Gentleman's agreement prevents Boco's Pompey reunion

Pompey have a gentleman's agreement that Rommy Boco will not face them tomorrow night.
Former Pompey utlility player Rommy BocoFormer Pompey utlility player Rommy Boco
Former Pompey utlility player Rommy Boco

The versatile player left Fratton Park in January following a mutual decision to end his contract six months early.

That allowed the 30-year-old to join Accrington Stanley as a free agent.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

As part of that switch, Paul Cook sought agreement Boco would not be able to feature against his former club in their next meeting.

That fixture is tomorrow tonight, with the Blues travelling to the Crown Ground (7.45pm).

Similarly, Nigel Atangana (Leyton Orient) and James Dunne (Cambridge United) didn’t play against Pompey after departing in January.

Boco has made seven appearances and scored twice for John Coleman’s side since his arrival.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But Cook is not expecting him to feature in the clash between clubs positioned in fourth and fifth in League Two.

He said: ‘I don’t Boco think will play.

‘You are doing these teams favours sometimes, we are helping them.

‘We help teams with our players, we don’t hinder them, and sometimes you just expect that little bit back.

‘There is a gentleman’s agreement about Boco, it has been respected so far and I’m sure John will do the same.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

‘When I was at Chesterfield we didn’t help anyone out, we always had enough players in the squad. At Portsmouth we seem to have too many.

‘A lot of times it is our job to make sure players move on. There are no problems with lads coming back after that, but not for the first game when you have just helped the club.

‘The way we saw it, Boco could go and get another contract at another club in January, it might be for a longer time.

‘There were limited opportunities for him here and he has done well for Accrington.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

‘Sometimes with our squad now it’s hard to keep the lads happy that we’ve got and I don’t like large squads, I think it leads to bad attitudes.

‘I like a small tight-knit squad where everyone wants to do well.’

Boco made five appearances for Pompey following his September 2015 arrival.

The Benin international had previously spent the summer training with Pompey ahead of the Indian I-League.

However, after negotiating his departure from Bharat FC, he signed a Blues deal until the summer of 2016.

He was an unused substitute in Accrington’s goalless draw at Wimbledon on Saturday.