FEATURE: Hungry horses in race for broke jockeys - Hearts have put a wrong foot forward in resolving player impasse
By El Akyereko Frimpong
Follow the writer on Twitter: @AkyerekOfficial
Extreme financial hard times has forced Hearts of Oak to warp itself with an unwise decision to punish innocent young talents who had a conversation about their career dreams suffocating under the pressure non-payment of salaries and bonuses for 16 weeks.
The 21-time Ghanaian Premier League title winners, who are also one-time CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup ludorums, have axed 23-year-old midfield workhorse Issah Mumuni and placed defender Vincent Atinga and goalkeeper Tetteh Luggard under investigations for their comments in a leaked tape.
Though the Accra-based giants are yet to make an official announcement on their website, painstaking investigations have also confirmed forward Gilbert Fiamenyo, who has contributed 10 goals in all competitions for the club this season, will not be offered a new deal when his current contract expires.
In a leaked video aired by Asempa FM - an Accra-based radio station, three of Hearts of Oak's players were heard discussing the general concerns that have burdened the necks of the entire playing body at the club.
Mumuni, a youngster who drew interest from German Bundesliga II outfit St Pauli and had trials at the club in last October, has been put to the guillotine and his other colleagues could also be lined for exit by a directionless management at the helm at Hearts.
In the pattern of things, the current Hearts of Oak management led by Gerald Ankrah has failed to bring the expected innovations and standard modern managerial practices to the club. His 'existing-cum-ghost' and uninspiring character has played a huge role in the current backward trends at the club. His leadership style does nothing but draws yearning calls for the type of functional, cherished administration fashioned by Alhaji Hearts, Fawaz Zowk, Tommy Okine, Harry Zakkour & Co. In recent times, Hearts of Oak heroes are heard complaining about monies promised them that never got paid. Though that is not the desirable lane to head, at least it is obvious that Ishmael Addo, Charles Taylor and Emmanuel Osei, who were all part of the 2000 CAF Champions League winning squad, reveal brilliant testimonies of the managerial efficiency spearheaded by men of mass courage and inspired by the passion of their love for their club and the game.
The current Hearts of Oak management have proven to be heartless to their player’s plight and concerns and look just fine to turn a blind eye to their family dependencies, while having to spend to keep themselves in shape to play matches for the club. In every competent club management module, official appreciate the relationship of good financial standings, healthy nutrition and optimal performance in the sport.
Gerald Ankrah's management seems to have failed on these tangents and has added next to nothing in nurturing the vision and dynamism introduced by Togbe Afede XIV and he is rather losing the financial muscles built on a viable foundation for growth into a modern day football club as epitomized on the online portal for the club.
It's a limping decision and the sooner it is reversed and a solution found the current financial challenges at the club, the better.
Players cannot continue to play on empty stomachs while management at the same time tries to stifle their freedom to have a conversation about their financial situation. Hearts' management should be ashamed of their intentions to sack the most talented central midfielder in the Ghanaian Premier League for chatting about his situation and should adopt modern management practices that will win destiny-changing sponsorship deals that will extricate their dependence on the pocket of Togbe Afede XIV which is being sucked.