With a day to the kickoff of the Ghana Premier League, Joy Sports Benedict Owusu predicts his title contenders for the season.Will any of these teams be smiling come the end of the season or will one of  the other 13 teams not mentioned cause a huge upset?

ADUANA STARS

In the 2014/15 Ghana Premier league season, Aduana Stars finished 3rd with 46 points just 6 points behind Champions AshantiGold. Obviously, the management of the club in evaluating how last season went knew they could put things right to challenge for the title in the coming season.

Owner of the club Nana Agyemang Badu II and CEO Albert Commey have transformed the team in so many ways; motivation for players, recruiting “good” players and relationship with fans has been amazing. The Dormaa based side has signed players like Richard Mpong, Joseph Addo from Kotoko as well Yahaya Mohammed formerly of Kotoko. Noah Martey also joined from Bechem United and one thing they did so well was keeping their best players- goalkeeper Stephen Adams, Godfred Saka and among others. It is always good for a club to keep their good players – because these players understand the philosophy of the club and it is always easy for them to guide the new ones that join- and that is exactly what Aduana Stars has done.

A decade ago, it was only Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak that attracted the best of players and because of the pedigree of the teams, local players were always keen on joining either of the teams. This trend changed some 5 years ago when Berekum Chelsea emerged with their powerful financial backing. Currently at Aduana Stars, owner Nana Agyemang Badu II has made the club so attractive to the extent that players are rushing to join. In that aspect it puts them in a good way for the players to give their all in the coming season. Good players have been brought in, new additions are solid and with the financial backing this I think makes them very sound to compete well in the 2015/16 season.

 
ASANTE KOTOKO

Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaboulous-  “Y3 team no ay3 yi3” ( our team is on form)- a conversation between two Kotoko fans I bumped into at Abossey Okai last week. The expectation for Kotoko to do well this season is no joke- the fans will not take anything aside the team winning week in week out in the coming season. Why this? Two answers I have- the first one is got to do with the form of the team in pre-season. Coach David Duncan and his team have been the best team in the off season. They have won three trophies- Swag Cup, G6 tournament and Akwasidae Cup and also winning 95% percent of their friendly games. Secondly, they have signed as many as 14 new players, YES, 14 new players- not just players but they have signed the best of players.

So tell me which fan will look at all these and not expect the team to do well. For me the fans are right to have that high expectation.
Also it is a real test for my good friend David Duncan, despite how he came in last season he managed to finish second with a team that he didn’t start the league with. This time he has signed his own players, had the opportunity to play lots of trial matches with them so I think Duncan has no excuse.
Everything that a team needs to do well has been done for the Porcupine Warriors so by virtue of that it makes them favourites to win this season’s league.

 
ASHANTIGOLD

Champions AshantiGold are also favourites to win the 2015/16 Ghana premier league title.  It is normal for every team that wins a league title the previous season to come into the new season with the hope of defending it. That is enough motivation for the players and officials to give their all in that regard.
AshGold also in their own way did some business in the transfer window, they brought in players like the Nuhu brothers from New Edubiase, Emmanuel Nti Mensah Dauda Mohammed,  Hudu Yakubu, Prince Amoah, Daniel Addo and Frederick Quayson. They also managed to lure midfielder Kadri Mohammed to stay after he publicly expressed his desire to move on. The players brought in are equally good and I am not too sure they will be missing the likes of Yakubu Mohammed, Bernard Morrison and Lawrence Lartey who left the club.

They have the backing of owners Anglogold Ashanti and new sponsor Permafix to excel in the league.
The only problem I foresee is if they go far in the CAF Champions League it will definitely affect their premier league campaign. They don’t have the team to play and participate well in the two competitions. So it is either the CAF Champions league or the Ghana Premier League. But I tell you what it doesn’t look good for them in the CAF Champions league so I know their focus will be on the league.

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