Black Stars Head Coach,Chris Hughton says he is determined to build a team capable of competing at the highest level of international football.
This, he sought to achieve through the combination of youth and experience players in order to have a balanced team, as well as the support from the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and the citizenry.
Chris Haughton gave the remarks during his official unveiling as the new Head Coach of the Black Stars in Kumasi, yesterday.
Having served as the Technical Advisor to the Black Stars for a year, Chris Hughton, said he would use the experiences gathered in coaching to build the winning team.
“If you look at the present squad that we have, remember we went into the World Cup with the youngest squad. My balances are on bringing these young players through and making sure the experience players we have in the squad could be a good combination”, Haughton said.
According to him,there was a thought process involved when it came to the call-ups into the national team which often changes due to factors such as player availability as a result of injuries, hence, the difficulty of having a particular metric or criteria for the call-up of players.
Commenting on the local league, he explained, that he would monitor it as the Head Coach of the Black Stars as he did not get the opportunity to do so during his time as the Technical Advisor.
Responding to concerns of interference by the GFA in the work of coaches, Hughton asserted that he did not face such an issue in his one-year experience as the Technical Advisor.
Providing details in relation to contract agreement, the Communications Director of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Mr Henry Asante Twum said Haughton had signed a 21-month contract which would end in December 2024.
Additionally, Mr Twum said the twoAssistant Coaches of the Black Stars – George Boateng and Didi Dramani, had also signed the same contract agreement which would be subjected to a performance review.
The first test for Chris Hughton as the Head Coach of the Black Stars is an African Cup of Nations qualifier against Angola at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi on Thursday.
BY BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY
