Protest Cases

As I mulled over the fact the likely result of the protest case meant promotion would be almost impossible Noah called, 'Charlie get in we have a lift'. Excellent. This would save me paying for the taxi home. Unfortunately our lift was in the back of a lorry that had been used to carry guinea fowl, the floor was covered in urine and it smelt of shit. The lorry was very hot, and was shared by 7 Ghanaians and myself, all of which had been to the protest meetings. This meant that not only was I sweating profusely, I also had to deal with the sound of arguing Ghanaians throughout the journey.

The meeting was due to begin at 13:30. After waiting an hour in Osu, I went onto Labadi where we were apparently now meeting Noah before leaving. We waited in Labadi for over one hour until Noah finally appeared. I decided this may be a good time to explain further to Kofi and Richard about the potential budget changes that may be introduced in January. Their potential pay increases would mean more was expected of them, Kofi who I normally get on well with began to question why the coaches are not supplied with training boots. 'Projects Abroad only think about the players'. I was not in the mood for this!

When Noah finally arrived we were over two hours late, although no need to worry as the meeting was delayed. The fact we had to travel for over an hour was of no concern apparently. When we finally arrived to Tema stadium we were left to wait for another hour. While we were waiting two other managers from our league came out of the meeting room arguing and laughing as one accused the other of lying about the case that had just been held.

'Cantonments vs Futurestars'. This game was one that took place before I had arrived, the game had finished 1-1 but we had appealed as they had fielded an unregistered player. The officials struggled to find any of the relevant documents. When they eventually did the case was held. Noah attempted to tell our side of the story and stuttered his way through. When the Futurestars manager spoke he spoke well, and I found it hard not to agree with what he said. Case finished, although the result is unconfirmed I fully expect the draw to remain the result.

'What about our other cases?' By this stage it was 8 in the evening, and it was obvious the officials wanted to leave. 'We called for them earlier and none of you were here'. This simply wasn't true as we had been there before they had arrived. They decided they would go by the referees reports; this should be in our interest as it avoids Noah having to speak. Meeting over, and into the lorry, the urine, the shit and the guinea fowl.