John Boye will have a new trainer at Rennes if he remains at the club.

Ghana duo John Boye and John Boye will have a new coach at Rennes for next season if they  stay at the club following the appointment of Philippe Montanier.

Montanier has agreed a three-year contract and will replace departing trainer Frederic Antonetti.

The Real Sociedad coach will be joined by assistant Michel Troin in Brittany.

The 48-year-old has been at the helm of the Spanish side since June 2011 and has guided to a UEFA Champions League qualifying spot.

Boye has been linked with a move away from the club after strings of impressive performances.

Mensah was signed by Antonetti for six months but the centre-back could not make a huge impact due to injuries.

Rennes are 11th in Ligue 1 with one fixture remaining.

Ghana FA

Tema Youth are in serious danger of being relegated from the Ghana top-flight after their protest against Ashantigold was thrown out by the Disciplinary Committee (DC) on Tuesday.

The DC dismissed Tema Youth’s protest that Ashantigold’s used an unqualified player MALIK AKOWUAH in their match on 17^th April 2013.

The case of Tema Youth is that the player was unqualified to play the match because he had received three yellow cards.

However, the claim was rejected by the Ghana FA’s adjudicating body citing various reasons for their rejection of Tema Youth’s case.

“Disciplinary Committee is of the opinion that on a true and proper interpretation of Articles 29 (i) (b) and 39 (5) the GFA is required to inform the clubs in writing upon the 1^st and 2^nd offences of the player,” a statement of the Ghana FA read.

“There is no evidence that this was done such that after the 3^rd offence he could be suspended.

“Furthermore in respect of the letter of the GFA dated 17^th April 2013 the player was suspended for a specific match (Match day 22) and he was therefore eligible to play in the match day 20 game with Tema Youth.

“In the circumstances, the Committee finds the protest as without merit and it is accordingly dismissed.”

The decision leave Tema Youth in 14th position in the 16-team league with 27 points, three adrift of Heart of Lions who are placed 13th

There are three matches remaining in the season.

Saban Quaye (middle) has confirmed his departure from Liberty Professionals

Nii Saban Quaye has confirmed his departure from Liberty Professionals as their team manager.

Quaye has quit his role at the scientific soccer lads on mutual grounds.

Reports have suggested the Black Stars team manager was unhappy with accusations he masterminded their 3-1 defeat against Hearts in a Premier League game.

“I have resigned from the club on mutual grounds. There is no bad-blood between the two parties,” Quaye said

“I am happy to have worked with Liberty and still remain part of the family.”

Quaye wants to concentrate on his duties with the Black Stars with reports linking him with a return to Hearts refusing to wash-away.

Essien will return to Chelsea

Incoming Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho has told the English Premier club not to listen to offers for Michael Essien after the Ghanaian emerged as a target for some clubs.

The midfielder has been a subject of interest from clubs in the Premier League and Italy, after it was speculated that he has no future at Stamford Bridge next season.

Essien, who is currently on loan at Real Madrid, will revert to Chelsea at the ned of his loan spell with the Spanish giants.

Previous Chelsea coach Roberto Di Matteo declared him surplus to requirements which resulted in Mourinho taking Essien on loan with Real Madrid which left the Ghanaian’s long-term future with the Blues in doubt.

This resulted in West Ham manager Sam Allardyce seeking the signature of the Ghanaian while Inter Milan were said to be interested in him.

But with the Portuguese manager returning to the English side at the start of next season after mutually ending his contract with Real Madrid, Mourinho has told Chelsea management not to listen to offers for the Ghanaian, according to reports in the Spanish media.

The 30-year-old was once a key player in Chelsea’s starting lineup, earning a reputation for his strong play from midfield, as well as an ability to score the occasional long-range wonder-goal.

Injuries have disrupted his career in recent years, and he has found himself down the pecking order at the club under their various different managers over the last two seasons.

However, Essien seems to be returning to his best form after his stint at Real Madrid especially by acting as a utility player at the Bernebeu.

Essien’s current contract expires in 2015, and he could move for around £5million, significantly less than the £24.4million the Blues paid to sign him from Lyon in 2005, which at the time made him the most expensive African player in the history of the game.

Ghana’s Black Stars have enjoyed tremendous support from Kumasi fans

By Patrick Akoto

Some Kumasi fans plan to boycott Ghana’s potential World Cup decider against Zambia in protest against a Ghana FA ban on Kumasi Asante Kotoko following recent violence at their home match.

The Porcupine Warriors have been in the news for all the wrong reasons after the Baba Yara stadium was temporarily shut down by the Ghanaian FA due to crowd violence.

Irate fans of the club attacked match officials and Medeama players during their bad-tempered clash in Kumasi two weeks ago.

Unhappy with the decision of the Executive Committee of the Ghana FA, the club have confirmed plans to boycott all competitions in the country with the exception of the Ghana Premier League.

They have withdrawn from this year’s President Cup which falls on July 1 in a move to drum home their unhappiness with the home ban.

Fans of Kumasi, whom many are Kotoko supporters, are determined to go a notch higher by boycotting the Black Stars World Cup qualifier against Zambia in September.

The Ghanaian national team have enjoyed tremendous support over the years with fans of Kumasi playing leading role in the team’s success in the qualifying campaign so far.

Kumasi fans have carved a niche for themselves for usually comporting themselves even in the face of defeat for their teams.

But recent crowd troubles has dented a rather fine image in the country.

Kwesi Appiah

Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah has asked the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to consider amending its rules regarding injured players at the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Black Stars coach made the suggestion during the recent CAF Symposium to analyse 2012 and 2013 editions of Africa’s flagship football competition.

CAF regulations prevent sides from replacing their players when they injured during the three-week competition.

Appiah was hit with a similar incident prior to this year’s Nations Cup in South Africa when striker Richmond Boakye-Yiadom but could not be replaced.

GFA technical director Oti Akenteng, who attended the 3-day Symposium with Kwasi Appiah, in an interview with Joy sports noted that, Appiah’s suggestion was welcomed by the many participants of the event.

”He (Kwasi Appiah) also came out with a wonderful suggestion which I’m sure CAF is going to sit down to deliberate on,” said Oti Akenteng.

”He suggested that in future within the Afcon tournament whiles the matches are going on and you have injury situations which probably rules out your key players , there should be a way for the coaches to invite players who were not originally named in the squad for the tournament.

”This idea was applauded by the other coaches and the officials of CAF noted they were going to deliberate on the issue.”

Ghana has been afflicted by injuries during recent Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.

Liberia FA chief Musa Bility

The Liberia Football Association (LFA) has postponed this week’s three-nation tournament in Monrovia that includes Ghana.

The local Black Stars were scheduled to play Guinea and the host nation from 24-26 May.

However, the LFA wrote to the Ghana Football Association (GFA) on Tuesday afternoon informing the GFA of the decision by the country’s government to postpone the tournament to next month.

“This tournament is governmental and that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed us of the change for which we have decided to have same communicated to you at this time,” the letter from the LFA read.

The tournament, which is being organised to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the African Union, will now be played from June 28-30 in Monrovia.

The GFA will meet to decide on its next line of action.

Ghana defender David Addy ready for Portuguese Cup final against Benfica

By Ameenu Shardow

Ghana defender David Addy says Vitoria Guimaraes are determined to win their first Portuguese Cup final against Benfica.

The Conquerors will be making their latest attempt to win the coveted trophy this Sunday after emerging runners up on five previous occasions.

Guimaraes have excelled this term – finishing 6^th in the Portuguese top flight and winning an Europa League spot following their surge to the cup final where wounded giants; Benfica who lost the league title to rivals Porto awaits.

But Addy who has had a fruitful run under manager Rui Vitoria and recognizes the difficulty in the task ahead insists his side will fight to snatch the Portuguese Cup from Benfica.

“The final with Benfica is a big game for me and my club,” he told GHANAsoccernet.com.

“We are fully focused and looking forward to our biggest game this season.

“We remain hopeful we can come out successful at the end of the game, we will fight to and see where it takes us.”