It is quite the return for a man who became the symbol of Ghana’s disastrous World Cup outing in 2014.

His response to a question on why he chose younger players ahead of tested stars like Kevin Prince Boating and Michael Essien in the opening game against the USA will live long in infamy. Then there was the reported lack of control of his big name players as well as his dressing room.

In short, Appiah left the Ghana job with his reputation in tatters and his spirit broken.

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Three years have since passed and here we are; awaiting his triumphant return from Sudan and into a job that has been famously described as a poisoned chalice by many.

What awaits him is a huge task whose difficulty has been papered over for years and his in-tray will be full at least until the end of the year.

His biggest tasks are as follows:

The Purge

Appiah was hired to lead a purge that has been looming and is necessary if the Black Stars is to restore its place in world football.

Standards have fallen and meritocracy has been tossed out of the window. The last AFCON, for instance, saw two players with a combined goal haul of 37 dropped while the favoured strike force had shared 7 goals between them all season. Several regulars of the team play with a sense of entitlement and no sense of competition and Appiah has to return the team to the most basic of principles; national team call-ups are earned.

To do that he will have to make examples of several current regulars and the fallouts will be nasty.

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The Captaincy

There is an almost maniacal fanaticism regarding the captaincy of the Black Stars and it has led to factions in camp. Though management has been tight lipped about it there is no hiding that there is a cold war between the Ayews and the substantive captain Asamoah Gyan. Appiah chose Gyan as captain in his first stint but reports are that a new captain will be named to restore camp tranquility and focus.

Fix Black Stars B

Maxwell Konadu ruined the local Black Stars the day he picked a friendly game with Canada over a crucial qualifier against Ivory Coast with the B team. Selection to the team was devoid of merit and its purpose of serving as a training school for the main team was lost as the only player to even get a sniff of the main team was goalkeeper Richard Ofori. The reputation of the Ghana league is in tatters largely in part to its inability to prove a sustainable replacement pool and Appiah will have to fix this.