The chronicles of Avram Grant’s failure as Ghana coach

Ratomir Djukovic, Clude LeRoy, Milovan Rajevac, Goran Stevanovic: all these coaches made strides with the Black Stars but none had the pedigree of the Israeli. And when the former Chelsea and Portsmouth boss arrived, it was predictably greeted with much fanfare.

After all, here was Avram Grant; the archetypal charismatic coach, a proven champion and a ‘top-notch’ tactician. The Black Stars on the other hand were coming on the back of securing qualification to the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. The team had enjoyed success throughout the last decade, aside a failed World Cup campaign in 2014, and the only thing missing was winning a trophy – something they hadn’t done in 33 years.

That, coupled with Grant’s reputation made the union one of a kind. But as Ghana labored to a 1-0 loss to Burkina Faso in the 3rd/4th place match of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, many would have already spotted the Israeli’s flaws.

Poor player selection policy, questionable substitutions and total disregard for Ghana’s footballing philosophy means this will be remembered as the time when the former Chelsea boss became a tactical dinosaur. His dogmatic stance on tactics and player selection made sure there were always question marks over his managerial nous. Grant arrived with so much promise, but he will leave as Ghana’s worst coach in the last decade – and he has himself to blame.

Already the nation’s bid for a fourth successive World Cup appearance is in jeopardy, having failed to win any of their first two group matches. And with a trophy drought dating back to 1982 being stretched further more, Grant couldn’t have left Ghana in a more hopeless situation.

‘Grant is a lazy coach’. ‘He is taking Ghanaians for granted’. ‘He is destroying the foundation of national team’.

All the above were muttered by the average football loving Ghanaian, but in truth, it was Grant’s intransigence that led to his failure.

His decision to constantly invite players based on reputation rather than performance left him with virtually no proper bench in the tournament. You don’t leave out Ghana’s highest scoring player for another who has played just three minutes of league football and expect to be forgiven when it goes wrong.

Grant took 23 players to the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, but in reality he only had 13 players ready for action. It was evident that the Israeli himself did not trust the majority of players he picked for the competition.

And to make matters worse, his preferred XI also lacked match-fitness due to many of them languishing on the benches of their various clubs. For the first time in the history of Ghana football, inactive players were making their way into the national team with relative ease.

But the cracks were all over even before the tournament began. Grant was fortunate to take over team with lots of potential. The Black Stars team that Kwesi Appiah left behind was very competitive. The only thing it lacked was the winning mentality. And the Israeli was brought in to instill that. However, he ended up killing that competitive bit of the team. Doors for youth players were shut, and local players were alienated from the national teams.

Avram Grant’s unpopularity grew even more with his poor attitude towards work. He particularly drew derision from the mass majority of Ghanaians when he decided to stay outside the country for over three months without permission. But in all it was evident that he underestimated the task he was given.

He saw the Ghana managerial role as just any other job. What the former Chelsea boss failed to realize was that being the coach of Ghana was the biggest seat he had ever occupied aside his stint with Premier League side Chelsea.

That is why after placing second at the Africa Cup of Nations in 2015 he thought he had done enough. But now he stands alone. He knows deep inside that he has missed a very big opportunity to make his CV more glittering. And instead of giving himself a lifeline, his intransigence has seen him hand himself a deadline.

Elsewhere, taking a country to the final of a continental showpiece and placing 4th the second time will be considered as a fair output, but for Ghana it was total failure for Grant. And he will now look back and surely tell himself he could have done better.

His contract expires by the end of February but form now till that day, it’s already ‘Avram Gone’.