Who Will Be the New Ghana National Team Manager? Former Tottenham Hotspur Star Linked

Following the 2022 World Cup, coach Otto Addo stepped down as the manager of the Ghana national football team. This has led to numerous suggestions about who could take over this important role before the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers begin in March this year, with a big name from English football recently linked.

"Ghana’s players leave the pitch dejected" (CC BY 2.0) by Ben Sutherland

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Henry Asante Twum is the Communications Director of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), and he said that they’ve been flooded with applicants for the coach’s role. In fact, he pointed out that they’ve received “maybe over 60 applications” so far, mainly from European coaches but also some from South American countries.

Twum said that this high level of interest is due to the fact that Black Stars is regarded as one of Africa's most interesting football brands. He confirmed that they get a new application for the coach’s role by email every day, with the inquiries beginning to arrive on the same day that Addo announced that he was leaving.

The Black Stars have had over 30 head coaches since 1957, with many of them lasting less than a year. C.K. Gyamfi was arguably the most successful, as he led the team to three African Cup of Nations trophies, while several other coaches have guided the team through the World Cup qualification rounds. Interestingly, the GFA has stated that none of the applicants so far are Ghanaian, but what effect will any new coach have on Ghana’s chances in their upcoming games?

At the moment, betting odds on the African Cup of Nations show Senegal and Cameroon as the favorites, with Ghana not currently among the favorites. The details of how betting software works confirm that operators receive feeds with the latest information, which means that Ghanaian bettors can place their wagers on the latest odds as the situation changes. Therefore, we can expect to see their odds change as soon as a new manager is announced and people react to the appointment, as this could greatly increase or decrease their odds. This flexibility and constantly updated odds have helped make sports betting more popular in Ghana.

Is Chris Hughton to Be the New Coach?

Some current news stories suggest that 64-year-old former player Chris Hughton has applied and is among the leading candidates for this role. Hughton was part of Addo’s coaching team at the World Cup in Qatar, alongside George Boateng and Mas-Ud Didi Dramani, and he left his role as a technical advisor at the same time as the head coach.

Before that, Hughton - whose father was born in Ghana - had a highly successful playing career in England, mainly with Tottenham Hotspur. Although he was born in England, the defender represented the Republic of Ireland national team on 53 occasions. His coaching career began shortly after he retired as a player, and has seen him manage the likes of Newcastle United, Birmingham City, and Norwich City.

Hughton was sacked from his last role, as Nottingham Forest's manager, in late 2021. Although recent speculation suggests that he’s interested in taking on the head coach role for Ghana, he’s also been linked with some managerial roles in England in recent weeks.

While this link seems plausible due to his time spent with the Black Stars in 2022, it’s difficult to know how good Hughton's chances are of landing the job without knowing who else has applied for it. It seems certain that at least a few of the 60 applicants to date must also be in with a chance of getting named as the new coach.

Ghanaian football fans will be hoping that this appointment is finalized before too long so that they can look forward to this year’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers with confidence.