Complacent Cole deserves boos
Mon Oct 13 08:57AM
Early Doors never thought it would see anybody leap to Ashley Cole's defence.
This is a man who embodies everything odious about the modern game. Who left his boyhood club to chase money; who became the face (or the back) of anti-respect when he turned away from a referee; who played the field despite landing a pop star wife; who published a remarkably self-pitying autobiography that sold only 4000 copies.
Now he is cast as a victim after England fans booed him for his calamitous pass that led to Kazakhstan's goal on Saturday.
Words like 'disgraceful', 'mindless' and 'idiots' are bandied about by players, managers and pundits who reach the po-faced conclusion that anyone who booed Cole is worse than Hitler.
First of all, there is the namby-pamby argument that nobody should be subjected to public ridicule.
Tell that to Ashley's more successful other half Cheryl, currently appearing on a TV programme that has spent the last two months laughing at poor saps who think they can sing but can't.
Next comes the claim that the fans are to blame for England's poor home record. Wembley will never become a fortress unless people get behind the team and show unwavering support.
Surely this puts the cart before the horse? Fans wouldn't be booing if the team wasn't so crap.
The crowd had already endured 68 minutes of utter tosh with some patience before Cole's party piece allowed Zhambyl Kukeyev to race through and score the most embarrassing goal England have conceded since Davide 'General' Gualtieri took just eight seconds to beat David Seaman for San Marino.
Rio Ferdinand also deserves blame, incidentally. If he had reacted to Cole's ricket as quickly as Kukeyev did, he would have cut the ball out easily.
Only then did the jeers rain down on Cole. But it is important to understand that he wasn't booed for the mistake as much as what the mistake represented.
For reasons that are painfully obvious, Early Doors doesn't condone booing people for incompetence. Cole was guilty of more than that.
That San Marino goal in 1993 came from another left-back error, by Stuart Pearce. He under-hit a backpass and San Marino scored. But it was merely rubbish, not reprehensible.
When people say Cole didn't make his mistake on purpose, they are wrong. Of course he did it on purpose.
ED doesn't mean he deliberately gave away a goal. But he knew that the pass was showy and risky, and he played it anyway because it was only Kazakhstan.
In nearly a decade of club football, has Cole ever done anything as stupid as that? (On the pitch, that is.) Would he ever, in a million years, think of doing that for Chelsea? Of course not.
Cole personified the entire England team, which was suffused with complacency. Where the 4-1 win in Croatia was full of urgency, drive and ambition, Saturday's match was totally flat.
England were so convinced that goals would come by divine right, they couldn't be bothered to make anything happen.
It was the same at the back. In the first half, rather than making an obvious clearance, Matthew Upson attempted a dangerous backpass to David James. Presumably because booting the ball into Row Z against such lowly opposition would have been embarrassing.
A couple of minutes before the first goal, Kazakhstan nearly scored after Cole was caught miles out of position.
Where was he? Vomiting on the floor of a black cab? Watching X-Factor? Debating some p*ss-take contract offer?
Clearly, England were not trying, and Cole was the worst offender.
Clubs and the FA are happy to view football as a product when it suits them. They take full advantage when people pay huge sums to consume football matches, replica shirts, Peter Crouch calendars and Wes Brown alarm clocks.
Despite this relentless commercialisation, there seems to remain an old-fashioned view that the people who shell out thousands of pounds a year for this tat should not be viewed as discriminating customers.
They are expected to shell out £70 a head for tickets, get a crappy old train to a dank corner of North-West London (no parking at English grounds, obviously), spend another tenner on a programme, then buy overpriced hot dogs and fizzy drinks.
And then they are expected not to complain when they see something as lifeless and complacent as the first 70 minutes against Kazakhstan?
Nobody is forcing people to come to football matches. If they are not entertained, they won't be back. That's business. And if you don't want football to be a business, bring prices back down to 1966 levels, when World Cup tickets set you back all of seven bob.
Otherwise, you must expect people to make their voices heard when they feel short-changed.
And who said unconditional support was the best way to help your team win, anyway? Why is it that fans are expected to sit there (sorry, stand there) and cheer, clap and whoop, whatever fetid tripe their team feeds them?
Managers who take this approach - well, Kevin Keegan - are ridiculed for it. There are times when you need a good old-fashion rollicking to sort things out - and the booing of Cole was the fans' version of the hairdryer treatment.
Players are mollycoddled and protected from reality enough as it is. Do they really need fans to overlook their failings and give them a pat on the back they clearly don't deserve?
England's performance in general - and Cole's in particular - was unacceptable and they needed to be told so.
Things improved markedly after the booing started - do you think it was a coincidence? Well, yes, it probably was.
The late glut of goals probably had less to do with the abuse meted out to Cole than England's realisation that defending set-pieces is no more a part of Kazakh culture than naked wrestling or the running of the Jew.
But it's fun to boo Ashley Cole.
- - -
Disagree with the above? Well, you're in good company. Jonathan Symcox explains why booing simply isn't on. And Reda Maher agrees with him. Early Doors thinks they are both fools.
- - -
QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Steven Gerrard: "It's up to the manager whether he plays me and Frank [Lampard] in central midfield or plays a three and changes the formation."
Only for the staggering arrogance in Gerrard's statement. It hasn't even occurred to him that he might be dropped.
EXCHANGE OF THE WEEKEND: Paul Dickov on Goals on Sunday, proving he is just as troublesome as a pundit as he was as a player.
Pleasingly, Robbie Savage was the target of his mischief, forcing Chris Kamara to defuse a potentially embarrassing situation.
Savage on Scotland 'striker' Chris Iwelumo: "I didn't expect to hear that sound coming out of his mouth."
Dickov: "Why?"
Savage: "Well, er.."
[Awkward silence...]
Kamara: "Because he's coloured!! HAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! It's OK, you can say it!!!"
- - -
FOREIGN VIEW: Early Doors is bracing itself for the worst. Despite France coming from two goals down to draw in Romania on Saturday, the most entertaining man in international football could still get the push. The French FA meets on Wednesday to discuss Raymond Domenech's position.
Also. Where's the rate it button at the top of this page? There's one for "Complacent Cole does Not Deserve Boos".
From clintsrhythm on Mon Oct 13 11:52AMI don't know what the fuss is all about. Cashley is a disgrace to football and a bad example to all kids out there. He married cheryl for the fame and left arsenal for the money. I hope england produce a better left back so we wont have to use him again. The english are the most passionate fans around, they arent booing the team because there are bad, everyone has a bad game or two. Its the fact that some players lack passion for there country and dont play as well as they do for their clubs. End of the day, wots the fuss about booing your own team, remember barca last year waving white flags? Its funny how no fuss was made about that but alot is made on england! I think everyone has become PLATINI!
From fsdama on Mon Oct 13 11:53AMPlease start a pole on whether Cole deserves boos or not.
From clintsrhythm on Mon Oct 13 11:55AMIm a realistic england fan, im not stupid enough to think we are better than brazil. If theres a world cup i want my nation to be a part of it. For crying out loud top of our qualifying group, 4-1 away win against croatia, things ARE looking up as we were not even part of euro 2008. Get behind england if ur english and stop being arrogant b@st@rds. U might aswell just support ur glorified club teams if u r going to be like that!!
From jay8my on Mon Oct 13 11:56AMkgh & Jay - In my Opinion England are almost garuanteed their spot in South Africa and hopefully Ireland can at least make the playoffs, Ireland are far from playing quality football either but maybe they can start taking advantage of the current situation of the table starting with the Cypriots on Wednesday night, nothing less than 3 points will do. They need to take at least 90% of the points from Croker.
As far as the rest go, I think we can discount N Ireland's chances, Scotland may have a chance but I think Norway will pip them to the playoffs.
Wales again have a slim chance but I think they were unfortunate to get the toughest draw of the home nations and will really struggle!From kevin1985kane on Mon Oct 13 12:00PMyou all having a go at ashly but it would be a much bigger mistake iff he was not on the pitch.would you do the same to john terry.
From kane_c_45 on Mon Oct 13 12:01PMhi what is all the fuss the guy made a mistake! do we slate him like beckham,james,robinson ect.believe it or not these guys are human,as for his personal life what the hell has it to do with us?theres not such a thing as i perfect person and the nearset guy got cruxcified!!!come on lets not go out after every england game to destroy the talents we have!!!!!!!
From d_whites on Mon Oct 13 12:03PMJay, Iam behind the English football team but are their own players? As I said England don't pay their wages - their own clubs do! If England were to contract their team like the English Cricket Board do and award them annual contracts THEN you would see a more players playing to the best of their skills. Money Talks very loud!
From jonathangrosskopf on Mon Oct 13 12:04PMRoberto Carlos was a good winger but a poor full-back, just as anyone with an understanding of the game will appreciate. Roberto Carlos became a legend, but then he wasn't saddled with this English culture of hatred for celebrities. If the boos were for Cole's lifestyle choices and his perceived conduct in his transfer dealings (and it's pretty clear they were), they have no place at an England game. Perversely, Gerrard didn't suffer the same punishment, despite the fact that he was probably the worst player on view, had his worst-ever game in an England shirt (and ther have been a few BAD ones recently), and deserves to be dropped.
From burtonscouts on Mon Oct 13 12:04PMThis whole Kumbaya we're-all-in-agreement thing is really brokeback. England sucks. Cole is one of yours. He may be @#$% but i guess it hurts that he's the best you've got. Pretty self-loathing if you ask me.
From helmza on Mon Oct 13 12:05PMhi kev,
scotalnd have no chance now, its just a shambles.
the main thing we had in the last campaign was a tight knit sqaud and management team. weve lost that, and fortress hampden isnt as frightning anymore. cant see us taking a point away to the dutch which is a minimum requirement now, and we have to beat them at hampden also.
hope im wrong but its an uphill battle, and the way we looked on saturday against a very average norway doesnt fill me with confidence.
on the other hand x factor was good, that diana burd was awesome like
From marcgrant7 on Mon Oct 13 12:05PMgreat article, cole is a little girl who deserves to be booed, hopefully they will give ferdinand some mor of the same. Anyone who nearly crashes there car in anger as he has only neen offered 65k a week deserves all the stick they get, come on england fans stick the boot into ferdinand so he can take his ball and never play again
From stephen.sullivan1 on Mon Oct 13 12:07PMid rather watch the under 21s than the senior team,more passion....
From smparry on Mon Oct 13 12:07PMI COULDNT AGREE MORE WITH THE ARTICLE, BOO HIM AS MUCH AS YOU CAN EVERYONE AND DONT GIVE ME THIS @#$% ABOUT , NOT DOING ANYTHING FOR THIER CONFIDENCE AND ITS A DISGRACE .........NO HES A DISGRACE TO HIS GORGEOUS WIFE , HIS FAMILY AND HIS FRIENDS FOR THE WAY HE PRESENTS HIMSELF. IF I WAS ON 70 GRAND A WEEK 100,000 PEOPLE COULD BOO ME AND ID STILL TRY 100%.
From hubbard.stuart on Mon Oct 13 12:07PMmoney does talk,but thats the society we live in!greed all the way top to bottom.but you would think that the players still have pride for there country to play for caps not cash.
From d_whites on Mon Oct 13 12:08PMIsn't it weird that Ashley Cole got all that abuse because everyone thought he was gay after the media reports at almost EXACTLY the same time that Cheryl got arrested in a nightclub for a racist attack on a black member of staff? And then Hey Presto! they are married. Seems like a marriage of convenience for PR reasons if you ask me, did Ashley really cheat on one of the best looking celebrities in the world with a slapper hairdresser or is this just a set-up in the lead up to the inevitable break up. You decide
From agentblue_99 on Mon Oct 13 12:08PMjonathan, they do get their petrol money, an official england suit and a free tracksuit, on top of a bonus if they win a major tournament lol. Theres no where near as much money in cricket to compare it with football. I think players do have pride when they put on the england shirt...theres just a bit of fear, but capello has identified that and is working on it.
From jay8my on Mon Oct 13 12:08PMGreat article. When will an England manager have the guts to drop so called big name players for the good of overall team morale. That would mean bye-bye Cole, Gerrard, Ferdinand and Rooney. It must be demoralising for some of our excellent 'fringe' players to know they will never get a decent run even when the 'stars' can't be bothered. Capello, be bold and deflate some ego's
From tenbaynhamrd on Mon Oct 13 12:10PMWhat a load of tosh! He miss-kicked a ball! I suppose the ED is paid to write something so comes out with all this @#$%!
From nigelsevier on Mon Oct 13 12:11PMmarc "diana burd" lol ur even spelling things how u say them for us.
From jay8my on Mon Oct 13 12:11PMAbsolutely correct, if you are paid a King's ransom to play a game you should take the rough with the smooth. Cole moved for monetary reasons only and probably broke FA rules into the bargain; everyone but Chelsea fans (but would they be so forgiving if it had gone the other way !)should boo Cole for being the ingrate he is, not simply for one poor pass Incidentally, a quote that was equally as damning for Robbie Savage, was the arrogant and ill-considered way in which he glibly said "(clean my own kit)... no I slip an apprentice a couple of hundred quid to wash it for me !" Smug @#$% !
From hopkins766 on Mon Oct 13 12:14PMi smell jealousy!!
From jay8my on Mon Oct 13 12:15PMMarc - Yeah she is pretty good, she has got the whole sinead O'connor thing going on (without the shaved head) which is kinda scary, she will go along way in the show!
I had to pull the pin on the whole sensation white idea because two of the lads who were gonna go with me decided they were gonna go travelling so instead I booked 4 tickets for Eric Prydz and 4 tickets for Paul van Dyk both in the O2 Arena in London in November (Who said Novembers were boring?) Nice alternative though!
From kevin1985kane on Mon Oct 13 12:16PMI've never before thought booing your own player made any sense. On Saturday, NOT booing Cole would have made no sense. I agree entirely with the ED summary, but would also add that he's not been the same player since his move from Arsenal. Now let me make it quite clear, I'm no Chelsea-hater - I simply think that Cole has brought the game into disrepute over the last few years, and his action with that backpass was simply shorthand for everything he's become. Sadly, because I think he's a great player, still. Now of course the booing couldn't help the team on Saturday, but maybe, just maybe, it'll make one or two of them think about their actions on and off the pitch.
From nickbroberts on Mon Oct 13 12:16PM'Ferdinand and Rooney. ' You really believe these two should be dropped? Rooney ran his b*llocks' off a scored 2, Rio got the game on the right track by scoring a captains goal? Why should they be dropped?
From andy_23w on Mon Oct 13 12:18PMYahoo Sport Editors. Please start a poll "Cole - To Boo or Not To Boo. That is the Question"
From clintsrhythm on Mon Oct 13 12:20PMtotally agree with the article. I think that Frank Lampard must be seeing some other player if he thinks,as he said on Saturday, Ashley Cole is the best left back in the world. I live in Portugal and saw him play in a friendly here in the Algarve. Granted he was supposed to be marking Luis Figo but all he did was ball watch and lost his man every time. There are far better left backs playing non league football than Ashlee Cole. When he plays he is a bad as Ronaldo for looking at the big screen and making sure that he looks the part. Unlike Ronaldo though his brain seems to be somewhere else and not on the game.
From preustace on Mon Oct 13 12:20PMEnglish fans booing their OWN team deserve to be called MORONS. Talk about batting (cheering) for the other side. *shakes head*
From kathchampion on Mon Oct 13 12:21PMjay, haha didnt evn realise til u mentioned it!
From marcgrant7 on Mon Oct 13 12:21PMED are racist!!!
keep condemning ur own players...
how come england could be be world cup wnners if they keep blaming n booing their players...
i think ED writer are man u supporter...u sucks!!!
From pokawe_88 on Mon Oct 13 12:22PM
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