Managerial ‘inconsistency’ hurting Ghana – Hughton

As Ghana prepare for two make-or-break 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers with women’s coach Kim Bjorkegren in temporary charge, former boss Chris Hughton has called for greater consistency in the Black Stars dugout.

The West Africans face Somalia in back-to-back fixtures over the next week, having lost their first two games in Group C against Ivory Coast and The Gambia last month.

Those defeats resulted in the departure of Carlos Queiroz, whose brief period in the hot seat was characterised by uncertainty.

The Portuguese’s exit means Swede Bjorkegren, who has been in charge of the Black Queens since January 2025, has now been asked to lead the men’s team against Somalia.

“When you have inconsistency in the amount of time when a manager is staying, it’s never good,” Hughton told BBC Sport Africa.

“You want that consistency in the players [and] the players want that consistency in what they see in the manager.”

Queiroz, who had two spells as Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant at Manchester United, was initially appointed in April and led Ghana to the last 32 of the Fifa World Cup, holding England to a goalless draw in the group stage, before announcing his own departure shortly after the team were eliminated 1-0 by Colombia in the last 32.

However, the 73-year-old was reappointed in early September, with the Ghana Football Association (GFA) praising his “extensive international experience” gained during time in charge of South Africa, Egypt, Portugal, Iran, Colombia, Qatar and Oman.

But Queiroz’s return lasted less than a month following a 2-0 defeat by the Ivorians in Bouake and a 4-2 humbling against the Gambians in front of home fans in Accra.

“What I saw in the World Cup is that they represented the country very well, particularly the England game,” said Hughton.

“And although it was very much a defensive outfit, there were opportunities to score.”

Hughton, however, admits that regular sackings can create an “attitude” within a squad, with players knowing that “if he (the coach) doesn’t do well then he won’t be there”.

Ghana’s managerial merry-go-round

Hughton’s Ghana reign was also short lived.

Appointed as technical director by the GFA in February 2022, he moved into the head coach role in February 2023 but lasted less than 12 months before being sacked in January 2024 after his team failed to get out of their group at the 2023 Afcon in Ivory Coast.

The former Ireland full-back, who won two FA Cups and a Uefa Cup with Tottenham Hotspur and coached Newcastle, Norwich and Brighton in the Premier League, is one of five men who have taken on the Ghana job in the past six years.

Charles Akonnor, Milovan Rajevac, Otto Addo and Queiroz are the others, with the chopping and changing further illustrated by the fact that Addo had two spells in charge during that time.

Kwesi Appiah, the current Sudan boss, lasted 33 months during his second stint with the Black Stars between April 2017 and January 2020 – the longest anyone has managed since legendary Afcon-winning coach Fred Osam-Duodu in the late 1970s and early 80s.

With Ghana in real danger of missing out on a second successive Afcon finals, Hughton believes the situation has been exacerbated by under-investment and what he describes as “fearsome” competition across the continent.

“Many years ago Ghana were at a level that was, if not the best team in Africa, certainly right up there,” said the 67-year-old.

“You’ve seen the emergence of so many other good African nations that have made the competition levels that much higher.

“Some of these countries have so many other problems, but I do think that there needs to be an injection of government money into the structure and into the system.”

Hughton feels more needs to be done to encourage the development of the game in the West African nation.

“In Ghana, the local game that used to produce so many good players, the support level is not there,” he said.

“They’re playing on pitches that are not of a great level and the supporters are not coming.

“The supporters in Ghana love the Black Stars most, first and foremost, and of course the Premier League is massive there, but there isn’t that support for the local game that there used to be.

“I think the government needs to do more as regards putting money into the infrastructure.”

World Cup success, Afcon failure

While Ghana have failed to make it past the second round of Afcon since 2017, the country’s World Cup record is far more impressive.

They have qualified for five of the past six finals since their debut in Germany in 2006, reaching the knockout stage on three occasions including a quarter-final appearance at the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

Having cruised through qualification for this year’s World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States, losing only one of 10 games as they topped their group under Addo, Queiroz could reasonably claim he was hamstrung by multiple withdrawals ahead of his first Afcon qualifiers.

Six players named in the original squad, including Antoine Semenyo, Mohammed Kudus, Jordan Ayew and Baba Rahman, dropped out, followed subsequently by some of those called up as replacements.

Hughton hopes it is a situation which is not repeated – and which was not caused by the uncertainty around Queiroz’s position.

“Whether that was a reason or not, I don’t know. And I probably don’t think so,” he stated.

“You always want your best players and it’s always a concern to the level of the group when you have so many players pull out.

“There isn’t too much you can do about that [and] you have to work around that.”

With the team’s chances of reaching next year’s AFCON in East Africa in serious peril, a lot rests on the shoulders of interim coach Bjorkegren.

As Ghana’s long wait for a first continental title since 1982 continues, finding some long-term stability in the Black Stars’ coaching set-up would be a good first step.

*Chris Hughton was speaking to BBC Sport Africa at the Best of Africa Awards

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