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Five undeniable reasons why Kwesi Appiah's second coming is not what Ghana needs

Former Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah together with ex-French international Willy Sagnol and Cameroon coach Hugo Broos have emerged as the final three in position to take up the Black Stars job.

Kwesi Appiah has officially been named as coach of the senior national team of Ghana, the Black Stars for a second coming

There are some very valid reasons to question whether Appiah will be the right man to lead Ghana into the future.

Let's examine, rationally, five legitimate reasons why Appiah is a bad coach for the Black Stars.

Issues with players and management

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Kwesi Appiah should be able to motivate players and get the best out of them, however, he seemingly had irreparable rift with some of the current crop of players during his first term as Black Stars coach.

A Black Stars player confirmed to Pulse.com.gh: "Some players never liked Appiah. Appiah is a good guy but most of the players didn't respect him. It seems the level of respect for local coaches is very low as compared to foreign coaches.

During Appiah's first term as Black Stars coach, a lot of controversies were courted and the names of Jordan and Andre Ayew, Adam Kwarasey, Sulley Muntari and Afriyie Acquah were all dragged through the muck.

Not only the players, it seems Appiah has unresolved crack with some officials of the Ghana Football Association.

"Some FA officials still do not see for an eye with Appiah. He's part of the shortlisted coaches because there should be a local coach in there. They believe Appiah is a snitch," a source close to the FA told Pulse.com.gh.

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Inability to inspire and lead

Cameroon would never have pulled off their stunning truimph at the 2017 AFCON under a coach like Kwesi Appiah and that is a fact. Ever since Hugo Broos arrived, there has been a belief and defiance that runs throughout the Indomitable Lions team we haven’t seen before in a long while.

That leadership and inspiration from the technical bench is exactly what the Black Stars have been lacking. Appiah doesn't seem to be able to generate that belief in his players like Broos with Cameroon.

The current crop of players seem at times lack direction and belief when the going gets tough and it is the coach’s job in those scenarios to motivate his players. Appiah doesn’t seem like the inspiring type and even if he is it looks like he has lost the ability to lead.

According to some football quarters, one of the reasons Appiah even lost his Black Stars captaincy to Abedi Pele in 1992 was his inability to inspire his peers.

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Reluctance to change tactics

When it comes to tactics, Appiah is often found out.

Appiah created a brand of football that is very pleasing to the eye. It is definitely an attacking and entertaining style of play that won over several Ghanaian fans. But something I come to see is how Appiah's strategy doesn’t change too much against different opposition.

He lines up for every game with a 4-2-2-2 and it’s hard to remember times he’s switched the system to capitalise on another team’s weakness.

A top coach must have a range of different tactics but Appiah rarely have a plan B, making teams to know how to frustrate and nick results. Like Grant, Appiah's tactics were always predictable.

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And oh, does he know the difference between left wing-back and left-back? Kwadwo Asamoah comes into mind...

Deluded quotes

Sometimes, football players need to be told they have made mistakes and that they let the team down.But even after defeats, Appiah won’t slam the players but rather gives deluded quotes saying they ‘gave everything’ and mad phrases like 'we played well in the first or second half'. Just be honest about bad performances.

Many believe his post match comments after a painful 2-1 defeat to the United States in Ghana’s opening game of the Brazil 2014 World Cup sealed his fate as a tactically inept and lacking in the emotional intelligence required to comprehend situations that required veteran influence.

"I believe that young guys who played did well and my intention was to bring them on when the US team get tired but these things happen.  Kevin  [Prince Boateng] is good player. We decide to start with the 4-4-2 and I thought that Jordan and Gyan paired very well during our training sessions and that is the reason why I decided to start them."

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Players don’t seem to believe in him

This is the most concerning of the lot.

In some crucial games against and especially the must-win clash with Portugal at the 2014 World Cup, the players didn’t seem bothered

Getting them fired up and going for it is the job of the coach but the players did not seem to want to fight for him at a point in time and that was worrying.

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