Ashley Cole Bashers At It Again?

Ok, so the fact that Ashley Cole is about as popular in football as Victoria Beckham would be at a weightwatchers class, isn’t exactly headline news.

The Chelsea defender has never, and will never be in line to win any popularity contests, whether he’s being judged on the manner in which he left his former club and the subsequent admissions in his book, his petulant behaviour on the field or his disgraceful behaviour off it, Cole is just easy to dislike.

As a Chelsea supporter this can be a difficult one to take. After all, it’s not ideal in a side where we already have Frank Lampard, John Terry, and Didier Drogba—all of whom appear to have missed out where the popularity gongs are concerned—and to add a player like Ashley Cole to the ranks just gives the opposition a somewhat bigger stick to beat us with.

 

For all the positive PR work Scolari has done since his arrival—and I do think Chelsea’s pretty poor PR before his arrival is something he’s keen to address—I’m not sure there’s anything he can do as far as Ashley Cole is concerned.

 

Scolari has definitely had an impact on Cole’s game with us seeing a return to the sort of form that had us involved in dodgy deals and unwanted publicity in order to sign him in the first place. There’s also been something of a calmer look about the players on the pitch since Scolari’s arrival as well.

 

And yet, it seems that where Ashley Cole is concerned, any change in his temperament will need to be of saintly proportions in order for it to be acknowledged.

 

You see, after the weekend’s game against Liverpool, a game in which they appeared intent on seeing just how many dodgy tackles they could get away with, I read an article where their Sunday League challenges were completely overlooked in favour of focusing on Ashley Cole’s.

 

Regarding Cole’s yellow card against Liverpool, it said “His booking for a wild swipe at Jamie Carragher was a reminder that the England full back is still a caricature for all the worst aspects of footballers.”

 

Now don’t get me wrong, despite having already defended Cole against his treatment at the mouths of a few moronic England supporters, I don’t actually like the bloke and defending him is not something I intend to make a habit of.

 

However, to highlight Cole’s offence in a game that was full of them as far as Liverpool were concerned, smacks of a pretty precious point of view.

 

Besides, it’s his first yellow this season, I’m sure there’ll be more worthy cards to have a go at!