Deliver us from relegation

A line up of the Accra Hearts of Oak team

 Premier Club, Accra Hearts of Oak and city rivals, Accra Great Olympics are without doubt the oldest and most experienced club sides in the capital.

They have enjoyed a great and healthy rivalry for which reason clashes between them were considered very attrac­tive after a Hearts-Asante Kotoko blockbuster.

Clashes between the two city neighbours generated series of headlines linked with outcomes of their matches and in some quarters, have been tagged the ‘Accra broth­ers.’

With time, new clubs in Accra including Tema Youth, Liberty Professionals, Inter Allies, and more recently, Accra Lions have all entered the elite platform to rub shoulders with the big guns but have not been able to dislodge the two traditional powerhouses.

Truth is, a chunk of sup­porters are shared between them with Hearts command­ing greater numbers and en­joy a superior record against Olympics.

For the Wonder Club, they boast of just two GPL diadems but Hearts are serial winners, winning over 20 trophies while they dominated and conquered Africa in the 2000s in addition to other trophies they won.

But in recent times, the excitement that comes with their games appear to be fad­ing following their dwindling fortunes in the Ghana Premier League (GPL).

Having been relegated on three occasions in almost two decades now, Olympics are noted for their inconsist­ency but it is notso with the Phobians.

But for a club that used to challenge for the ultimate almost every season with Asante Kotoko, it becomes strange and shocking to see Hearts drop to such levels.

Last season, it became ap­parent that they were head­ing for the drop with their rivals until a few outcomes favoured them to escape relegation.

Lessons have not been learnt from that and in the current season, both Hearts and Olympics find themselves in the murky relegation wa­ters again.

The reason for this down­ward spiral is not exactly known.

What is known are at­tempts to halt it but the changes in the technical teams – a situation that saw Jimmy Cobblah replace Annor Walker and Aboubaka Ouatar­ra replacing Martin Koopman, have not yielded the right result.

Hearts’ statistic of los­ing as many as four games in their last six or so games makes their situation even more precarious.

It therefore came as little wonder when their supporters registered their displeasure in their respective last home games in which they lost – Oly to Medeama and Hearts to Accra Lions.

While the AGOSU faithful vented their anger on the match officials, Hearts fans took issue with their players who they blamed for the poor run.

With six games to end the season, the Save Our Souls (SOS) call from the fans was very relevant considering the opposition they face at this stage of the competition and the form in which they find themselves. Their prayer by now may be for God to deliv­er them from relegation.

What makes their survival dicey is the fact that the two teams struggle at home where they are supposed to earn the points to boost their survival.

Secondly, they have been extremely poor in front of goal, wasting the numerous chances that come their way.

In the last stretch, Hearts and Olympics would have to define their fate by halting the negative results. Failure to do so could worsen their plight by plunging further into the doldrums.

Less than a month ago, another powerhouse, Asante Kotoko was a laughing stock over similar performances but two wins in a row have stemmed the tide and they look quite comfortable as of now.

Hearts and Olympics can do same if they start winning their games but if they con­tinue with this trend, relega­tion will be real for them. Oly may be aware of that but for Hearts, relegation would look more like a fiction.

 By Andrew Nortey