New Asante Kotoko coach Steve Pollack claims his players are still in the title race as the second half of the Ghana Premier League begins this weekend.
Birmingham-born Pollack will take charge of his first league game of the season on Sunday at Tema Youth, armed with a simple yet complicated mandate. The simple bit is that he has to halt Kotoko's recent slide down the league table and get them to finish as high as possible.
The complicated bit relates to just how poorly Kotoko have played recently. The Porcupine Warriors have not won in their last eight league games and are eleven points behind the leaders WAFA, but none of that deters Pollack.
"Kotoko is a big team, there has been a bit of a lapse and hopefully I can get them back up again," Pollack told KweséESPN.
"It will be difficult this season but mathematically we still have a chance because there are 45 points to play for in the second round and we are 11 points behind. We have to do our side of the bargain and win our games and simply put pressure on all the others," he added.
Kotoko is the third Ghanaian club that Pollack is handling in a 10-year association with the Ghana Premier League, after spells at King Faisal and Berekum Chelsea.
He continued: "It is great. When I first came I said I will coach Kotoko one day and today I am so I want to grab it with both hands.
"I know the terrain, I understand the way the teams play, I understand the mentality and how things are done here so that should make it work well for me."
That understanding of the local game has also left Pollack in no doubt about the task he has taken on. Kotoko fans are notoriously impatient and have forced coaches out by locking out training grounds in the past and forcing players to stay inside when they lose games at home.
Pollack sympathised: "I can relate to the supporters and the way they feel so our job is to make them happy.
"They have the right to be angered but I don't like the aggressive abuse that happens sometimes. The supporters need to know we will give everything to get the result everyone needs."
Team captain Amos Frimpong has seen the rage at the recent results first-hand, and has promised things will change in the second half.
He says: "Kotoko is a result-oriented team and even in friendly games they demand so they put pressure on us. It is something we have to live with. It is part of the game so our job is to do better."