George Amoako and Randy Abbey’s criticisms didn’t affect me- Chris Hughton

Black Stars coach Chris Hughton says he is not affected by the recent criticisms by the key members of the Ghana Football Association’s Executive Council.

Following a goalless draw with Madagascar in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers in June, the former Brighton and Newcastle manager was criticized by top brass executives of the Ghana Football Association.

In an exclusive interview with Asaase Radio, Chris Hughton said he was unperturbed by these public queries.

“This is normal. This is something that I’ve found since I’ve been here.. whenever I’m going to games, people and supporters will come up to me and tell me what they think. So, one thing I’m always conscious of is football is highs and lows and when you are on the back of what I regard as a poor result, and our last result against Madagascar was not the result that we wanted is that there’s always going to be a reaction. This is for me, this is normal, can’t expect for everything to be good and to be praised all the time. I’m never affected.

In July, two members of the GFA’s Executive Council; Dr. Randy Abbey and George Amoako, stated their displeasure with Chris Hughton’s performance.

“We are not too happy, we think there has to be a lot of improvement which needs to be made. We also don’t have all the time in the world, so we need to be fast about it,” Abbey told Takoradi-based Spice FM.

A day before Randy Abbey’s assessment, George Amoako gave his, only, he was not as charitable in his assessment of Hughton.

He told Angel FM: “Have you seen Chris Hughton’s performance? He has played three matches. He hasn’t been impressive.

“If you look at the teams, Madagascar. I went to see the game against Angola and all the games I have seen we play under him. I am not really impressed. Let’s pray at least that we will qualify for the 2023 AFCON.”

Later, Ameenu Shardow, the Black Stars team manager disclosed his preference for the choice of the Black Stars coach was not Chris Hughton.

When asked about his response to these queries, he said “These are political subjects. One thing is, as head coach of this national team I don’t get involved in politics. My focus is on the team and the team to watch.”

”I always know that there’s politics involved because this is the nature of the game. And this is the enthusiasm and the passion that Ghanaians have for football. I’m always confident and comfortable with the conversations that I have. For anything that goes outside of that is for other people to judge, you know, my focus has to be on the team.”

The full interview airs on the Asaase Breakfast Show at 7:15 AM on September 5.