we decided to focus on qualifying into the group stage not because we do not intend to win the competition but rather, we chose to move one step at a time so that we did not rush to miss a step”.

“With that achieved, we only have to work around the clock to move the team even higher than we see it and that is the target we shall be looking at in the next few days and weeks”.

With time not a luxury for Kotoko because they have to take advantage of the qualification to exhaust the five slots that lay vacant on the club’s CAF registration sheet and having also suffered from delay in sending their list, management will have to work around the clock to beat the deadline and this Jerry says they have their hand on:

“As I speak, we have pencilled down names of players we intend to bring in to beef up our team. We have even started negotiating for some of them and will this week play series of trial matches to see how some of the players will fit into our scheme of things here at Kotoko” Jerry noted.

“We are not going to relax on our oars and make sure that we recruit very competent players to fill in the slots that available. We will not just go in for players, but rather go for players to fill in specific roles in the team”.

“From the match, it was clear that we did not have much defence options and so we shall also take a critical look at that area”.

Commenting on the performance of the players in last Sunday’s match, Jerry, who had days before the match reposed full confidence in the team to be assembled that many had christened a “make-shift-team”, was full of praise for the players for their display.

“Having been with the team through out the season, I have had the chance to see all the registered players play and with the forehand information on the performance of the Libyans, I knew all the players who were going to fill in would be capable of doing Kotoko great”.

“Besides that, my main pre-occupation as the operations man was to motivate the players who were fit and eligible to play so that they had the right frame of mind to do exactly what the coaches would instruct them to do. From what I saw of the tactical changes that we made to the team, it worked well and so the players and their technical handlers need to be commended for it”.

“Just as a military officer will not divulge the secrets of his battle successes, I will also in the same way hold those of Kotoko to my chest. However, I can tell you that we have a very good working relationship with the players and so they know we will not renege on our promises,” was his answer to our prying to know the secret to the success of the club in recent times.

A day before and also on the morning of last Sunday’s match, heavens opened up with downpour that in a way threatened attendance at the stadium yet fans braved  the rains and its intermittent drizzles to nearly fill it to capacity. This, Jerry Asare says he is happy with and so had some nice words for the supporters.

“They were fantastic and I commend them for their coming to the stadium in their numbers to not only sit and watch the team, but also cheer the players on for the duration of the match. Looking back at the match against Dolphins and now here against Ittihad, I am convinced that with more of such patronage and noise on opponents, we shall be able to win the cup,” he said.

On the way forward for the club, Jerry says the team is going to now join the head coach, “Bashir Hayford to mourn and burry his late wife, help him to get over the lose quickly, and bring him to post to beef up the technical team to prepare for the start of the group stage which is not far”