Abdulai Gazale, the head coach of Kumasi Asante Kotoko, has responded to a statement made by his predecessor, Seidu Zerbo.
The Burkinabe tactician left Asante Kotoko after 8 months in charge, with his last game against Medeama Sporting Club defeating the Porcupine Warriors 2-0 at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Match Week 23.
Seidu Zerbo became the club’s fourth coach to leave under Chief Executive Officer Nana Yaw Amponsah’s leadership, following Maxwell Konadu, Mariano Barreto, and Dr. Prosper Narteh Ogum.
The management, led by Nana Yaw Amponsah, gave Abdulai Gazale his second chance as head coach, having previously served as a caretaker coach prior to the appointment of Seidu Zerbo in August 2022.
In an interview with Fox FM, Burkinabe international Seidu Zerbo launched a scathing attack on his assistant coach, Abdulai Gazale, and goalkeeper’s trainer, Issah Najahu, accusing them of undermining his tenure at the club.
“The biggest issue I had at Kotoko was Abdulai Gazale and Issah Najahu, who refused to accept my arrival. They did everything they could to ensure my failure; they are opponents of progress who plotted my demise. They spent their time at Kotoko making things difficult for Islam Nazim and me,” Zerbo stated unequivocally in an explosive interview with Kumasi-based Fox FM.
In an interview with Eugene Adu Poku of Oyerepa FM in Kumasi, Abdulai Gazale, the head coach of Asante Kotoko after succeeding Seidu Zerbo, expressed his displeasure with statements made by his former boss.
Gazale explained, “I am surprised by the whole issue. I worked with a clean heart when he (Seidu Zerbo) came down; when he arrived, we received him with our support; and when he started and the team was in Sudan, things were not moving on well, and I received several calls from Board members. If I was supposed to have sabotaged him, that was the first instance I should have done that, but I advised them to give him time since he was a new coach.”
“It’s unprofessional; I didn’t expect such comments from Seidu because when I was around, we played about six league games, and he acted by shutting me down in the dressing room and disgraced me before all the players at training grounds,” Abdulai Gazale summarize the behaviour of Zerbo towards him.
