Interview: Hearts coach C K Akunnor Q&A

Published on: 27 March 2012
Interview: Hearts coach C K Akunnor Q&A
CK Akunnor speaks on his ambitions for the Hearts of Oak coaching job

C K Akunnor speaks about his credentials after taking charge of his second high-level management job at Hearts of Oak.

The former Ghana and Wolfsburg captain talks about superstition in football, tactics and his personal ambitions.

The 39-year-old spoke to the club's official newspaper Hearts News. Here are details of the interview.

How surprised were you to get the call from Hearts?

It was very strange but not really surprising like the first call which came some months ago. When I left Wise, I thought that my market with the national team which I must say I was happy to have landed.

I hadn’t really even considered a move to Hearts by then, but then out of the blue I received a call from Hearts to manage the club. So I said OK. It seemed like a good idea and I thought to myself, well, I could certainly do with improving my CV as a coach with a club as big as Hearts of Oak where the stakes are always high and the fans very demanding and really difficult to satisfy.

What was said between you and the club when you first met?

We spoke about everything to do with Hearts. The management told me what they wanted to do with the club and their ambitions for Hearts and I told them what I could do in the role of a coach to get the results and get the club back into reclaiming its past glory in the League and on the international scene.

From our very first meeting there has been a good feeling between myself and all at the club and we have had a very good working relationship so far. I really hope it al continues this way in all of my stay here.

What attracted you to Hearts because we understand Salas Tetteh, David Duncan and a few others all chickened out for reasons which best be said to be the huge expectations from the fans?

All of these individuals might have their own set of reasons but I believe they did not come for good reasons known to them. Yes I believe I have what it takes to lead Hearts to a higher platform once again. It also represented a perfect opportunity to coach one of the biggest on the continent and to further improve upon the past. I have come a long way as a coach and I hope the experience acquired both as a player and a coach will help me succeed.

I have monitored the club for several years and I think I am really impressed with its large support base and its strong tradition. Its name alone is an attraction on its own because on the African continent one can not mention great clubs without mentioning Hearts of Oak. It represents a power house in African football. I am not saying this because I have come here but we have to understand that facts.

Who were your managerial mentors and what did they teach you?

All good coaches like to look around the world and pick up little bits of philosophy here and there, put it together and make it their own. So my mentor is the world. I like to watch football in South America, Italy, Spain, and England and pass on that experience to my players. Every coach is different, though, but I believe I have learnt a lot from Sam Ardey, Jones Attuquayefio and E.K Affranie.

But in reality I am a big fan of Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho as a coach and as a man.  I have read a lot of his books on the game and I think I really admire his style. I really want to learn from him. I will want to meet him and grab a few techniques from him. He fascinates me a lot with his leadership style. Mourinho undeniably is a cult figure – you either love him or hate him, once you know him there’s no middle ground with him. In contemporary football, he is the self-anointed ‘special one’ and master of the mind games. He is the king motivator, the master baiter, in fact.

Mourinho is a fantastic person and I think it is crazy when people say he all sot of things about him. He is young in the head and when you are young up here (taps his forehead) it is not important what age you are.

CK Akunnor on the touchlines for his first match in charge at Hearts during a league match
What are some of the big name managers you have worked with and what level of coaching licence do you posses?

I have worked closely and understudied coaches at Manchester City, Wolfsburg and at other clubs across Europe.

Are you prone to kicking stuffs in the dressing-room? Are flying teacups and objects a regular occurrence during a half time team talk and during games when your charges don’t get to do the right things like Mourinho does?

C.K: (Laughs with head bowed down) No, no, not at all. But the passion in the game sometimes drives you to do crazy things to send signals to your players to stand astute and get the job done right.

I could do that a few times because it hurts to see your players do the wrong things after as hectic tactical session. I will always have a laugh about it after the games, but no, that wouldn’t happen often if the players play to instructions. I could be calm through out, but is that possible for any manager? The shouting and screaming sometimes helps. Players respond to it.

You also have a reputation as a straight talker and you’ve said that you always speak your mind. Is that not risky in modern-day football?

Yes, that is my motto. I know it’s a risky approach in the football world but I’m proud of the way I am. I want to approach football in the same way I approach life: always the same, no compromises. With this philosophy I will step on toes but if it hurts them I will say sorry but still maintain my stand because I am C.K and always want to be myself and not take anything that will not help my life and my profession.

What would be your favourite formation at Hearts? The 3-4-3, 4­-1­-4-­1, 4­-4-­2, or 4-­1-­3-­2 formations?

That’s exactly the reason why I see myself as an innovator and a candidate of Mourinho. I’m a coach that advocates a flexible style of football that isn’t based on just the one system. In any case, it’s not the system that counts but the mindset, the movements and the selection of players according to their positions on the pitch. We’ll be effective on the counter because these days teams have to be capable of doing everything as well as they possibly can. The counter-attack is effective when it’s launched from deep down the pitch, with the whole team involved. The players here will count a lot. First we look at our materials and then the best possible tactics for every game. In all we don’t have to forget that we will be looking for goals, good passing and defending well at all times.

How would you manage to juggle a squad of players with so much goalscoring talent and so many stars?

They don’t all have to have to play at the same time? (Laughs) Having so many attackers in the squad means you’ve always got plenty of good options, just like any big team. It’s also important to get your selections right, to look at the formation and know which player will contribute most to the team. It’s how the team plays that’s always the key thing for me. Players are there to make the side stronger but I will decide who has the capability to make us stronger.

To earn the respect of his players, a coach has to show he knows what he’s talking about, have an appetite for hard work and be a good person. That’s true with every player, from the part-timers down at the bottom to the megastars. Obviously, the difference with the megastars is that you have to show you know more and work harder.

So the key is for the players to value their coach?

Yes, absolutely. They start sizing you up from the moment you walk into your first training session and your actions in the dressing room. That happens in any league and it happened when I was playing. The better the footballer, the greater the demands, and that’s when you have to push yourself harder and raise your game. You also have to remember that there are a lot of players who like their coaches to be hard taskmasters. That’s not exactly my style. I try to win my players over by showing them what I know, by working hard, by being organised and a good person with it. Every coach has their own style.

Is your priority to play an attractive game or to get results at all cost?

The ideal thing for me is to play elegant, dynamic football that’s easy on the eye, but it goes without saying that we’re doing our utmost to get results at the same time.

You were head coach of Wise then became an assistant national team coach to Orlando Wellington before taking up the Hearts job. How much will that experience help you in your current job? 

They’re completely different jobs. When you’re in charge of a club side, you have your players at your disposal nearly every day. You can help them develop, communicate, talk, exchange ideas and discuss things. This is virtually impossible for a national coach.

At the national team level what can you possibly hope to achieve in such a short space of time? Apart from helping them to recover and trying to promote a certain playing style and way of thinking, there’s not much more you can do. You need time. The job of a national team coach is more difficult than that of a club coach but when you are at Hearts it the turns to be different because the expectations are as high as leading a national team.

Years have gone by since I left Wise but I must say I have learnt a lot because it is also a traditional club though not with a large following like we have here at Hearts. But the demands of the Wise fans will make me understand the Hearts fans better because its win, win and win at all times if you want to make peace with the fans. It’s so difficult to satisfy them but we will do our best to give them the satisfaction they need.

We’ve got a similar system so it’s been useful to some extent, but many years have gone by and I’ve had to adapt in every respect. Some things have changed, like society, young people, the pressure and the media, and football’s different today as well, but what’s changed most of all is the environment the game’s played in.

So what’s harder for you: coaching the national team or Hearts?

(Laughs) Being a Hearts coach is tough, very tough. It’s a different kind of pressure. National team is very important, but we football folks are pretty strange. Supporters are fanatical about the game, and when you make a living out of football it’s no different. You have to immerse yourself in your job and things that happen outside the game can sort of pass you by. The fans always want more from you and once you give them god results you will be their man but if it does not go their way, my God you can imagine the heat, hotter than the oven.

Can you stand the pressure (heat) that is associated with coaching a club like Hearts?

I intend to give my best, to improve things and to create the football team in relation to my image and my football philosophy. When you just work tactically, in pure football sessions, you can see the way the players will think football. You can have the top stars to bring the attention, you can have the best stadium, you can have the best facilities, you can have the most beautiful project in terms of marketing and all this kind of things. But if you don’t win all the work will be forgotten. I know the level of pressure already so to come here means I know I have what it takes to deal with it and to succeed. But I must say I can not succeed without the help of the players, the back room staff, the management, Board, and all stake holders but most importantly the fans because they can make and unmake you at anytime.

To be the ultimate team, you must use your body and your mind. Draw up on the resources of the players. Choose your steps wisely and you will win. Remember only teams succeed.

How would you describe the kind of team spirit that you intend to create?

Things have moved rather quickly over the course of three days. That was one of my objectives. There may be things to change here if we want to go on wining. Players must respect each other and develop a good communication rapour with their team mates and the rest of the coaching staff. Each player will understand why he must play in a particular game and sit out in another game. We can only be delighted with the team spirit if we all pull together.

Talking of football and the Glo Premier League race in particular, how difficult would it be for Hearts to close the 9 point gap because that looks to be the bane of the fans?

It will definitely be difficult but how I can’t tell because we are not looking at catching up but taking every game one after the other.

If we win al of our game and Kotoko lose three in the remaining games then that could be it for us. We are a stage that we can’t drop points any longer. It is achievable if we believe in ourselves.

Take Kotoko. They’ve maintained their high standards, while Chelsea are having one of their best spells ever and All Stars are on the up and up, without question. Ashgold have come on a lot too and a number of teams have raised their game again as well so for us to close the gab we have work really hard and devote all of our time to the game.

They’re all very competitive sides, though, and there’s not much to choose between them but for us wining should be our trademark.

What has been your overall assessment of the squad? Any positives and negatives identified sop far?

The team has quality players and I believe we only need to work on their mental approach and tactical discipline to get the best out of them to produce the desired results. Players must be made to play as a team and believe in unity and not their individual play. Every player here is important and I hope to manage them all well to bring the best out of them.

With time some of they will get better but only if they would be able to maintain their focus and discipline as players. Certainly, I think we can get something good from this squad.

In Africa black power (Juju) has become synonymous with players (football). Would you expose it if your players indulge in it?

We all have our personally beliefs. We were all brought up from different homes, different backgrounds and grew up under different circumstances and we were made to believe in different gods although the ultimate remains the Almighty where all powers come from. If players have their individual beliefs I would not stop them but will make sure it does not interrupt our plans as a team tactically and all that. If that is what would let them play better why not, it behoves on them but personally I wouldn’t recommend that to any player but will not strictly stop them if it forms part of their beliefs.

CK Akunnor is new coach of Hearts of Oak
The expectation was that with the arrival of 13 players in the January transfer, the team will score more goals to put up the necessary challenge for the Premiership title which unfortunately has not happened. How do you intend to correct the scoring problem?

Well I have tried my best to correct the minor mistake. Strikers must be discipline in front of the goal area. Be focused, calm and be able to take spontaneous decisions. Once this gets sink in we will get the goals. I have dedicated time to the strikers trying to let them understand their roles and what is always expected of them. We have done a lot in terms of goal scoring in this short period but it should yield results. If the striker can’t score then they have no business to be here. We mean business and will work with only those who are prepared to learn. My reputation is at stake so who ever would not help must sit out.

Which would you prefer? To beat Kotoko and lose out on the league title or to lose to Kotoko but yet go on to win the Premiership title?

That’s intriguing indeed. It’s difficult to answer but I think we will try to do both. Beating them and going on to win the League. That will be a tremendous achievement and I know I would have become an instant hero here. What about that. I hope I achieve both but if pushed I think the title remains a top priority for all Phobians so

Changing the subject slightly, what’s C.K Akunnor like at home and away from football?

I’m very calm and relaxed, though I do find it hard to switch off from my job. I am a very good communicator and have a very strong personality; young and can speak to the players in their own language. I’m a good motivator. I am also very well organized. My family often reminds me I’m at home, but it’s like I’m not there (winks) because I always want to think about what the players would be doing in their spare time. It’s very important to know because sometimes players can be funny and go wayward which could affect your team work. At weekends, when I’m not out in the country, I sit down and watch football from Saturday morning through to Sunday night. I hardly get out of the house. If it wasn’t for mealtimes, I wouldn’t even move (laughs) because I love every bit of the game and always wants to be in it.

As a good motivator do you have any immediate plans for young players in the squad?

Young players are a little bit like melons. Only when you open and taste the melon are you 100 per cent sure that the melon is good.

Sometimes you have beautiful melons but they don’t taste very good and some other melons are a bit ugly and when you open them, the taste is fantastic.

One thing is youth football, one thing is professional football. The bridge is a difficult one to cross and they have to play with us and train with us for us to taste the melon.

What new should Hearts fans expect from you as the manager of the club?

The Hearts assignment is quite different from what I met in these countries. At Hearts I have to start from scratch because last season the team according to its own standards performed poorly and so it would be a difficult task to assemble a new squad to produce positive results within the shortest possible time. But all said I believe we would achieve the results and create the necessary impact.

Yes, it could be huge but once I have accepted it should tell all that I believe in my pedigree that I would surely succeed. But I must stress that success at Hearts would so much depend on the co-operation and support I get from all especially the technical team and the management of the club.

 In two years from now how will you want to be remembered?

I believe I am at the right place at the right time. We all don’t know what the future holds for bus all but I hope to do a good job and at the end of it all and help the club win titles so to have my name boldly written in the history books of this big club. We want to see how it goes until the end then we will see if we will need a few more additions.

Settle this for us. Are you still the coach of the national under 20?

Yes, unlike the head coaches, the assistants have the luxury to coach club side whilst still staying on as deputy national team coaches. So on that basis I am still attached to the national under 20 team.

 

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