Dr. Nyaho-Nyaho Tamakloe, the former chairman of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), has criticized Chris Hughton, the coach of the Black Stars, over his choice to bench Richmond Lamptey against Namibia.
Lamptey was not included in Ghana’s dismal performance against Namibia on Monday night. Lamptey has been playing brilliantly for Asante Kotoko in the ongoing 2023–24 Ghana Premier League.
The seasoned football administrator asserted that Lamptey has a lot to offer and that it’s past time local athletes were given the opportunity to compete and represent their country.
“I was told that the Asante Kotoko player (Richmond Lamptey) was not given the opportunity to play yesterday against Namibia,” he said in an interview.
“The coach (Chris Hughton) is totally useless. The idea is that we bring them from the outside thinking that they are better than our local boys which I disagree. I was expecting him to handle the local players in such a way that they could be better than the so-called foreign players that we have.”
“Such an intelligent young man, what is the point in dragging him to the camp and failing to use him? I am really disappointed because that boy has a lot to offer.
“We have a lot of calibres like him in the system. Our problem is to get a coach who can handle them properly.”
“It has happened in this country before where all the players invited to the Black Stars camp were local players and yet we won our games.”
“I am surprised and this tells us that it is either we don’t know what we are doing or the coaches we bring them in are useless and they can never help us,” he added.