By: David Kyei

Date: 21-10-11

Ahead of their all important third week Glo Premier League match against new entrants, Bechem United, head coach; Maxwell Konadu has cautioned all stakeholders of Kotoko against raising their hopes too much in their expectations of the team because there is more work to be done.

He also says the team is still on a learning curve, and so he as much as possible prefers supporters of Kotoko to be moderate in their expectation of the team since a higher expectation would only bring undue pressure on his players.

Speaking to Kotoko Express after seeing his side beat Asokwa Deportivo 3-1 at the Baba Yara Stadium in a practice match, Coach Maxwell said he was happy at the response of his players to his game plan and expressed joy that the development was making him achieve set goals in good time.

“The purpose of these practice matches is to give playing time opportunities for those who have so far not played matches to also exhibit what they have been studying at training. I am happy that all the players are fast assimilating the new trends I am teaching and it is giving me the hope that we will be playing better and better each match.

“One good thing is that, even those who were having difficulty in adjusting to the system are being assisted by their own colleagues, especially the experienced ones to also come up. I have always put the idea of team mentality on the players and they are really catching the spirit fast”.

On Sunday’s important match against Bechem United, the coach who has his eyes firmly set on taking every point at stake in the match was positive about his team preparedness to do battle.

“We have trained and rehearsed strategies for Sunday and it is my prayer that we get our rhythm and luck right so that the players will put up a good performance”.

Talking about performance, the team’s output last Sunday seem to have raised the expectations of supporters too high and this he acknowledges and adds a word of caution.

“I have always asked fans to give us the time and opportunity to play more matches to sharpen our play and that they did, but I have realized after last Sunday’s defeat of AshGold that they have started talking about how good the team has become.

“Our target is to build a good team and so we have been working hard at that, but I would once again plead with the supporters not to raise their expectations too high. What they saw is just a part of what we intend to achieve at Kotoko and we will be better served if pressure is not brought to bear on our players.

“The danger of the expectations of our fans for Sunday’s match is that, having beaten AshGold 3-0, they see Bechem United as a ‘smaller’ club and so we should massacre them with a wider score margin.

“I appreciate their wishes, but I want to remind all that football does not follow logic. In football mathematics, 1+1 is not equal to two. We may have beaten AshGold, but playing against Bechem requires different preparation and strategizing, and we are doing that”.

To ease the pressure off the players before and during the match, the coach says he has been encouraging them to imbibe the idea of walking onto the field to enjoy themselves.

“I therefore urge fans to be patient with the team when it comes to the passing game for long periods. It is out of those tactics that we build their confidence. When players enjoy their play, they go all out to secure good results as well”.

In every match played so far, younger and ‘unknown’ players are introduced and they come on to shine. Kotoko Express therefore sought from Coach Maxwell who the introduction would be for Sunday, and he had this to say.

“We have several of the unknown and young players in our team, but we are careful not to throw them all into a game at once. We do not want them to encounter any difficulty with stage fright so we will be introducing them one at a time.

“I insist that being patient in their support of the players is what the fans of the club can do for the team. They came to watch the practice match in their numbers and I want them to turn up in even larger numbers on Sunday as we will need their support to be able to ride higher,” was his appeal to the teeming supporters of the club.