Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah to rotate Black Stars captaincy, West Ham ace Ayew halted?

Published on: 16 November 2017
Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah to rotate Black Stars captaincy, West Ham ace Ayew halted?
Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan and his deputy Andre Ayew

Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah is planning an explosive move to rotate the Black Stars captaincy in his bid to end the long standing tension and confusion surrounding the armband of the senior national football team.

The move will spark a huge debate which could settle the issue of the Black Stars captaincy forever or further aggravate the problem with claims of targeting the heir-to-the-throne Andre Ayew.

The decision will also reignite the debate of age-long tensions existing between the Ayew family and coach Appiah over the Black Stars captaincy as Abedi Pele, the father of the Ayew brothers, got the team's armband when Appiah was stripped of it in 1992 under controversial circumstances.

Reports are rife that current captain Asamoah Gyan and West Ham ace Andre Ayew are at secret loggerheads over the armband which has led to a split in the squad.

The squad is said to be split down the middle with some players backing Gyan to continue while others are demanding that Ayew be made the substantive leader.

The move by coach Appiah lends credence to the tensions in the Black Stars over the armband and his proposal to end the rift shows that there is a tug-of-war over leadership among the players.

The Black Stars head coach says he is worried over the intense debates about the captaincy insisting it does not help the unity of the current squad.

Appiah said the armband is not as important as people make it seem and that anybody can be the captain of the team.

“Gyan is the captain until I decide to change him but maybe I will consider rotating it like you said to take away the pressure and controversy that comes with it. Appiah told Metro TV on Wednesday.

"I always tell my players to be captains of their positions. Players are at their best when you give them responsibilities.”

While Appiah's proposal will come to many as the right step to end the tension and controversy over the armband, Ayew loyalists will see it as a bid to stop the West Ham ace becoming the substantive captain of the Black Stars.

Currently, Asamoah Gyan is the captain of the Black Stars while Andre Ayew is the deputy. But the West Ham star together with his brother Jordan have not been called up for Ghana’s two international games raising eyebrows and allegations that there is a feud between Kwesi Appiah and the Ayew brothers.

The choice of who becomes captain of the Black Stars by convention goes to the senior-most player in the set-up and the deputy is given to the second senior-most player.

The Black Stars, and its managers have had to deal with a lot of captaincy rumours in the last couple of years, with media reports rife that Andre Ayew with backing from section of the playing body feels he is the man to lead the national team and not Asamoah Gyan.

The GFA has always denied that such tensions exists between Andre and Asamoah Gyan.

 

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