KOTOKO REJECT DON BORTEY (GRAPHIC NSEMPA, BACK PAGE MARCH 29, 2010)

By Kwame Asare Boadu, Kumasi

KUMASI Asante Kotoko have rejected moves by Bernard Don Bortey to join the club.
The Hearts of Oak player last week expressed interest in joining Asante Kotoko after playing for Hearts for nine years.
He told some radio stations in Kumasi that he had contacted Sarfo Gyamfi, a management member of Kotoko, over his decision to join Kotoko.
Bortey admitted having a contract with Hearts, but said he did not want to have anything to do with the club again.
He was not particularly happy about what he described as his mistreatment at Hearts.
According to him, after long years with the team, it appeared some people are still not pleased with his efforts.
He, therefore, pleaded with the management of Hearts to terminate his contract so he could join any club of his choice.
Bortey stated that he still has football in him and added he has a lot to offer as a player should he join Kotoko.
However, in a swift response, the management of Kotoko said they had no interest in the player.
According to the management, Bortey could look elsewhere and not Kotoko, if he had lost interest in Hearts.
This is the second time Don Bortey had expressed interest in joining Kotoko.
In the first case about five seasons ago, he even trained with Kotoko only to vamoose without their knowledge.
He was alleged to have taken some money from Kotoko at the time and never returned it.
The Kotoko management might have leant a lesson from the past and decided to stay off the player this time.
But opinion was divided within the support base of Kotoko about the player’s desire to join the club.
While some of the supporters welcomed the news, others said it would be disastrous for management to go for the attacker.
To those who welcomed the move, Bortey might have regretted what he did to Kotoko in the past and was thus, ready to play his part in building Kotoko this time round.
According to them, the player is still a force in Ghana football and his presence in Kotoko can change things for the better.
They argued that Kotoko lacked experience players who can encouraged the young ones, and also turn difficult matches around for the team.
They, therefore, urged management to go in for the player.
However, the pessimists insisted that the player could hardly change and that his desired move could be one of his usual tricks.
They further indicated that Bortey’s form had dipped and could therefore, not be better than the present Kotoko players.