Posted by Kwesi Appiah last month launched his autobiography “Leaders don’t have to yell”, a 400-page leadership memoir in which he shares his account of key events during his playing days and his two stints as coach of Ghana Black Stars.
Since the launch of the book, there has been numerous revelations, with the latest one being how former Inter Milan and Portsmouth midfielder Sulley Muntari insulted him using unprintable and derogatory words in the presence his Black Stars mates
“During a World Cup qualifier against Lesotho, I called for Emmanuel Agyemang Badu to substitute Sulley around the 60th minute. For five minutes, Sulley ignored my call and would not come off.”
“When he finally did, he angrily headed straight for the dressing room instead of joining the rest of the team on the bench. We finished that game 2-0 and I was congratulating the team in the locker room.
Sulley was still upset and made a comment that featured inappropriate words. As much as he wanted to play, I did not feature him for the next three games.
“When there’s no clear line of respect, it is very likely that the players will not take their coach seriously. Even though I can be very friendly with my players, there’s a line of respect that my players are not allowed to cross”
This latest revelation could be a corroboration to the conjecture that “indiscipline” is one of the reasons why the Black Stars have failed to succeed in recent years.
He also recounted the pandemonium and mayhem which transpired in Black Star’s camp during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Sulley Muntari had a brawl with a Black Stars management member. The management member was later revealed to be the President of Medeama, Moses Armah Parker.
Kwesi Appiah in his book divulged what transpired after the altercation.
“I went to Sulley Muntari’s room to find out what had happened. He told me he was trying to explain something to the management team member and that turned into a heated exchange”
“The heated exchange led to the management member throwing a blow at him, and he retaliated by fighting back. He showed me a bruise, along with a dab of blood, that he had sustained from the incident.”
Appiah said he was later informed that the chaos started after Muntari referred to management team as liars following the delay in payment of player bonuses.
He added that, despite calming Muntari down, the player returned to the FA official’s room to vandalise his properties, including a laptop and cell phone.
Sulley Muntari was later sacked from the Black Stars camp by the order of manager Kwesi Appiah. Kevin Prince Boateng also suffered similar fate for issues of indiscipline.
Ghana faced an early exit out of the 2014 World Cup. The was confirmed after losing 2-1 to Portugal in the final game of the group stage.