ASHLEY COLE IS RELIEVED THAT HIS new career with Chelsea is under way. The ashes of his protracted move from Arsenal, one of the most bitter transfer wrangles in English football history, may still be smouldering, yet time will eventually heal, perhaps even before Chelsea’s Barclays Premiership visit to the Emirates Stadium on May 5, which could prove to be the 2006-07 title decider.
Cole is thick-skinned, anyway. When mud is thrown in his direction, unless of a deeply personal nature, little of it sticks. He is not afraid to hurl some himself, either, especially when he feels that he has been hard done by, when the game’s money men do not appear to have kept their promises to him. His gritty nature emerges, he fights his corner with relish.
Yet there is a date in the not-too-distant future that Cole at his most feisty is dreading. The night before Chelsea renew West London hostilities with Fulham at Craven Cottage on September 23, he will be expected to sing for his supper. An initiation rite that even the superstars, Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack, have been unable to escape, Cole will have to tunefully entertain his new team-mates.
“No, I haven’t sung a song yet,” Cole said. “I gather you have to do it before the first away game and it’s something that I’m really scared about. I’m just not looking forward to it at all.”
John Terry, the Chelsea captain, is looking forward to it. As team leader and the voice of the dressing-room, he will make sure that Cole does not get off lightly. “Ash is getting brown pants right now about what he’s going to do for his song,” Terry, with a marked lack of sympathy or decorum, said.
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Before then, Cole has time to integrate into the club’s less daunting habits, such as winning matches in the Champions League and Premiership. Chelsea take on Werder Bremen in the former at Stamford Bridge tomorrow evening and Liverpool in the latter on Sunday. A piece of cake, probably, compared with his pre-Craven Cottage torture.
As ever, José Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, looks at the bigger picture and views the arrival of Cole as a boost to the national team. “We now have the best of English,” Mourinho said. “Frank Lampard, John Terry, Ashley, Wayne Bridge, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Joe Cole. Six players in Steve McClaren’s squad. It really looks like Chelsea is doing something for English football.”
For now, Cole is more concerned about club than country. “Stamford Bridge is just inspirational,” he said. “Great facilities, noisy fans. When I came here to play, I always found it inspirational. I know that I have to prove myself to the Chelsea fans and everyone. I’m looking forward to working for years under this management and, hopefully, winning lots of trophies together.”
The Champions League trophy is a top priority. Cole came within touching distance of the European Cup last season, when Arsenal were beaten by Barcelona in the final in Paris, and he has never been one to settle for second-best.
“It was hard to see the cup so close to my hands and not be able to pick it up,” he said. “It has made me want to drive on and do it this time. The Chelsea lads have been close as well, maybe not in the final, but they want to win it, too.
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“It was a great day in Paris but so disappointing at the end. It was tough to walk past the other players celebrating with the trophy. I’m not saying I’ve got a better chance of winning it here, but I’ve got a good chance. It is a big ambition for me.”
Barcelona defeated Chelsea en route to the final last season. In the leg at Stamford Bridge, Asier Del Horno was sent off for a foul on Lionel Messi, the Barcelona winger, although Mourinho claimed that Messi had been play-acting. The teams will meet again, at the group stage, this season.
“I watched the games against Barcelona with friends at home,” Cole said. “Hopefully, if I come up against Messi this time, I’ll stop him. Now I’m at Chelsea, I feel like a new man. It’s a new start for me and I’m hungry for more medals.”