Asante Kotoko and local football fans were greeted with the news story of the club’s coach, Dr. Prosper Nartey Ogum being sacked on Easter Monday. The signs had been on the wall that coach Ogum would be sacked given the club’s winless run in recent weeks.

The Porcupines had gone four straight matches without a win, drawing 1-1 to Heart of Lions away and with Bechem United at home. They were humiliated 3-0 by Accra Lions in Accra before a disappointing 2-0 loss to Nations FC.

Ogum had to face the music according to Kotoko managers but for me, this is how administrators of Kotoko have always chosen to sidestep the bigger issues afflicting its growth. The issues that they do not want to consider seriously but then these are the very issues if not addressed properly would haunt Kotoko for years.

Topmost amongst these issues is the management systems at the club. The size, magnitude, or pedigree of Kotoko require that it be given more than an interim management. Kotoko should have a substantive management with defined goals for specific years otherwise the painful circus at the club will continue.

Take for example the issue of recruitment. It always a matter of concern at the club because if Kotoko are not sacking players in wholesale fashion, it is mass signing of players every season with no real returns. How is that practical? Why is Kotoko not seeing that this approach to managing the club will yield no satisfactory results?

Dr. Prosper Ogum has been sacked but the management systems that would not put Kotoko higher than their competitors in Ghana remain. The management practices that fail to align Kotoko with their former peers in Africa are still there. What will change at Kotoko post-Ogum’s dismissal? I do not know. I cannot tell.