Desailly backs Appiah sacking

World cup winner Marcel Desailly has backed the Ghana Football Association’s (GFA) decision to terminate the contract of coach Kwesi Appiah.

Kwesi Appiah led Ghana’s abysmal showing at the world cup in Brazil, losing to the United States and Portugal, either side of an encouraging 2-2 draw with eventual champions Germany.

Even though Appiah set a record as the first Ghanaian to qualify the Black Stars to the world cup, his tenure also saw many reports of rebellion by players against him.

It was also under his tenure that the Black Stars crashed out of the tournament in the group stage for the first time and was sacked after a draw and a win in his opening AFCON qualifiers against Uganda and Togo respectively.

Answering questions on TV3 about whether he agrees with the FA’s decision, Desailly said, “Yes… the answer is yes,” he chuckled.

“If they have done it, they have gathered all the elements to make that decision. Kwesi Nyantakyi has collected all the information to make that decision.”

Speaking about coach Kwesi Appiah, Desailly said, “He [Kwesi Appiah] made internal mistakes that did not suit them, on the way of managing the players, and that is why he got sacked.”

“Our president of the federation [Nyantakyi] is clever, he is competent, he has made the decision and he has to find the best coach for Black stars again,” he added.

Desailly was one of the shortlisted candidates for the black stars job when the Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac left the job after the 2010 World Cup.

The former Chelsea captain has, however ruled himself out of the running to replace Appiah this time round.

And speaking about the FA’s attempt to replace Appiah, he said the FA needs a coach who “is capable of taking off [pressure] and bring a better environment around the team for the players to focus on delivering with the talent they have, because we have talent.”

Three leading European coaches have joined the race for the vacant Black Stars coaching job as the Ghana Football Association (GFA) prepares to name a replacement for the sacked Kwesi Appiah.

The former France captain also defended the Black Stars players who demanded their $100,000 appearance fee before their last group game against Portugal.

Desailly argued that apart from just about eight players in the team who earn a lot in their clubs, most the other players are not rich, and they have to deal with a lot of pressure from their families, hence the need to sort out all money issues way before the tournament started.

“Some of them are second choice players in their clubs, there is this aspect of the players we should understand, it is not all the players who earn money like Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi or Asamoah Gyan is earning, so its not a simple matter,” he added.