Asante Kotoko could ignite interest in Kamou Malo as Reds search for Seydou Zerbo replacement
Asante Kotoko are currently in search for Seydou Zerbo’s replacement after sacking the Burkina Faso International last week on poor results.
In attempt to find Zerbo’s replacement, Ghana Premier League champions Asante Kotoko have been linked with a couple of managers with former Black Stars bosses Akwesi Appiah and Charles Kwablan Akonnor understood to be on the list of the Reds.
Meanwhile, former boss Dr. Prosper Narteh Ogum, former Hearts of Oak coach Samuel Boadu and FC Samatex man Annor Walker are also tipped potential men to replace Seydou Zerbo at Kotoko.
It was initially understood that CK Akonnor was the likeliest man to be appointed as Zerbo’s replacement but latest reports on the weekend suggest that Akwesi Appiah is the frontrunner for the hot managerial role currently held on the interim basis by youth team manager Abdulai Gazale.
Gazale led the team to convincing 4-0 thrashing of Real Tamale United on Sunday evening. Thanks to Steven Mukwala who returns from national team duty to grab a brace while new Brazilian attacker Mathues Medeiros de Souza nets debut goal.
Appointing any of the following names will be good news for Kotoko supporters as the candidate will takeover to complete the season for Asante Kotoko or beyond.
The Reds look likely to miss out on defending their league title having been leapfrogged on submit of the table by Aduana Stars but victory over King Faisal in midweek will boost their chances once again.
There should be one name Asante Kotoko should reconsider appointing as Seydou Zerbo’s replacement and that is Kamou Malo who is currently unattached. Malo was linked with the job at the beginning of the season before he was beaten to by Zerbo.
The little show demonstrated by Zerbo at Kotoko suggest the Porcupine Warriors need to bring in Kamou Malo who is seen as arguably an upgrade to Zerbo.
Malo has managed Burkina Faso sides AS Sonabel, RC Kadiogo, Ouagadougou and achieved a milestone in management after guiding the Stallions of Burkina Faso to fourth place in 2021 AFCON in Cameroon.
Kotoko’s decision to appoint Malo will see the Burkina tactician return to coaching. The 60-year old groundbreaking decision in career after choosing football over police. And now Malo is one of the respected coaches in Burkina Faso who Asante Kotoko must ignite interest in bringing him to replace countryman Zerbo at the end of the season.
“It was a difficult choice. I had to take the competitive examination for commissioner, the dates overlapped,” Kamou Malo, told AFP.
“I was a police officer in Koudougou, where I also coached ASEC (Association Sportive des Employés et Commerçants) in the first division, then I had the opportunity to go to Germany for a training course to get a coaching license,” said the coach who guided the “Stallions” to the last four of AFCON.
Born in Fing in 1962, not far from Bobo-Dioulasso, he discovered football “at the age of 7 in the streets of Ouagadougou.
He started playing seriously at Soleil d’Afrique, a club in the Gounghin neighbourhood, and then “caught the eye of USO, the army team”.
According to Kamou Malo, “football doesn’t feed the man, so I took the competitive examination to become a police officer,” and “after the police academy, I was recruited by Etoile Filante, the biggest team in Burkina Faso.
Malo born a leader
Whiles in the police service, he still had passion for coaching. “As soon as I could kick a ball, I found myself coaching the young people in my neighbourhood,” he recalls, “I was coaching the AS Police team…”
“I think I am a born leader, I had the dispositions for a coach,” Kamou Malo assures.
“His first quality is his leadership,” former Federation president Colonel Sita Sangaré told AFP.
“It was not for the love of it, Paulo Duarte did a very good job and he has a very strong emotional bond with my country,” continued Colonel Sangare.
The Portuguese led the Stallions from 2007 to 2012 and from 2017 to 2019.
However, “we needed an electroshock,” continues Colonel Sangaré, “we took the gamble of a local coach so that the electroshock would be complete. It was a risky bet, but Kamou Malo, with his fighting temperament and strong character, also had results.
He was twice Burkina Faso champion with Rail Club Kadiogo (2016, 2017).
It was also necessary to “regenerate” the team, the manager continued, welcoming his choice: “The facts prove us right.”
“I had to renew the group, but that was not the only objective, I was also asked to qualify for the CAN,” Malo continues, who wants “to dedicate this” semi-final “to our people, who you know, are going through difficult times” with a coup d’état.
On his status as Burkina Faso’s coach, he “encourages African leaders to recruit locally. They should trust us more and allow us to have the same training as foreigners. It’s a cry from the heart.
Kamou Malo “prefers the transfer of skills rather than people coming to practice here. We have all learnt from them (the expatriates), but this is the only way we will have experience and expertise. As long as we are not working, we cannot know if we are competent or not.
