Former Portsmouth defender aids sacked Watford boss’ quick-fire return as ex-Reading, Ipswich Town and Stoke City man takes on new role
He was a £2m Premier League player who joined Pompey amid turmoil after their top-flight relegation. The former Reading favourite helped steady the ship on the pitch at Fratton though - and is now set to aid the sacked Watford boss’ managerial return.
He aided a rare season of on-pitch stability amid Pompey’s tumble down the English football pyramid.
But it was a stay which wasn’t without frustration, as former Blues defender Ibrahima Sonko spent periods of the 2010-11 campaign in the stands as a result of EFL rules over loan players.
Former Championship Pompey man set to land role in Belgium
With Pompey in administration and under a transfer embargo after dropping out of the Premier League, new boss Steve Cotterill turned to Sonko to bolster his ridiculously threadbare squad ahead of their Championship campaign.
The arrival from Stoke was afforded £14,000-a-week wages on a season-long loan, going on to make 27 Pompey appearances as Cotterill’s side finished 16th amid the instability.
Given the turmoil behind the scenes that was a success, with the Blues later dropping down to League Two in two further relegations.
Sonko went on to play for Ipswich Town the following season and later in Turkey before his playing career drew to a close.
Now the man who played at the highest level in England with the likes of Stoke and Hull City is set to aid former Watford boss Ed Still, who has quickly returned to the game following his sacking at Watford last month after just three months in the role.
The brother of former Southampton boss Will Still was announced as new boss of Belgian side RAAL La Louviere - 17 days on from his Vicarage Road exit.
The News understands Sonko is now set to be appointed as Still’s assistant at the Pro League outfit, who avoided top-flight relegation this season.
The 45-year-old spent time with Christian Burgess at Royale Union Saint-Gilloise last season with the club’s under-21 team, before taking on a similar role at OH Leuven.
Now he’s set to move into the senior game with the club who were reborn nine years ago, after going bankrupt in 2009.
Sonko is remembered as being a powerful and popular presence in his time at Pompey, but he also knew frustration as the result of EFL limiting clubs to naming five loanees in their matchday squad.
With the club still in financial difficulties, Pompey had seven loanees in Cotterill squad’s - meaning Sonko was left in the stands despite being fit.
He said at the time: ‘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.
‘I had to sit in the stands and watch my team lose because the rules mean I could not even be in the squad.
‘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. So to them I must have looked like some lazy footballer who could not be bothered to play.
‘I was one of seven players on loan because the club was struggling to sign players permanently. The problems started when we got injuries.
‘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.
‘It ended with me sitting in the stands while the manager did not have enough players to fill the bench!
‘Portsmouth were paying me around £14,000 a week to do nothing. It sounds lovely but it wasn't.’