Veteran Ghanaian coach J.E. Sarpong
Veteran Ghanaian coach J.E. Sarpong is doubtful that the overhaul of the technical committee of the Black Stars will result in a meaningful impact on the team’s performance.
J.E. Sarpong holds that the problems crippling the team extend beyond the coaching department and that merely changing the coaches will not cause any significant change.
He said on Peace FM that the Ghana Football Association missed the plot with their conclusion that the coaching department is the major challenge facing the team.
J.E. Sarpong actually thinks that the presence of a Technical Advisor could spur further trouble for the team.
“It is an act of desperation. We are acting under desperation. They should have consulted some stakeholders in Ghana football to find a solution. It is as if we are dearth of competent technical men in the country.
“This has the potential of bringing conflict in the team because if the Technical Advisor recommends something and Otto Addo opposes, what will happen? It will bring about disunity and confusion in the team.
“There is a problem in the team and if we don’t solve that problem, not even Schafer or Otto Addo can help us. They are not going to solve the problem and I don’t think anybody is interested in uprooting the problem. Go down and find the root cause of our problems. They know the problem and they are joking with us,” he said.
In the late hours of Tuesday, January 28, the GFA finally published the list of changes in the technical department of the team ahead of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Per the statement issued by the FA, Otto Addo has kept his place as the head coach of the team alongside John Paintsil, who surprisingly retained his role as the assistant coach.
The team now has a Technical Advisor in the person of German coach Winfried Anton Schafer, who won the AFCON with Cameroon in 2002.
The head coach of the Black Satellites, Desmond Ofei, has been elevated to an assistant coach position, replacing Joseph Laumann.
The Black Stars finally have a psychologist, with Kris Perquy, an experienced sports psychologist with 17 years’ experience, being named team psychologist.
The Video Analysis Unit of the team will be headed by Belgian Video Analyst Gregory De Grauwe, who has built his expertise and experience in video analysis working with football clubs including Sporting Lokeren and K. Beerschot VA. De Grauwe holds a UEFA License B Coaching license as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education.
Two new, vastly experienced Equipment Officers, in the persons of Issah Amadou (Asante Kotoko) and Abdul Rahman Alhassan (Hearts of Oak), have also been named to the team. These two equipment handlers have a combined total of fifty-three years’ of experience between them.
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