Editor of Kotoko Express, Jerome Otchere, believes Asante Kotoko does not have the requisite material to make an impact in Caf inter-club competition.
The Porcupine Warriors’ hopes of playing in the group phase of the 2020/21 Caf Champions League has been left in doubt after losing 1-0 to Al Hilal in the first leg of the preliminary round game staged at the Accra Sports Stadium.
And according to Mr Otchere, Nana Yaw Amponsah, who is the Chief Executive Officer [CEO] of the club, has failed to manage the expectations of the fans and promising the club will play in the group phase of the Champions League is not achievable with the players currently at the club. He described it as “unrealistic target.”
“You cannot always win in Africa because Kotoko as a club does not have the materials and qualities to compete and the club does not have what it takes to give us the needed results immediately but certain things have to be done in a certain way to get the club the needed results,” he said on Joy FM.
“We know that a lot of things are new at the club and you don’t have to raise expectations to a certain level and an example is playing in Africa.
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“I am not taking the CEO [Nana Yaw Amponsah] on but people who read what I put out there will tell you I have a problem with him. He is creating the feeling that Kotoko is in Africa to achieve something the club has never achieved before and that is not possible.
“Sometimes, we have to be real and make our fans believe that this is the situation and this is how we want to deal with it but when you raise it to a certain level and you fail, the fans will come to tell you that you were going to do so what happened?
“For the past 14 years, Kotoko have not been in the group phase of the Caf Champions League and if you are out there telling us that you are going to do what you have not done before the fans will look and tell you, you have failed so accept the consequences,” he added.
The 2019 Ghana Football Association presidential candidate, following his unveiling as the CEO of the Porcupine Warriors, unequivocally reiterated that he will make sure the club plays and wins the Caf Champions League under his auspices.
His pronouncement attracted a lot of criticisms in the media space.
Kotoko will play Hilal in the reverse game on January 5.
The poor run of the club in the ongoing Ghana Premier League has led to the sacking of Maxwell Konadu who has been replaced with assistant trainer, Johnson Smith.