Source: Team_Talk
Sonko: Mess must be sorted
Stoke City defender Ibrahima Sonko has lifted the lid on a 'dreadful' three years, saying his situation is "a mess which needs to be sorted".[LNB] Sonko has revealed his frustrations at rules that have forced him to watch on from the stands but still take home his wages.[LNB]The Senegal international joined Portsmouth on loan last campaign, but tallied just 17 Championship starts for the South Coast club.[LNB]Sonko was restricted from representing Pompey as rules state a team can only have five loan players in the squad on a match day.[LNB]He told The Sun: "This has been a dreadful experience. I've taken the money because that's what is in the contract. But all I've wanted to do is go out and earn it.[LNB]"I've been caught in an infuriating web of rules and red tape which some managers are not even sure about.[LNB]"At Portsmouth I had to sit in the stands and watch my team lose because the rules mean I could not even be in the squad.[LNB]"The fans are sitting around me and God knows what they think? I'm sure that if many clubs don't even know the rules, then they don't.[LNB]"So to them I must have looked like some lazy footballer - picking up almost £20,000 a week but could not be bothered to play.[LNB]"The last three years have been a mess and it needs to be sorted. Far from being lazy I feel like I've been restricted from doing my work.[LNB]"What other business would have such complex rules that stop people moving around and getting the best out of themselves?"[LNB]Sonko joined Stoke from Reading in 2008 and has since had a loan spell at Hull City, where he made just nine league starts, as well as at Portsmouth.[LNB]Of his time at Fratton Park, Sonko reflected: "I was one of seven players on loan because the club was struggling to sign players permanently. The problems started when we got injuries.[LNB]"There were gaps all over the team except in defence. The rules state you can only have five loan players in the squad on match day so I made way.[LNB]"It ended with me sitting in the stands while the manager did not have enough players to fill the bench![LNB]"Portsmouth were paying me around £14,000 a week to do nothing. It sounds lovely but it wasn't.[LNB]"It just seems as if the rules are holding players back. We would often get different answers from different people at the Premier League and Football League.[LNB]"Clubs are confused, managers have no idea and players are stuck in the middle."
