Over the past few days, the long standing argument on who was better between Bernard Don Bortey and Charles “the terror” Taylor has been reignited on social media. Opinions on the subject matter are varied and have fairly been distributed.
If everyone could agree with me, Charles Taylor and Don Bortey are easily or arguably the two most talented players we’ve seen in the Ghana Premier league over the last two decades.
Charles Taylor was a demon on the ball, his excellent dribbling skills made him hard to mark, whiles Don Bortey had a sublime shooting and dead ball technique, one even the great Beckham or Juninho Pernambucano will be envious of.
The opinions on who was better in their hay days may be varied, but there’s one thing that we all can agree with. The two players had an underwhelming career.
Earlier in their career, outstanding success for the two seemed inevitable. As Shakespeare said, they had greatness thrust upon them. However, indiscipline and the inability to handle expectation proved to be their undoing.
The qualities of the two players can never be denied by anyone, not even by a hater or a cynic, but it is hard to believe that the dou featured a combined 23 times for the Black Stars. Bewildering, especially for two players who had the world at their feet even as youngsters.
Yes they hard the world at their feet even as youngster, but they lacked the focus and drive to push the world further down their feet. They were immediately content with the hype, the appearance of a comfortable lifestyle and the perks that come with it.
Certainly two great examples of players who were talented, but then failed to maximize their talent.