Hearts of Oak captain Gladson Awako says the club’s performance suffered significantly after the departure of Serbian strategist Slavko Matic during the Ghana Premier League season last year.
Matic was brought in to replace Samuel Boadu, who departed the club after a bad start to the season. Matic started well with the Phobians but struggled to continue his early form, leaving supporters unsatisfied.
As a result, a segment of the club’s supporters refused the coach access to the training fields before their key game against Asante Kotoko, making it difficult for him to continue managing the squad.
Matic eventually left, leaving David Ocloo as temporary manager, and he finally lead the 2020/21 champions to a 12th-place finish, just avoiding relegation.
“Too many coaching changes had a negative impact on our performance last season.” We began with Samuel Boadu, then Matic, who didn’t stay long, and finally David Ocloo. “All of these coaches had different philosophies that required time for players to adapt, which affected our performance,” he told Akoma FM.
“We were improving under Matic; it was just unfortunate that he left; David Ocloo tried his hardest, but it couldn’t work because the pressure was too much.”
“Coaches require time; you can’t appoint them and expect magic or instant results, so I believe technical changes and injuries impacted our performance.”
“Yes, the departure of Slavko Matic had a significant impact on us, and it didn’t help at all.” We were in 12th place prior to Matic’s arrival, but we went up to third place with him in charge, and we’ll see where we finish the season.
Meanwhile, the club announced Ocloo’s resignation on Wednesday, with the club set to appoint a new coach in the coming days ahead of the new season.
