Former Asante Kotoko assistant coach Abdulai Gazale has revealed that a rift with his then-boss Prosper Narteh Ogum led to his exit from the club.
Gazale, who is currently the head coach of Northern City, was the assistant coach of Kotoko in 2019 under Maxwell Konadu, but was left in charge of the youth side after Konadu’s departure.
In an interview with Tamale-based Sagani TV, Gazale explained that the rift between him and Ogum started when some players began to notice that Ogum’s posture would change whenever Gazale corrected them during training. The senior players told Gazale about Ogum’s behavior, but Gazale said he didn’t observe anything unusual.
“Initially, Ogum never doubted my capability but at a point, some of the players told me that any time we are in training and I correct a mistake in them, Ogum’s posture doesn’t look good. The senior players told me this but I told them I have not been observing that. Remember, I had worked with some of the players under Maxwell, Smith and Berreto and they were used to me,” Gazale said.
“It went on for a long time and I finally noticed it. It came to a point that if Coach Ogum and the other assistants were planning a training program, they would not even allow me to see what was going on,” Gazale said.
Gazale added that he eventually called for a meeting with Nana Yaw Amponsah, the club’s management member, and told him he wanted to step down from his position. However, Amponsah declined his request, and before Ogum could tell Amponsah that he couldn’t work with him anymore, Gazale had already stopped attending training sessions.
“From then, I called for a meeting with Nana Yaw Amponsah that I want to step down and I don’t want to be part of the team anymore. Nana Yaw Amponsah declined my request. It continued, and before Ogum could tell Nana Yaw that he couldn’t work with me anymore, I had already stopped going for training.”
Gazale served as Kotoko’s stop-gap coach for two seasons ago after the sacking of Burkinabe gaffer Seydou Zerbo. He has since moved on to coach Northern City and is determined to succeed with his new team.
