NO EASY WAY IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE (NSEMPA, PAGE 23)

BY George Ernest Asare, Kumasi.

With the premier league entering the home stretch, there is intense struggle at the top and the bottom of the league table.
While some of the clubs are fighting to get into the final top four, others are moving heaven and earth to escape relegation.
With 57 points at the time of going to press, and with only four matches to end the league, it is only Kumasi Asante Kotoko who could be assured that it has both legs firmly planted among the top four clubs in the competition.
Supporters of the Porcupine Warriors can also breathe an air of confidence that the 2007/2008 Premier league trophy will find its way to the Garden City .
This is because with accumulated points of 57, it will be extremely difficult for Kotoko to be dethroned from the top of the league ladder.
Other clubs likely to make it to the top four are- Kpando Heart of Lions, who have accumulated 47 points, Dansoman Liberty Professionals with 44 points, and Obuasi Ashantigold -with 41 points.
While these four clubs are doing everything possible to maintain their positions at the top of the league so as to participate in the more lucrative African champions league, or the less endowed CAF Confederation Cup competitions, others like Berekum Arsenals on 39 points, Hearts of Oak, Keesben F/C and King Faisal, all on 35 points are breathing hard on the neck of Heart of Lions, Liberty Professionals and Ashantigold, hoping that they would falter along the way while they won all their matches.
Life at the bottom of the league is perhaps the most interesting.
With only four matches to end the league, as many as seven teams feel threatened and could find themselves in the soccer wilderness if they fail to win all the four matches ahead of them.
With only 23 points and firmly rooted at the bottom of the league, Accra Great Olympics need more than a miracle to catapult them out of the bottom of the league and place them at a respectable position that would enable them participate in the next premier league.
Zaytuna F/C, Hasaacas, Tema Youth, Real Sportive, Wa All Stars are all in danger and can go on relegation if they do not get better results in their last four matches.
As the competition gets keener and keener, the need for referees to be fair and firm is very important.
Of late, some coaches, including Sir Cecil Jones Attuquefio who see soccer fans to condemn referees for their poor performances.
Players who cannot contain their anger when they feel cheated by referees, sometimes forget about sportsmanship by turning the pitch into a boxing arena, and venting their spleen on referees.
The Okwahu United and Nania F/C experience, where they succeeded in turning Ghana soccer into a basket ball tournament with cricket score lines in their last matches, should not be repeated at the home stretch period of the premier league.
Last minute, they say, is always dangerous, so there is the need for the Ghana Football Association, and all stakeholders to be vigilant to ensure that, referees, soccer administrators and fans, do not pull strings that would give undue advantage to some clubs to either escape relegation or jump into the top four.
It is only when the league ends successfully that companies that doled out money to sponsor the competition, or sponsored some of the participated clubs in the league would get their monies worth, and be prepared to do it the next time round.