Renowned Ghanaian Sports Psychologist, Patrick Ofori, has advised the management and technical team of Asante Kotoko to continue taking decisions and implementing plans that would bring greater competition into the playing body.

According to the Loughbourough University trained psychologist, Asante Kotoko’s performance in the first round of the 2010/2011 Glo Premier League declined sharply partly because there was little or no competition in the team.

He said some of the players were too ordinary to give their colleagues the kind of competition needed to ignite the right team performance and winning mentality.

Patrick Ofori, who is in Ghana on a one-month break from Aberystwyth University, UK to assist the technical team to move the team to a higher performance.

He says the pedigree of Kotoko is so big that it would invariably take quality players who have a strong competitive spirit and winning mentality to chalk desired results.

“At Kotoko, the standards are high. Players at Kotoko ought to be talented and mentally strong. It is therefore incumbent on the management to ensure that good players are recruited. That gingers the players to fight for positions. It encourages strong and decent competition, the kind that naturally compels them to go all out, train effectively; knowing that if they do not work hard, their chances of having regular playing time is insignificant or zero” he argued.

Patrick Ofori continues that quality player recruitment, a strong technical bench backed by an effective administrative set-up must be present to expect good results in today’s football.

He pointed out that the technical bench must on their part understand and know the effective use of talented players while managing their egos at the same time. He cautioned that the failure to properly harness the talents of excellent players as Kotoko have recently done could be detrimental to a team’s progress.

In a remark on the efforts of the current Kotoko leadership, Patrick Ofori commended the management of the club for their perseverance adding that without a persevering spirit, constructive plan, deep scientific and business-oriented thinking, they would have taken the wrong course at the time things were tough.

“The Dr. K. K. Sarpong-led administration has to be lauded for their efficient planning. They did the reality check and saw that the recruitment for the first round was poor. There was no real competition in the team. Now with all these talents around they have created a competitive environment, which has to be sustained” he advised.

The Sports Psychologist used the opportunity to encourage Kotoko Express and the media largely to be positive in their reports or coverage of Kotoko.

“They have to project the club in the best colours as much as possible. There is no need focusing on negativity if the positives are there. The image of Kotoko and any other club or individual in the club does not have to be blighted unnecessarily. The effect of negative reportage on the players is psychologically staggering”.

Asked what role Kotoko Express – the official mouthpiece of the club has played and can continue playing to ensure that the players perform to expectation, Patrick Ofori recalled instances where readers’ comment in the paper and on the club’s website for example lashed out at the players for poor performances saying that blatant negativity should be carefully handled because at the end of the day the idea should be to encourage and not to discourage the players.