By Sam Coffie
I have read, with utter disgust, an article written by Adzigodi Dennis Narterh titled John “The Rock†Mensah, Time To Bow Out?†calling for the Black Stars defender to retire.
Sadly, the article written by someone who calls himself a sports journalist puts forward this argument, neglecting the facts on the ground.
Contrary to his claims that the argument in town is Mensah must follow Appiah into international retirement, the debate has been that the Sunderland defender must be confirmed as the full-time captain of the Black Stars.
Unless Narterh just dropped from Mars or Jupiter, his argument that Mensah is not having enough playing time at Sunderland is a blatant lie.
As an ordinary football fans Narterh I can say so far this season Rocky has played 14 matches for Sunderland. He has played six successive matches since recovering from a back problem.
Narterh’s myopic naivety prevents him from knowing that playing six successive matches as the heart of the defence in probably the best league in the world suggests that he is in form and highly rated.
Yes everyone is entitled to his/her opinion but a journalist must not depart from his utmost duty of reporting the truth and educate the public. An ordinary football fan would not make this baleful analysis on Mensah by a so-called journalist.
Forlornly, Narterh concluded that the red card shown to Mensah when Sunderland played Liverpool last week means that he is indisciplined and ageing. Â How sad!
The sending off by referee Friend was dubious and that’s why the English FA overturned the red card and if Mr. Narterh has been following the English league he would find out how highly a top coach like Steve Bruce rates him.
Akpeteshie bar journalists like Narterh prematurely retired many Ghanaians players and it is clear from his analysis that he views Mensah with avowed distaste.
As long as Mensah plays excellently at the highest level of world football like the English Premier League and plays regularly, the Black Stars need his services.
Ghanaians are too smart to be bamboozled by these shenanigans masquerading as journalists. Narterh should rather consider his position as a sports journalist because he has nothing to offer.