Former Ghana defender John Paintsil believes the Football Association’s sacking of Charles Akonnor as Black Stars head coach is a move in the wrong direction.

Akonnor was kicked out of the post on Monday, having led the Black Stars to win only 40 percent of the matches played under his leadership.

A 1-0 away loss to South Africa in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers last week was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“It’s not a nice feeling, when it happens to a coach, it is like it has happened to all of us,” Paintsil said.

“However, this is the nature of a coaches’ job, sometimes you get a good start, other times you get a bad start.

“I would say that it is rather unfortunate, this is not the right time at all, he should have been given time to work on the team.

“When you look at his statistics and what he has done, you can tell that he came at the wrong time, and he didn’t get the chance to camp the players enough before most of the games. For me, it is very disappointing.”

Former Ghana and Udinese star Mohammed Gargo has suggested a reason for Akonnor’s poor performance was interference in his job.

“I don’t know if he was being controlled or manipulated. I cannot say if he was doing things on his own, but I knew he was being influenced,” said the ex-midfielder.

Akonnor’s reign as Ghana boss began with a 3-0 loss to Mali in an international friendly last October but he responded with a 5-1 victory over World Cup hosts Qatar three days later.

In November, there was another mix-bag of results for Akonnor as he led the Black Stars to a 2-0 home win over Sudan in Africa Cup of Nations qualifying, and saw his side succumb to a 1-0 away loss in the reverse fixture.

Ghana then held South Africa to a 1-1 away draw and beat Sao Tome and Principe 3-1 in Cape Coast to seal qualification for next year’s Afcon.

In June this year, Ghana lost 1-0 away to Morocco in another friendly, before holding Cote d’Ivoire to a 0-0 stalemate back home.

Earlier this month, the West Africans laboured to beat Ethiopia 1-0 in World Cup qualifying, three days before falling 1-0 away against South Africa to move to third position on the table in Group G.

Citi Sports