{"id":88915,"date":"2025-08-09T17:05:50","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T17:05:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=88915"},"modified":"2025-08-09T17:05:50","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T17:05:50","slug":"frequent-coaching-changes-leave-ghana-u17-chasing-stability-ahead-of-wafu-b-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=88915","title":{"rendered":"Frequent coaching changes leave Ghana U17 chasing stability ahead of WAFU B test"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The appointment of Prosper Narteh Ogum as head coach of Ghana\u2019s U17 men\u2019s national team has raised mixed reactions, mainly about the players available for him to work with.<\/p>\n

Ogum replaces Frimpong Manso, who held the position for seven months, during which he scouted talent across the country for upcoming competitions.<\/p>\n

But just a month before the Black Starlets\u2019 first tournament under his leadership, the GFA announced Manso\u2019s departure, citing the need for him to focus on club duties at Bibiani GoldStars.<\/p>\n

The change comes ahead of the WAFU B U17 Championship in Nigeria, scheduled for September, around the same time GoldStars will begin their CAF Champions League campaign.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Joy Sports, Manso admitted he accepted the decision with some reluctance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at September, all the programmes are in September,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it will not be good not to concentrate on one fully. Rather, if we are to do it anyhow, it will not be good for me, it will not be good for the U17s, and GoldStars as well. So it\u2019s something that we sat down and talked about.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, I think that is a good decision. Not that I didn\u2019t want to be with the U17s. I\u2019m very sure it\u2019s just a matter of time. Maybe something of that sort will come again. That opportunity may come again.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, he expressed optimism that his assistants would ensure a smooth transition by adequately briefing Ogum on the current players.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had two assistants and a goalkeepers\u2019 trainer. They are all there. So I think it will not change anything,\u201d Manso added.<\/p>\n

\u201cOgum is also a very experienced coach. And for me, I don\u2019t think it will affect anything at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the last year alone, three different coaches (Laryea Kingston, Frimpong Manso, and Prosper Ogum) have handled the Black Starlets, a trend that reflects the lack of continuity in the technical setup.<\/p>\n

The team has not qualified for the U17 Africa Cup of Nations nor the World Cup since 2017, eight years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Under-17 job is important. It\u2019s not a job that somebody can do alongside another job. We\u2019ve had a lot of these situations where, oh, he can do this job and do that job. It\u2019s not possible,\u201d said seasoned journalist Godfred Akoto Boafo.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a job that requires much more than just selecting players and coaching them. You are training minds. You are supposed to be a constant presence in the lives of these kids.<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cIt\u2019s a full-time job. Somehow, we don\u2019t seem to get those people involved with the Starlets. And these are people who perhaps could have the job for five, six, or seven years.<\/p>\n

\u201cCheck all the countries that do well \u2014 the coaches of their Under-17 teams have been there for 10 years, 15 years, minimum 10 years. If they don\u2019t stay on the job for long enough, at least five years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut somehow, in Ghana, every year we change coaches at the Under-17 level, as if we are changing coaches at the professional level.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the team prepares for the WAFU B tournament, which will serve as qualifying for the 2025 U17 AFCON, many will be watching closely to see whether Ogum\u2019s leadership can bring stability and whether the Black Starlets can finally build a foundation strong enough to return to the heights of Ghana\u2019s youth football glory.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"FrequentThe appointment of Prosper Narteh Ogum as head coach of Ghana\u2019s U17 men\u2019s national team has raised mixed reactions, mainly about the players available for him to work with. Ogum replaces Frimpong Manso, who held the position for seven months, during which he scouted talent across the country for upcoming competitions. But just a month [\u2026]<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1928,4932,137,5439,1896,10,9,6197,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adamu-benin-abdul-karim","category-black-starlets","category-football","category-frimpong-manso","category-hp-sports-2","category-politics","category-popular","category-prosper-narteh-ogum","category-sports"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=88915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88915\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=88915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=88915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=88915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}