Black Stars job: Otto Addo 'camp' growing despite Chris Hughton's 'lead'

Media reports indicate that 63-year-old ex-Norwich City, Birmingham City and Brighton and Hove Albion manager, Chris Hughton has reportedly emerged as favorite for the vacant Black Stars manager position.

The Ghana Football Association, GFA, is in the market for a new manager for the men's senior national team.

The search has rekindled the longstanding argument about whether Ghana should employ a local or expatriate to manage the team.

Despite Hughton being an outright favourite, there is a growing call for the job to be handed to Otto Addo, a former Black Stars player and current Assistant manager at German side Dortmund.

3news.com reported on Monday, January 31, 2022 that Otto was the preferred candidate for the GFA and that a team was already in Germany seeking to convince him to take the job.

Executive Council Member of the Ghana Football Association [GFA], Dr Tony Aubynn, has also expressed faith in the capabilities of Otto Addo.

The Borussia Dortmund assistant boss doubles as the assistant coach to sacked Milovan Rajevac, before the stars technical team and management committee was dissolved following the poor performance at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

Aubynn, a former CEO of Minerals Commission speaking on Angel FM in the Tuesday, January 31, 2022, said Otto Addo is the best candidate for the job because, he has been with the team for quite some time now.

“Otoo Addo is the best choice now because he was the assistant for Milo and he has trained with the boys and they respect him so much. He’s the right man for the job now considering the fact that he’s also a former player,” he told Kofi Adoma Nwanwani.

Dr Tonny Aubynn also clarifies that in spite of his view, he welcomes any coach that comes on board for the Black Stars whether or not he is an expatriate.

George Afriyie, a former GFA Vice President also mentioned Otto and one of five Ghanaians he believed had the competence to succeed Milovan Rajevac.

In an interview last week he said: “For me, George Boateng is fantastic, Otoo Addo super, Tanko Ibrahim super, Kwasi Appiah super, CK super. They can all do it. We have the men,” he said as quoted by Sportsworldghana.com.

“Locally we have the men but because they don’t have the national experience…if not we can get a lot of coaches in our local league but they should be considered as assistant coaches.

Ghana faces Nigeria in a West African derby for a slot in 2022 FIFA World Cup tournament, which would take place between November and December 2022, in Qatar.