C.K Akonnor , Yusif Abubakar, Ricardo da Rocha are some of the fine names linked to the Asante Kotoko coaching role which has become vacant following the resignation of Samuel Kwesi Fabin on Thursday September 13 but Kotoko legend Abdul Karim Abdul Razak should be first choice to be considered because of his proven ability, achievements and legendary status at the club.
Kwesi Fabin was in charge of the club for the 2009/10 season. Asante Kotoko lied 9th on the standings and had gone four games without a win : 1-1 against Hasaacas away on Week 21, a 1-0 defeat against Hearts of Oak in Kumasi on Week 22 was followed by another a 1-0 defeat against King Faisal Babies and a 1-1 home draw versus Heart of Lions on Week 24 was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.
As the club could not risk dropping into the relegation zone with Fabin in charge they sacked him and trusted his assistant Johnson Smith with the remaining six matches of the season but after eight years the former Ghana U17 coach was given a second chance in Kumasi replacing Steven Polack as Kotoko head coach on February 25, 2018 until his sudden departure.
And so why not a second chance for club legend Karim Abdul Razak who has expressed interest for the vacant job?
1978 African Footballer of the Year Abdul Karim Razak
Razak is a proven winner. He guarantees success and trophies everywhere he goes whether during his time as a player or a coach. As a player he won 2 Ghana premier league titles in 1986 and 1987 and 1 FA Cup honor in 1978 with Kotoko after joining from Kumasi Cornerstones and won the 1978 Africa Cup of Nations with the Black Stars.
The Golden Boy also landed a League and Cup double with Africa Sports in Ivory Coast in 1989. With Egyptian club Arab Contractors the Ghanaian legend won the 1983 Africa Cup Winners’ Cup.
Abdul Razak possesses an unmatched pedigree. In their 83 years of history only two Kotoko players have been voted Africa’s finest footballers by the prestigious France Football magazine. The first one was Ibrahim Sunday in 1971. The second is the very subject of this piece – Karim Abdul Razak – in 1978 and on top of that he is a crowd puller gifted with an amazing charisma. He was also selected and given first-class treatment by CAF as an ambassador for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon.
Do I even need to continue pulling out all of his records?
As a coach he is forever remembered in Mali for the transformation he brought to the country’s football during his time in charge of Stade Malien for which he won the 2001 Mali national championship and going on to groom the crop of players that will be integral for the Mali national team during the 2002 AFCON.
Razak is a man that goes for the difficult job. When the Porcupine Warriors went trophy-less for a period of ten years in the Ghana national league competition it was the Golden Boy who came back home from Mali to end Accra Hearts of Oak’s six-year dominance in the memorable season of 2003. For a decade the Ghanaian soccer champions were either Ashantigold or Hearts of Oak but Razak stopped Herbet Addo from making in 7 in a row for the Phobians.
It is now four years that the club hasn’t won the Ghana league with their last league success coming under Mas-Ud Didi Dramani in 2013.14. Razak ended Kotoko’s decade barrenness. Why can’t he end a four-year reverse?
The legend has a proven track record and that is what Asante Kotoko currently needs. A coach with credible and respectable profile and competence to be the game changer.
The Ghanaian and African game is a different ball game and I don’t think there is anyone that understands that better than the great Abdul Razak.
Gariba.
