Former Ghana Black Stars manager Chris Hughton in an interview with Vlad Andrejevic has revealed the challenges and beauty of Ghana football.
Hughton, 66, has had a long and illustrious career at the top of the game, transitioning seamlessly from a two-time FA Cup winner as a player to a highly rated coach and manager. His career has predominantly seen him based in England, and is synonymous with clubs like Tottenham, Newcastle and Brighton and Hove Albion as well as the Republic of Ireland, for whom he earned 53 caps.
His most recent role, however, saw him take on his first international role as the head coach of Ghana, an opportunity he reflected on fondly when speaking to Voice Online at a Show Racism the Red Card event last month.
“First and foremost, I’ve been very fortunate that I was able to, as a player, represent the Republic of Ireland where my mother is from and then also to represent Ghana as head coach where my father is from.
“International management is very different – at club level it’s about day to day, it’s about working with players, it’s about influencing players whereas international football is about games,” said Hughton.
“It’s about management of games and work you can do in between games but you don’t get that time with the players. It’s also about luck – when three or four of your best players pull out because of injury it changes a lot of things.”
A key component of the position that motivated Hughton, beyond his heritage, was the opportunity to be directly involved in African football, even if there were elements he knew would be challenging.
“Working in Africa is very different. I worked for a nation that are football mad. One thing the Ghanaians love, apart from the Premier League, is the Black Stars.
“I knew the pressure of taking the job when I took it, and if you’re not getting the right results then you will know about it.
So, there is that added pressure and there are certain other things you have to get used to. Perhaps the levels of structure are different to what you’re used to at club level, the pitches that you’re playing on are different so you have to be able to adapt.
Where I was fortunate is that, I was the technical advisor before that for eight or nine months under Otto Addo, so nothing was a surprise for me. It wasn’t as if I was taking the job blind. I knew the differences of working in Africa as the structures are completely different but the levels of football are very good.”
Hughton’s tenure was short-lived as Ghana failed to qualify from the group stages of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, after which he left the role. Nonetheless, the experience only further invigorated his desire to be involved in football, something he was very keen to point towards when posed the question.
“Yes. Yes. I’m very conscious that I’ve been around a long time, I’m very conscious that I’m at the tail end of it and there are changes in the game. At the moment there is a different way of playing – a lot of young coaches coming through which I think is good.
“First and foremost, yes. If that’s not possible, it’s certainly to stay in the game in some capacity because at this moment I have still got a lot of energy. I’ve been in the game for a long time and I’d like that to continue.”
cc: voice online UK