Odoom criticised for Hearts of Oak's appointment of Papic

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The 1978 Afcon winner shares his thoughts on his former club's new managerial change

Former Ghana international and Hearts of Oak boss Mohammed Polo believes Edward Nii Odoom has himself to blame for losing the club's head coaching position to Serbian trainer Kosta Papic.

Following the Phobians disappointing results in their opening two games of the Ghana Premier League (GPL) season, the Accra-based fold moved swiftly to name Papic as new boss, demoting Odoom to the youth side.

Hearts were held to a 2-2 draw by Ashanti Gold in their first game before falling to a 1-0 loss to Inter Allies on Sunday.

“In modern football, coaches play 60 per cent and the players play the remaining 40%. During our time, we played 70% and the coaches added up the 30% because of the quality of the players,” Polo told Silver FM.

“So if you are a coach, you’re supposed to add quality to your players. That is how they’ll play for you. Whatever you teach them is what they deliver for you. Whatever you teach in training has to reflect in a match form.

“He was a coach who started with the team last year and continued with them [this season]. You [Odoom] had pre-season training with them [players] before this league started, so what else [did he need to get results]?

“If you’re not performing, you have to blame yourself, you had all the chance and you have no excuse."

Papic is not new to Hearts, having helped the club win their last GPL title in 2009 during a first stint.

“I hope the way he [Papic] worked with us when we were there and achieved results, I hope he can replicate same this time. His tactics are good and he relates very well with all the players," former Hearts star Francis Bossman told Happy FM.

"I hope the confidence will come so he will be able to help the team.

“He is not going to struggle because he came to meet some players. He will be able to penetrate and do the job.

“The pressure at Hearts of Oak is too big for Nii Odoom. Kosta Papic and Nii Odoom should work together because Odoom has built the team and both of them can work together."

Nineteen-time champions Hearts currently sit bottom of the league table.

2020-12-01 23:00:08

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