CHANGE: What Kotoko needs to excel

This is not about personalities. Neither is it about the people nor the individuals managing Kotoko. I know people manage Kotoko but I insist that it is not about them. It is about the systems at Kotoko. It is about the way things are done. It is about our management practices which is isn’t up to scratch yet we expect the club to compete well especially in Africa.

It is about the need for a new and strong leadership to effect the kind of changes millions of Kotoko supporters across the world expect. It is about change. It is about doing the right thing. There is absolutely no doubt that, Kotoko by its history, pedigree and massive following have the potential to be the best in Africa again but certainly not now and not until there are drastic changes in management practices, player and coaching quality as well as the club’s finances.

We shouldn’t deceive ourselves. Kotoko doesn’t have what it takes to win anything in Africa currently until there is a drastic change in the club’s leadership. I am not calling for the change of personalities. I am essentially and strongly asking for a new direction. A total overhaul of the way things have been done at Kotoko and I stress that, until that is done, we may be forced to be content with domestic achievements and not anything significant in Africa.

Football has changed. It is even trite to say it has become scientific. African football clubs that have been successful on the continent in recent times, employed and also resorted to modern, and practical managerial methods which not only yielded results on the pitch but additionally fattened their bank accounts and enhanced their image both home and abroad. That is the lesson we at Kotoko have not yet learned and that is why there must be changes.

I am afraid this is a club that doesn’t have a clear-cut policy direction. The Kotoko Board has since August 2013 not appointed a substantive CEO despite the incontrovertible directive they were given by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II on the day of their inauguration. It is easy to ask what at all the appointment of a substantive CEO will change at Kotoko and perhaps you will even dismiss the relevance of all the talk about a management structure.

But the truth, which we ignore at our own peril, is that, excellence in Africa doesn’t come anyhow. It comes by dint of hard work, which is determined not by a coach and eleven players on the field alone but also by excellent management practices, substantial money, massive supporters backing and so on.

These have been missing elements in Kotoko’s bid to excel in Africa in recent years. Kotoko are on the verge of winning another Premier League title. The easy feeling is that, Kotoko will be in Africa next year but can we say without any shivering that, Kotoko have the player quality, the money and the appropriate plan to be really competitive in the CAF Champions League?

In recent times, Kotoko’s performance in Africa has been abysmal. From experience, the Africa committees have not helped. I insist that those committees will not help unless the whole view to managing Kotoko is changed. On the domestic scene, the evidence is that our competitors don’t do anything extraordinary to challenge us. Some of them even expect Kotoko to take the lead so when Kotoko stays behind, there is no movement, no growth and no development.

That is why Kotoko need a new leadership. A leadership that understands football; a leadership that has time for the game, a leadership that sees football as a big business and are therefore more than willing to manage the club professionally by identifying effective and sustainable means of finance; re-position our brand while winning local and international laurels.

That new leadership doesn’t necessarily have to be new people. What matters most are not the people who manage the club but the kind of ideas those people bring on board; the kind of systems those people build and of course how functional those systems will be. This is the truth. Clubs that are performing in Africa are working for their success.  

We are not doing that. How can we excel?