Newly appointed coach of Ghana Black Stars, Chris Hughton has been questioned over his bad treatment of the Ayew brothers.
The Irish national of Ghanaian heritage started his job as the coach of Ghana Black Stars with a win and a draw against Angola from scrappy performances.
Talking points after his first game at the Baba Yara stadium in Kumasi was the scrappy uncoordinated style of play and the absence of Andre Ayew.
Though Andre Ayew didn’t start, many expected him to be brought on when the team was struggling to threaten the Angolans.
The captain since his U-20 days is known for his clutch moments, impacting games when all hopes are lost yet Chris Hughton overlooked him when the team needed inspiration on the pitch.
Ghana eventually won the game at the death of time but that wouldn’t change the fact that ignoring Andre ‘Clutch’ Ayew when you desperately needed a goal was weird decision.
Fast forward to the game in Angola where captain Andre Ayew missed out through a slight injury.
Deputy captain Thomas Partey also sat out for precautionary reasons and strangely the regular next in line was overlooked when choosing the captain of the day.
Chris Hughton hasn’t announced any changes in the team’s leadership hierarchy yet didn’t follow the usual order.
The usual order in the Ghana Black Stars over the years is captain (Andre Ayew), 1st & 2nd deputy captain (Partey, Richard Ofori), senior-most player on the field, next in line etc.
For this reason we saw Richard Kingson Captain the team in some games at the South African 2010 World Cup in the absence of captain Stephen Appiah, deputy John Mensah and 2nd deputy Michael Essien who was injured.
Even in a the current team we saw the Senior-most player in the squad Mubarak Wakaso captain the team in South Africa when they drew 1-1 in the 2021 AFCON Qualifiers in the absence of the captain, deputy and 2nd deputy.
Everyone expected Jordan Ayew to captain the team yesterday in the absence of Andre Ayew the captain, deputy Partey and 2nd deputy Richard Ofori on seniority merit yet we saw Daniel Amartey captain the team.
How did Daniel Amartey Get to become Captain?
— Miss ADEL🦋🦚🌹 (@a_derll) March 27, 2023
This is a bad precedent for a coach who seeks to build a team with unity and love for greater success.
There is a saying by veteran football administrator and lawyer, Ntow Fianko which goes like “If you set a bad precedence , it leads to a bad precedence, chaos and disorder”.
Chris Hughton’s lovers and advisors should advise him not to repeat same mistakes in subsequent games.