Damba fired by Hearts board
by Gary Al-Smith 12 January 2013, 06:58
The Board of Hearts of Oak has terminated the appointment of goalkeepers' coach Abukari Damba. The management of the club believe he has done his best for the club and it is time to move on.
Decisions of this nature are usually precipitated by trigger events, and true to form, supersport.com is informed that this has been coming for some time.
Abukari Damba was appointed to the position in December 2010, following the resignation of Archie Sellas a few weeks prior.
The 45-year old ex-goalie was given an initial three-month contract and regularized his stay with the club later. The Hearts role was the first for Damba since quitting Division One side Bechem FC in May 2009.
After making his debut with Real Tamale United in 1984, he also enjoyed successful stints with Accra Great Olympics and Malaysian sides Perak FC and Selangor.
Damba has also been the goal keeper trainer for the Black Meteors and Starlets, Power FC as well Perak FC as a coach cum goalkeeper trainer. Regarded as one of finest goalkeepers in Ghana's football history, he also featured for the Black Stars from 1984 till 1990.
Not liked much
Supersport.com understands that some players and officials in the club have complained of Damba as a disruptive influence. Several cases of bust ups in the camp have not been in the media, but one of the few that did, was last October.
Two key performers of the club, goalkeeper Sammy Adjei and midfielder Esme Mends had exchanged blows at the club’s training grounds at Pobeman.
The midfielder had asked the goalkeeper to apologise to Abukari Damba after Adjei had engaged in hot verbal exchanges with the trainer. At the time, Damba had blamed the team’s 1-3 loss to Ebusua Dwarfs on the goalkeeper.
According to supersport.com sources at the time, Damba lamented how Adjei conceded soft goals, which angered the former Black Stars goal stopper.
It is not clear if David Duncan has backed the decision, but reports say the new Hearts man is also unhappy with the training methods the goalkeepers currently have.
