‘Coaches need time to adjust to African systems’ – Chris Hughton

Former Ghana coach Chris Hughton has indicated that he was not given much time to flourish with the men’s senior team.

The former Newcastle United manager served as Technical Advisor to current Black Stars coach Otto Addo at the 2022 FIFA World Cup where Ghana failed to qualify from a group that included South Korea, Portugal and Uruguay.

The Northern Ireland international was made a substantive manager of the four time African champions ahead of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast but Ghana exited at the group stage leading to his sacking by the Ghana Football Association.

Speaking to 3Sports, Hughton admitted that the national team job requires more time compared to club football.

Hughton supervised Ghana’s poor 2023 AFCON participation

“It’s about the structure – I was told that when you’re used to club level, it does take some time to adjust to national football, because the stakes today are very different in national football, and of course, working in Africa.

“So I would have wanted more time, and I generally feel that, having been given more time, I would have adjusted better to the role. But this is football; it’s very much about results and emotions,” added Hughton.

Otto Addo was re-named Ghana’s head coach following Chris Hughton’s sacking and he has succeeded in qualifying the West African nation to the 2026 FIFA World Cup after missing out on the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.

He supervised Ghana’s two losses – a 2-0 loss against Japan and 1-0 defeat to South Korea in the 2025 Kirin Cup.

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