By: David Kyei

Date: 19-09-11

Loyalty and hard work have been described as the two ingredients that ensure personal and occupational growth and so it is therefore not a surprise that Operations and Team Manager, Ernest Owusu-Ansah, popularly and fondly called ‘Peejay’, keeps rising through the ranks of Kotoko for the simple fact that he commands the two ingredients in abundance.

A teacher by profession, Peejay has metamorphosed from his early days as a child who accompanied his late father, Owusu Ansah who was also known in the Kotoko family as ‘Jack Moro’ to the stadium to watch Kotoko play, through his days as a student and adult supporter and now a management member.

It could be added that with his association with Dr. K. K Sarpong, the sky will be the limit in his service to Kotoko.

As one of the first appointees of Dr. Sarpong when he was given charge of Kotoko, Peejay has untiringly executed his assignments so much so well as the Operations Manager that, he has been given an additional responsibility as the Team Manager of the side , and this he says is a challenge he can and will surmount.

“I must say I am grateful to Dr. Sarpong for his confidence in me by the giving me additional responsibilities. Much as I have been called as the man to do the job, I also have the responsibility to delegate assignments to other people so that I can do other things whilst at the same time effectively supervision the assignment so delegated”.

“I also have an assistant in Kwame Kyem Mainoo who has proved competent and capable to our positions and so together, the workload becomes lighter and manageable”.

Despite his assurance, many may still have the feeling of a tight work schedule for his office especially when the team is playing at home, but Peejay thinks otherwise.

“The team manager role is similar to that of Operations with the exception being the handling of gates when playing at home. Making all the off the field preparations has been the work of the Operations manager and so that will continue”.

“Seeing to proper camping place, dieting and transport logistics for the team will be well handled as always. When we are playing a home match, myself and the assistant will handle the off field preparations before the match and on the match day, Kwame Kyem will be on the bench whilst I continue with patrolling the gates and making sure that we maximize receipts at the gates for the club”.

“I am particularly interested in patrolling the gates because before coming into office, we had heard so much about how Kotoko had been losing revenue through pilfering and corrupt practices. Together with the Executive Chairman and other members of management, we have put in place strategies and measures that is helping in reducing the incidences of losing revenue at the gates”.

“We are not there yet, but my target is to get to a level when it will become almost impossible to steal Kotoko’s money at the gates”.

The position of the Operations Manager has rightly or wrongly been linked to issues such as engaging in spirituality to positively affect the results of matches. As the man in charge of Kotoko’s operations outfit, Peejay says his job is more entailing than the narrow understanding given it.

“It is a misconception when people see the office that way. In simple terms, operations manager could be likened to the commander of an infantry or any military troop going for any assignment. When the Executive Chairman and his management have sat to plan all off-field strategies for a match, it is the operations man who sees to the direct implementation of it when the team goes to camp”.

“Yes prayer is a very important ingredient to our drive for success, but it is worth noting the welfare aspect of preparing a team for a match is very crucial. If the team does not get the best of camping and dieting in preparation for a match, you can do all the prayer you know and yet still lose”.

“What we should not lose sight of is the fact that the opponent you are going to play against also prays as you do. If you are not expecting a miracle, the only time that prayer works better is when you also adequately prepare towards a match by training harder and being in the right physique”.

“However, working to build up the psyche of the players is one important thing I like to do and if it entails joining the players to sing praises to God and ask him for victory for our matches, I will gladly do. After all we at Kotoko have not lost sight of the Grace of God that saw as rise from the fourteenth to the respectable position we achieved last season,” he recounted.

Despite everything, last season was not so good for the club as one trophy after the other slipped through their hands. Could it be that the operations people could not pray hard enough?

“I believe we did not start the season on a good note as our pre-season was nothing good to write home about. Besides, the on and off running of the league last season did not also help matters. Our rhythm was always broken when the league was suspended.

“My joy for this season is that, we have started the pre-season well and right players have been recruited to first fill the loop holes in the team and also compliment the core team that is also available”.

Peejay believes that the poor conversion rate of the Kotoko attack will soon belong to the trash basket.

“Management was very much aware of the nagging goal scoring problem we had in the past season so Dr. Sarpong in conjunction with the coaches did strategic purchases to solve the problem”.

“We are also lucky to have a coach who also used to be a prolific striker and so I am sure he will tackle the issue head on. At least he will impart some of the skills that made him a strong player on the ball to the players”.

All the efforts of management are geared towards making the team a winning side to make the fans happy, yet they do not turn up in numbers to fill the stands during Kotoko’s matches.

Much as this situation is worrisome to management, Peejay says much as the fans may have a reason for not coming, it will not fly in the face of association football.

He says the fans have themselves to blame for the poor performance of the team in recent times.

“The fans want the playing body to deliver to their satisfaction, yet when the players trot onto the field during matches, they only find empty stands and that tends to de-motivate them”.

“The problem has become cyclical. Fans want to see the team winning before they come and the players also get de-motivated because they do not see the fans at the stadium”.

“I believe all these would change in the coming season because young, talented and exciting players have been recruited to augment the team and their performance will force the fans back into the stands”.

“We shall also encourage the players to have Fan Clubs so that they can mobilize the fans to come to the stadium in their numbers”.

Peejay is probably one of the busiest people around as he has to combine his profession as a teacher with his service at Kotoko, but he says the Senior High School teaching has been planned in such a way not to unduly overburden the tutors.

“My time table has been planned such that I am able to close from school and be able to get to the training grounds in time to oversee things there as well. I also make sure I do not have periods on Wednesdays so I would be able to make it for midweek matches as well”.

“It is all about planning and I have it well sorted out,” he said.

His father, Jack Moro, being a former Team Manager of Kotoko in the 1960s and to the mid 1970s,  Peejay says he recollects some of the things his father used to do as a team manager and that is coming in handy for him.

“My father was a strong personality with a tough mentality. He gave praise when due and was quick to sanction when necessary and all these worked for his good. Much in the same way, I have started rolling out some of his style and I know they will work for me”

With his eyes firmly set on becoming a successful Operations & Team Manager, Peejay says all these can only happen with the able support of all members of the Kotoko family.

“We all have to put our shoulder to the Kotoko wheel so that within the period, we all help Dr. K. K Sarpong’s administration to achieve the targets he has for Kotoko”.

“I will like to see the not too far future of Kotoko where we have infrastructure all over the city and also boast of a training complex with at least five training pitches including an artificial turf just as we saw during our tour in Serbia”.

“Dr. K. K Sarpong has promised to take the team far and also build the Kotoko brand into a solid and attractive club. I have committed myself to doctor’s philosophy and targets and I urge all to buy into that as well”.

“We must also win laurels in the coming season and so I urge the fans to stop all their internal squabbles for the good of Kotoko,” he concluded.