Veteran Coach Bashir Hayford says he will continue to be with Heart of Lions for the upcoming season as he has not figured out yet where to go next.
He stressed, however, that he wants to continue to prove a point at the club after a sterling 2024/25 season, coming on the back of a season the club escaped relegation by a whisker.
The Kpando-based side placed second behind Bibiani Goldstars last season.
In an exclusive interview on Onua TV‘s Agoro Fie on Wednesday, July 2, the Lions coach said he could have left after rescuing the club from relegation in the 2023/24 season.
“It was a rescue mission and so I could have left [after accomplishing that] but I said, no, let me prove a point,” he told host Isaac Ansah Apagya.
“This was because a lot of talks were that matches were fixed for us and we won easily just to escape relegation.
“I can say on authority that the same players that escaped relegation were the same that nearly annexed the league title.”
Coach Hayford recounts how he could not get assistants for the task at then beleaguered Heart of Lions.
According to him, most of the assistants he eyed told him they could not be part of an imminent relegation as even the media had written off Heart of Lions.
But he said with the help of Stephen Ahorlu, the Goalkeepers’ Trainer, they managed to beat relegation.
Bashir Hayford singled out current Asante Coach Head Coach Abdul-Karim Zito for mention, saying he recommended him for the job.
He said after being contacted himself, Zito told the officials that he, Hayford, was the only coach capable of rescuing the team from relegation.
“All belongs to history and we are going to start again and I still want to prove a point.”
