Journalists score Akonnor high marks for delivery at maiden presser

Akonnor was the subject of a barrage of questions from journalists who sought explanations for the inclusions and exclusions in his first call up as Stars coach.

After a jittery start where he fumbled, Akonnor warmed himself into the event and succinctly articulated his points.

At the end of the session, some respected journalists who spoke to ghanaweb.com praised Akonnor for being coherent and eloquent.

Though they expressed dissatisfaction with how some questions, particularly about the exclusion of Mohammed Salisu, was answered, they asserted that his overall performance was incredible.

Ace journalist Michael Oti Adjei said that Akonnor demonstrated a great understanding of what his job entails and showed that he has a clear idea on what he expects from his players.

“What was almost definite is that he has a clear idea of what he wants to do and picked players who he wants to do that job and he articulated them well. I can understand the difficulty with explaining the absence of some players which means he had to do it general terms but overall that was a very confident performance by the Black Stars coach.

He gave him a rating of 90%.

Vice President of the Sports Writers Association of Ghana and editor of Graphic Sports, Maurice Quansah said that Akonnor did his homework and impressed him greatly.

“He was a very smart player and I believe he’s proven himself as a smart coach. I’m sure they prepared him well and also he scanned the media so he pretty much answered the questions very well. I will give him 65 or 68 %.

There were similar comments from four other journalists who were interviewed by this reporter.

Meanwhile, the president of the SWAG, Kwabena Yeboah assured Akonnor of the unflinching support of sports journalists across the country.

He, however, warned that he won’t be spared if he fails to deliver.