Is Ashley Cole the most repulsive footballer ever?
“Cashley Hole” has made headlines in many of the tabloids in recent weeks for his off-field activities. Last night the Chelsea left-back returned to the back pages after committing a quite disgraceful tackle on Spurs full-back Alan Hutton – a player who has already missed a almost a year of football due to a broken leg.
The tackle was awful and has been compared to Martin Taylor’s assault on Eduardo. But, what was worse, was the England left-back’s reaction to the booking he received. In the same week that the FA called for more respect for referees, Cole’s display of petulance, turning his back on referee Mike Riley, and arguing that he shouldn’t have been booked for what was in fact a red-card offence, was a disgrace.
Cole illustrates everything that is wrong with modern footballers. His ridiculously over the top celebration after scoring Chelsea’s fourth at West Ham a few weeks ago exuded pure egotism, and could have started a riot. Even Chelsea fans decline to stick up for Cole – who must be the most universally hated footballer in England.
The only positive for those that despise Cole is that he has clearly made a poor career move by joining Chelsea to simply line his pockets with more cash. At Arsenal he was a marauding full-back whose wing play complemented Robert Pires in front of him who often drifted inside. At Stamford Bridge he rarely ventures into the opposing half (his goal at West Ham was his first for the Blues) and Cole is arguably not even the first-choice left-back at the Bridge (no pun intended - Wayne Bridge started the Carling Cup final).
***
One other note from last night’s thriller at the Lane. Neil Ashton in the Daily Mail compared Michael Essien’s goal, which was not even the best goal scored in the 4-4 draw, to Glenn Hoddle’s classic chip against Watford:
“Essien responded with a performance that once earmarked him as one of European football’s brightest talents. Finally, they got a game out of him last night. And a goal. His chip from outside the area was reminiscent of Glenn Hoddle’s glorious goal against Watford at Vicarage Road way back in 1985. Yes, it was that good.”
Neil Ashton should be ashamed. Hoddle’s classic can be seen here.
March 20th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Cole made a attempt for the ball and was just beaten to it by Hutton. The game is so fast these days and Cole was only a fraction of a second from making a great tackle. How about having a go at Zakora for the hospital ball he gave Hutton.
Stop this hysteria! Tackling is a part of the game and a skill in itself. Cole mistimed his tackle and caught Hutton late. Booking was fair enough.
March 20th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
if martin taylor should be banned for life, and be vilified by football fans and pros around the world and have his fa disciplinary file sent to fifa, ashley cole should at least get the same treatment.
that foul last night was far worse than taylors - studs up and very high highlighting eduardos bad luck - but only warranted a yellow. i think everyone agrees that was the wrong decision but that’s only half the disgrace.
the reaction was absolutely disgusting.
fair enough bad tackles happen and mistakes are made but at least accept it when you commit one. martin taylor admitted it was a bad tackle and accepted the red. cole argues and sees nothing wrong with his conduct. if he honestly thinks there was nothing wrong with that tackle hes going to do a lot of damage one day.
for me cole’s behaviour is far more damaging to football than taylor’s. taylor acknowledged he’d done wrong and everyone agreed. cole wouldnt acknowledge it and now we’re going to see loads of kids making knee high challenges and denying any wrong doing. he is whats wrong with football.
fair play to ramos - he refused to criticise the ref and didnt make rash and ridiculous remarks about cole - more class than wenger will ever have
March 20th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
A real stain on the game for sure though sadly such is the dearth of talent in the left back position that we are likely to see more of Cole rather than less. Wayne Bridge\’s performance against Croatia still ranks for me as the worst individual performance I\’ve seen of all time.
I agree with Knowlsey that too many players are getting caught out by a fast game and simply making bad tackles. I don\’t necessarily think the game is more thuggish that it ever was in the 70s or early 80s. If anything it is harder to get away with stuff.
It is the attitude that stinks though and Cashley is one of the worst. He still lives off the hype of one good performance against Portugal alas.
March 20th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Don\’t over-criticize Cole. Yes. His tackle was a bad one and the referee was right to book him but am I the only one who noticed that the Adrenalin kept pumping at 100% throughout that game?!?! A sending off would have surely led to a severe boiling over of emotions and energy. I\’m sure the referee was taking this into consideration in the split second he had to make a decision on how to best discipline Cole. Bad tackling and massive egos are a reality of the game and so is \’real passion and desire to win it for your club\’. We are in no place to say that Cole didn\’t have that desire at the top of his mind when he made that tackle. I\’m sure all players did at that point in the game and pretty much for the entire game.
It\’s all Adrenalin, Nerves and Grinding Passion that led to these events imo. Let\’s not forget that it\’s probably for those reasons that the match was such a nail-biting classic - a true wholehearted display of the beautiful game!
March 20th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
The tackle was dreadful a lunge in the true sense of the word. However the ref needs to be criticised for allowing that kind of reaction to take place. If a player isn\’t going to stand and listen to the referee and take the punishment he\’s being given it should be a another yellow card. The spineless treatment of players by referees is not helping situations. Referees are in charge of the game and thus the players have to do as they say. If told to stand and listen, they stand and listen if told to go away they go away.
March 21st, 2008 at 1:19 am
About time this scum got called for the cunt that he is.
March 21st, 2008 at 5:39 pm
He desereved a red card. The best way to stamp out this bad behavior is to give them what they deserve. In the short-term it might damage the asthetics of a few games but the long-term result would be improved behavior and a more enjoyable game.
March 26th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Marginal decision, and few refs would have given a Red card for that - and anyone who compares it to the the Eduardo event is just plain daft - Hutton’s leg was in the air, not planted in the turf, the impact was pretty light (yes seriously - go back and look) and of course it was in the air - so was Hutton’s foot and the ball.
I accept that Ashley made a fool of himself by arguing with the ref, but look at where the complaints are all coming from - The Sun, Sky & The Times. Now who was it that Ashley sued successfully a year or two ago? And who have been running aggressive anti Ashley campaigns ever since - does no one remember?