A couple of months I wrote a piece which highlighted the pain “the Phobian” was going through “As the time this piece was together, with no disrespect to Bechem United, their fans are enjoying some good amount of comfort than the 2000 8th best-placed team in the world.
There is certainly no joy for the fan whose team lies 11th on the League table with few matches to end the first round; identity lost, form diminished.
The Phobians are praying fervently that the wilderness of football will not visit them”.
Four months into the write-type, the tears of the fans are gradually winding down and apparently, they (Hearts of Oak fans) are the happiest of all the 18 participating teams. They are playing with good amount of dexterity and fluidity. They thronged every league venue with optimism and guts because of how their players have stepped up their game.
At the heart of their turnaround is a certain Samuel Boadu. The Phobians experimental with several coaches in their bid to win the League for the first time in a decade but all these coaches could not place them at their desired place. Since Boadu stood the mantle from the Hearts dugout, they have never looked back.
The story the former Medeama coach has begun with the 2000 CAF Champions League is remarkable and it can only be traced back to the glorious days of the Phobian.
Hearts of Oak were whopping on the bottom half of the League when Samuel Boadu took over from Kota Papic. Ten Premier League games have honoured under his tutelage of him and has been incredible, he has not recorded a defeat. He has managed an astonishing eight victories with just two draws with no mere sides like refurnished Great Olympics and dreaded grounds of Anyinase. With no disrespect to any team, average teams were enjoying more luxury than Hearts but Samuel has managed to put them at their proper positions.
Even though is too early for the Phobians to be carried away, their turnaround haven great and superb in all ramifications. The manner Hearts are clinching victories week after week gives the feeling that the Phobians are gradually returning to the unforgettable moments in the late 1990s and early 2000s where teams feared the Phobians and it all gets down to the technical ingenuity of Samuel Boadu.
At this point, the most critical is full support for the coach from the last person in Hearts of Oak fraternity to the very top. Anything to keep this momentum should be readily available. An anticipated stumbling block should be treated as Hearts’ greatest enemy and should be tackled head-on. Hearts success is critical for the growth of the local game. If the Phobians continue on this trajectory, their first League trophy in 11 years is done.