NEWLY-appointed head coach of Medeama, Yaw Preko, is anticipating a highly competitive second round of the Ghana Premier League because of some exciting games witnessed during the first round.
Before his appointment early this month, Preko worked as a stop-gap coach for Great Olympics when their head coach Annor Walker was hospitalised during which the Wonder Club were undefeated in four matches, including masterminding a famous 2-0 victory against Hearts of Oak.
He believes the quality of play has improved with the players also showing a lot of improvement compared to the early stages of the league.
”In the beginning it [overall performance] was a bit down and some of the boys were a bit jittery and were not in shape, which was normal; but before the end of the first round, I saw quality players and competitive matches in each and every club so we’re hoping to enjoy good football even at some of the centres with bad pitches, if they are fixed,” Preko told the Graphic Sports on the sidelines of a workshop by coaches to review the first half of the league.
In his assessment of the first round, the 46-year-old Preko blamed poor officiating as one thing that must be corrected before the resumption of the second round to make the competition more competitive.
”Majority of the referees are up and coming and they are struggling a little bit but they are doing their best. They will correct their mistakes from what they did from the first half of the season and the second half they will come out much stronger so we are expecting much better officiating in the second round,” said Preko, who previously coached Hearts of Oak as a stop-gap coach, worked as an assistant coach of Inter Allies and later handled Nigerian topflight side, Ifeanyi Ubah.
Preko, who played briefly for Hearts in the early 1990s before enjoying his best playing years in Europe, said he was envisaging a more competitive league in the second round
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