Ghana's search for a new coach will go on a little longer than expected after money and health issues knocked favourite Josef Hickersberger from his top spot billing.

Ghana Football Association attention has now turned to German, Volcke Finke and former French striker Jean Pierre Papin as the search for Claude LeRoy's assistant reaches a near desperate point.

The Black Stars could be playing Qatar in a friendly on August 20th and the GFA are hoping the new man will be in place by then but it is the 2010 qualifier against Libya in Tripoli on September 5 that is fuelling the renewed energy in the search.

Officials of the GFA met Finke, the 60-year old former Freiburg manager in Accra on Wednesday and are set to do same with Papin, the Marseille goal scoring great who played alongside Abedi Ayew Pele in their 1991 European Cup losing side.

It is the 2010 qualifier against Libya in Tripoli on September 5 that is fuelling the renewed energy in the search

Kick Off opinion

The GFA has had to look elsewhere after failing to reach an agreement with Hickersberger. The Austrian was their first choice after meeting the GFA in Amsterdam when they interviewed two other potential bosses.

But his refusal to budge from his 60,000 dollar a month asking price and insistence on travelling at least once a month to Austria for medical check up led to a breakdown in the deal.

It's a development that will thrill many in Ghana given the negative reaction to news that he was the front runner after the Amsterdam interviews. Despite a CV that included world cup appearances as a player and coach, European Champions League experience and EURO 2008 appearance, he won little sympathy in the Ghanaian media who insisted a man with a record of seven wins out of twenty five was not good enough for the Black Stars.

Yet the new names in the frame do not have CV's that will trigger a party. Finke is famed for his long stretch at Freiburg in Germany where he did sixteen straight years as coach.

That makes him the longest serving manager in the history of professional football in Germany. But many of those sixteen years were spent in the second division. He guided Freiburg to three promotions in 1993, 1998 and 2003 as well as two UEFA Cup appearances in 1995 and 2005.

KickOffGhana.com understands those credentials did not win over the search committee when they met Finke in Accra.

The other name in the frame Papin has a great playing career and a poor coaching record so far. He brought RC Strasbourg up to the French league 1 before taking over at RC Lens who were then relegated to the French Second Division at the end of last season.