Ghanaians are expressing mixed reactions following the Ghana Football Association’s (GFA) decision to appoint Serbian Tactician, Milovan Rajevac as the new head coach for the male senior national team, the Black Stars of Ghana.
Despite the contrasting opinions on the recent appointment, especially on social media, many have welcomed the very man who led the country to the quarter-final of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. During his unveiling by the GFA, the MilovanRajevac said that the 2010 Black Stars team could have won the Cup had it not been a deliberate handling of the ball at the tail end of the game by Uruguay’s Luis Suarez.
During his tenure as the Head Coach, Milo was in charge of 28 games of which he won 12, lost 12 whilst 4 ended in draws. After his exist, the Serbian headed five different teams, recording just 16 wins out of 36 games.
Coach Milo as he is affectionately called, has taken over from Former Black Stars Captain Charles Akonnor whose appointment was terminated early September by the GFA. CK’s dismissal was sparked by a poor start in the Qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The Black Stars have put up a poor performance in both games despite beating Ethiopia by 1-0 at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium. A 1-0 defeat to South Africa sparked calls from the general public for the dismal of the Head Coach.
According to sources, the Serbian will also be on a US$30,000 per month as salary. Also, he has been tasked to win the next edition of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) to be staged in Cameroon, and also qualify the country for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
President of the GFA, Kurt Simeon Okraku, said MilovanRajevac is the best option for Ghana in the quest to qualify for the World Cup once more and also lift the Africa Cup of Nations for the fifth time.
The Serbian coach had been handed a one-year contract in his second coming and would lead the Black Stars’ qualification campaign to 2022 FIFA World Cup as well as next year’s African Cup of Nations in Cameroon. There is however, the possibility of the GFA renewing his contract if he qualifies Ghana to its fourth World Cup.
Speaking at the unveiling ceremony at the GFA Secretariat in Accra, Mr. Okraku explained that every Ghanaian might have a different choice of coach for the Black Stars but must rallied support for the new coach.
On social media, some Ghanaians blamed the poor performance of Coach Akonnor on undue influence from the Ghana Football Administration. Here are some of the reactions from some Ghanaians on Twitter.
“Already, the new head coach, Mr Rajevac says all final decisions on invitations to the Black Stars team will be made by him. With Milovan Rajevac in the saddle, every player must fight for their spot. So, as GFA Boss Kurt Okraku will say: “if you are a top player, this is the time to show.” However, GFA should give Milo support to deliver. Don’t mess him up like you did CK and turn around to blame him.
“From watching the press conference, it looks like Milo is up for the challenge. Wishing him the best of luck, and hoping he has the right team in place to make the correct call ups, Ghana has talent and its time we show it”.
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