The Ghana Football Association on Tuesday officially unveiled Kwesi Appiah as the new head Coach of the Senior National Team the Black Stars, and also announced the members of the newly constituted technical team which is made up of former national team stars.
Stephen Appiah will play the role of Technical Coordinator, whilst Richard Olele Kingston joins as Goalkeepers Trainer and Ibrahim Tanko named as the first Assistant. The event was well attended by former players, journalist and FA officials.
This article is not about Maxwell Konadu and why he is still in the team or why he has been demoted to a second assistant.
Hours after the ceremony, the image dominating both traditional media and new media was the memorable picture of the technical team standing together on the staircase in the FA building.
For someone who does not know the personalities in the picture or perhaps he is not a Ghanaian will not know who the head coach is or who his assistants are.
One would think that, the true context of the image could easily be understood by everybody, but that is wrong. It is wrong to assume that everybody, can put a name to a face. If you watch the picture carefully, you will realize that it’s Maxwell Konadu who is standing in front whilst the rest of the technical team including the head coach Kwesi Appiah standing behind him.
So who is the boss here? Who is the focus on? Who should be the poster “man” here? Obviously Kwesi, not Maxwell.
If one still stretches the idea of context further, it is only a fanatic of the game who would know that the man in front has been demoted from the position of first assistant to the second assistant role.
Last year, a photograph emerged from the Cape Coast Stadium after the National U20 male team failed to qualify for the Africa Youth Championship.
The picture had the FA president Kwesi Nyantakyi and the then minister Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, sitting a seat away from each other. The picture fitted into the narrative of the two persons at war with each other.
People interpreted what they saw in the picture because, a photograph is the result of a photographer’s decision that an instant is worth recording. For someone like me who was not at the stadium did not know that the Omanhene of Cape Coast, Osabarima Kwesi Atta II, was sitting in-between the two gentlemen and left before the picture was taken. We also did not know that the two who were at loggerheads, exchanged pleasantries before the game started.
Even though Kwesi Appiah has had a false start through no fault of his, Ghanaians are super excited about his second spell and the technical team he has put together. However, the managers in future should do a better job at managing his brand.
I wish him and his team all the best.
Ohene-Bampoe Brenya
@obbampoegh