''Shashing the Bold'': Retaliatory comments of Hearts of Oak's fans to quieten Coach Matic

Week number seventeenth of the eighteen-club league of thirty-six fixture weeks in the Ghana Premier League (GPL) promised alluring game fixtures.

Mr. Kingsley Owusu-Achau, popularly known as Agama (owner and bankroller of Bechem United) Bechem United hosted Aduana Stars at the Nana Gyeabour Park in Bechem in the Ahafo Region, Dreams FC hosted Kumasi Asante Kotoko at the Dawu Stadium, affectionately known as ''The Theatre of Dreams'', and Accra Hearts of Oak welcomed Berekum Chelsea at the Accra Sports Stadium, the cracker of the week, fixture soccer loving eyeballs became resistant to Netflix and popcorn.

In a keenly contested game of drama, eighty-two minutes of deadlock, and blank recordings on the goal scorers sheet, Fuseini Zackariah's eighty-third-minute own goal gave phobia the lead.

Double sixty-second minute substitutes: Benjamin Yorke and Victor Aidoo scored in the eighty-seventh and ninety-third minutes respectively to hand Accra Hearts of Oak the three maximum points in a 3-1 victory over the ''Bibires''(one of the monikers of Berekum Chelsea.

The Akan translation for blue). Kusi Pandrous scored Berekum Chelsea's only goal and consolation in the ninety-second minute. Coach Slavko Matic's ability to ''slay'' a stubborn Berekum Chelsea side in ten minutes: seven before and three after the ninetieth minute proved his tactical ingenuity and game-readability but his post-match interview outburst was the talk of the town.

''I am very disappointed in the fans''. ''We need supporters, not fans''- Were excerpts of rants by Coach Slavko Matic in the post-match interview with Star Times, the official Broadcast Network of the GPL, which dominated headlines.

His commentary depicted his displeasure at the inability of the fan base to cheer the players up when the going got tough only for it to be salvaged by his tactical shrewdness.

''Too known coach'', ''Too known coach''; these were the counter-rants of some phobia fans after a 0 - 2 loss to Dormaa-based and current league leaders, Aduana Stars, in league fixture eighteen.
Eight days earlier, the coach took shots at them.

Perhaps, it was time for revenge. Giving him a dose of his medication could silence the ''parrot-beaked trainer''.

With over twenty-three years of coaching experience, a holder of a UEFA Pro License (The highest coaching certification available in Europe), and a coaching style full of antics, verbal expressions can't burst the ego of coach Slavko Matic.

Unlike previous compatriots; Ratomir Dujkovic (The first coach to qualify Ghana to the world cup in 2006) and Milovan Rajevac (The coach who oversaw Ghana's best world cup performance in 2010) who kept cool heads on benches on match days, Matic is an animated type of coach who speaks his mind without fear or favour.

His thirty-four-day coaching job at Arda Khardzhali is the empirical evidence.

Writer: Nyarko-Boateng Emmanuel (King Kooemma)