There is not a Ghana Premier League season without the controversy, violence and and abuse of referees but spare a thought for referee Nuhu Liman. The season is barely three months old and he has had to deal with that twice already including one on Wednesday at Elmina Sharks.
Michael Oti Adjei has his say on that plus the other key issues from the midweek action.
Morons win but GFA should not make it long term
Once again morons have tried to hijacked the headlines in the Ghana Premier League. With all the attention focused on a super evening for new boys Karela FC and their hat trick hero on another almost flawless day in the league, some fans inside the Kwesi Ndoum Sports Complex decided they didn’t like the decisions of referee Nuhu Liman so a stone flew out, struck and injured him and triggered a chain of events including a hospital trip that led to the cancellation of the game.
Elmina Sharks claim in a laughable statement that the referee fell and injured himself. Berekum Chelsea cooked up the same excuse when the same referee was assaulted in Berekum in their league game against Dreams FC. It seems that when it comes to the fight against hooliganism in the Ghana Premier League.
Patience yes but Fabian has to find solutions, not excuses
Paa Kwesi Fabian was doing what a lot of coaches do well after Kumasi Asante Kotoko failed to beat Berekum Chelsea and fell five points behind leaders Berekum Chelsea; he clutch at straws, blamed everyone but himself and painted a picture of a club in such despair even the best coaches could not fix.
“It will be tough like this before it stabilizes. I can’t use two months to turn things
around. It is impossible. Even Pep Guardiola can’t do that so tell people to have patience and give us time,” he said on Wednesday.
It is true that fans generally must be patient but over what period? In seven games, Kotoko have been bailed out by the odd goal and have started letting them in. And one of the reasons why the Porcupine Warriors brought Fabian in was so he could fix the cracks not expose them further. If the likes of Allies, Karela can find a certain consistency, if AshantiGold who were battling relegation last season have found a way to start well, why should it be too much for Kotoko fans to ask for same.
Home comfort is Karela’s pass to survival
Normally when teams climb up into the top flight, they automatically become everybody’s favourite to go straight back down but Karela are hoping to bust that myth and they will look to a formidable home record to achieve that. It has been 69 games since they lost a game at the Crosby Awuah Memorial Park in Aiyinase and on Wednesday, they claimed their biggest scalp yet, Accra Hearts of Oak by coming from a goal down. William Opoku Mensah scored a hat trick and the crowd in Anyinase would hope there will be many more days like this because even though they are second on the league standings, it is inevitable the relegation battle will come.
Hearts keep breaking hearts
These days Accra Hearts of Oak are unrecognizable. The sign of them playing their away games in Cape Coast is still strange and then there is the sight of Hearts of Oak who have become beatable by everyone. Four losses after seven games seems a lot; in the past that is what they would have lost the entire season. There is an upcoming game against Kotoko but even before then, many Phobians will be alarmed at just how every game seems to be a trial now.
Yatsuhashi have Allies unbreakable at home
Inter Allies are quietly building a fortress at Tema. Under Kenichi Yatsuhashi, Allies seem to have a formidable balance at home; difficult to break down, always likely to score the vital goal. They got one against Techiman Eleven Wonder, their seventh in four games. With that sort of form, they should not be looking over their shoulders in a relegation battle like they did last season.
By Michael Oti Adjei|3news.com|Ghana