Joe Cole signed for the Chelsea when he was just 21-years-old, which was a dream come true for the winger who grew up supporting Chelsea.
After 7 years with his boyhood team, Chelsea refused to meet Cole’s wage demands of £90,000 a week after a couple of dodgy seasons with injury and failure to find form. With contract negotiations failing to get off the ground all season, Cole repeatedly insisted he wanted to stay put.
“I want nothing more than to stay at Chelsea, I love it here,” he said.
It turns out Cole did want something more though. Money.
The club wanted Cole stay but just three days after Ray Wilkins announced Chelsea were desperate to keep their player, it was confirmed no new contract was going to be signed.
“The problem was economic,” said Ancelotti. “It was a problem between the club and Joe Cole, not me. We spoke about this but when the problem is with money, it is not my problem.”
Chelsea didn’t meet his wage demands, United pulled out of the race for the same reason, before Spurs also agreed £90k a week for four years was too much for a player who couldn’t get in Chelsea’s starting team and who hasn’t been the same player since the injury in January 2009.
So, what did the player who parades around in a Chelsea sweatband and claimed he wanted nothing more than to play for Chelsea do? He signed for whichever club would offer him the £90k he was seeking. It didn’t matter what the Chelsea fans thought, it didn’t matter where that club finished last season, it didn’t matter whether he got to play Champions League football or not, because all that mattered was the salary.
“I know I have made the right decision and I am looking forward to the challenge,” he said. “This is a challenge for me. I have played in London all my life. I could have stayed at Chelsea because the fans loved me and I won things, but I wanted to challenge myself and when I knew Liverpool were interested it was a no-brainer because they are the biggest club in the country. This is a massive club.”
What a knife in the heart for every Chelsea fan who has supported this lad over the past seven years. Not only signing for a club who Chelsea fans have developed an increased rivalry and hatred for following their so many European clashes, but to then go on to belittle Chelsea by lauding a team who finished 7th in the league last season and who will seriously struggle to reclaim a Champions League spot any time soon as ‘massive’, something Chelsea sadly know they’re not, is painful. Do remember though, that since Cole became a professional footballer, Liverpool haven’t won a single league title, whilst Chelsea have won three!
Not only that, it is now the Chelsea fans who loved him, not him loving them, something he repeatedly claimed when the Stamford Bridge club were paying his wages. And he didn’t stop there.
“I thought about the semi-final of the Champions League in 2005 when I ran onto the field and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up,” he continued. “I was thinking about playing in that atmosphere every week and that swung it for me.”
Another dig at his boyhood club, hailing the Liverpool atmosphere as so impressive.
Now, Cole may be forgiven for not knowing this, given that he didn’t play during the last European night between Chelsea and Liverpool at Anfield, but Chelsea fans took the piss good and proper. All you could hear were Chelsea songs (all two of them!) that evening, with the commentators noting how quiet Anfield was. The rent boys aren’t famed for their great support, even on away days, which is a good indication of just how shit the Liverpool fans were during that “special European night at Anfield” to be totally outsung by Chelsea!
“Where’s your famous atmosphere?” the Chelsea fans repeatedly mocked with no response from the dippers. Even the Liverpool fans acknowledge that the atmosphere in their stadium is poor these days (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) yet Cole is harping back to an event that happened five years ago as justification for signing for a midtable club.
When it looked as though Cole wasn’t going to agree terms with Chelsea a few months ago, I wanted him to come to United. The chance for him to play under Sir Alex Ferguson, in front of 76,000 fans, alongside the likes of Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, in the Champions League, competing for all trophies, for Manchester United, should have been enough to make him accept any offer. But as soon as United got wind of his overinflated wage demands, it became clear it wasn’t going to happen. Cole, who has done nothing for almost two years now, would be earning more than the likes of Patrice Evra, Darren Fletcher, Nani, Antonio Valencia, Michael Carrick etc. In fact, after Rooney and Ferdinand, he would probably be our highest paid player. It didn’t make sense and if he wasn’t going to budge on the salary, then we were right to show no interest.
There is the potential for him to be great at Liverpool though, with him finding a new lease of life for a different club. Unlike at Chelsea, he will be an important part of the team, used with Gerrard and Torres (if he remains) to build the team around.
But the whole transfer has left me feeling two things really: 1. For a player to earn £90k a week, they have to be central to the team, and quite frankly, we have players who are at least equal to, if not better, than him. He certainly wouldn’t be a starting player every week. Particularly given United’s financial situation (and Liverpool’s!) I’d expect to see a better quality player for that amount of money, particularly given the contract doesn’t expire until he’s 32. 2. Thank goodness Sir Alex Ferguson instils some loyalty and pride in our players. Fancy having one of our players claim to be a United fan, claim to love our fans and club, claim to want to see how their entire career there, only to go on and sign for a club we hated because they offered more money and then bang on about how amazing that new club is. How that club is massive, how the atmosphere there is the best, how it was a ‘no-brainer’ to leave United for that club. It just wouldn’t happen.
For all the frustrations United fans feel at the moment, given the situation the Glazers have put us in, it is nice to know we can take some great things for granted. When looking at our loyal players, the ones who love our club, they want to play for our club because it’s United, they don’t have “sleepless nights” over more money playing for shit clubs, they don’t flirt with other clubs so they can improve their salaries, and they don’t leave us for hated rivals and proceed to bang on about what a great decision that is. It’s all downhill after United Foster said just before leaving and you can’t get your time at United back confessed Ruud. Our club inspires these feelings in the players.
It’s not all rosy at United right now but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take time to reflect on what great things we do have at our club. Sir Alex Ferguson strives to create a brilliant ethos at our club, so that whenever a player joins or leaves, money isn’t the single motivating factor. For that, we really should be grateful.
Man Utd News 24/7
Who??
“Fancy having one of our players claim to be a United fan, claim to love our fans and club, claim to want to see how their entire career there, only to go on and sign for a club we hated because they offered more money and then bang on about how amazing that new club is. How that club is massive, how the atmosphere there is the best, how it was a ‘no-brainer’ to leave United for that club. It just wouldn’t happen.”
Would Carlos ‘Scarface’ Tevez not fall into this category? Going to a rival club for more money before talking it up pretending it was for ‘football’ reasons when we all know it wasn’t. The way he treated the club is the same as how Joe Cole treated Chelski. A few weeks ago I would have loved Cole to join (because he was a good player for free) but the way he’s acted just reminds me of how Chelski turns players into massive walking egos looking to pad their wallet while acting like they are above everyone else and could do whatever they want aka Scum.
Great piece Scott, perfectly described
great read as ever scott!
Im dissapointed with this one, I think he would have fitted into our squad perfectly! Cracking ability and good experience.
was getting excited for a while when it looked like we were in for him! Tried and tested in the league, no gamble. would have one a job!
SAF or the Glazers Budget thought otherwise!
Good article. I never once did mention i like him to come. I dont believe he is higher wages than the rest of the players who have done well over the years.
We can’t break the wages structure that has been at the club for years just for him. Not worth.
From a rentboy to a scouser, epic fail
loughie21 – Tevez is a player who was on loan at United for 2 years… not a player who grew up supporting United and played for us for 7 years! Obviously, still a total cunt, but that goes without saying
Who needs j. cole im glad we didnt sign him he’s got talent just never uses it. god i’d hate to be a greedy shit like that you couldnt apreciate anything in life
TBH Chelsea are now a massive club, Liverpool havent been a “Big” club for years, Have Liverpool ever won the premier league? nope…
No doubt the dippers are by a street mile bigger than Chelsea, but mr Cole, they are not the biggest club in England.
Trevor – You won’t alone in wanting Cole at United, thank fook he went to the dippers.
Disagree, i don’t think Chelsea are a massive club and certainly not bigger than Liverpoo. We went 20 odd years without winning the league, it didn’t mean we were not a big club. I’m gonna go and wash my mouth out now, don’t like talking up the dippers.
Something perfectly symmetrical about yesterday’s player joining yesterday’s manager at yesterday’s club… I’m sure they’ll all enjoy the ride together…
Well it was simple.cole wanted 100k a week.chelsea refused.united refused/werent interested.city didnt want him because he is a free agent.they like to pay obnoxious amounts and buy players.spurs cant afford those wages liverpool were the only club that could pay near that amount.hence he joined them
Using financial logic, this would have made perfect sense for us.
Paying him 90k a week might seem steep and ridiculous, but Cole was bargaining with his free transfer. A player of his level can fairly expect to earn about 50-60k a week, and if you equate the extra 30k over the 4 year contract, it comes out at about £6m…..which is a damn slight less than a player like him would normally cost.
Missed opportunity for us, regardless of his pathetic and disrespectful attempt at pro-liverpool PR job.
well said!
brilliant article!
staggered how sections of the media are claiming that it was not motivated by money!
first things first he didnt sign up again for Chelsea because of money. if he tries to claim he wanted regualr football well when he demanded 120k that didnt really matter to him.
Also he could have joined Spurs where he would be a central player like he hoped but yes Jamie Redknapp works for skysports so what can you do??
The biggest club in the country? If a player in any other country joined the team that finished 7th the previous season and called it the biggest club in the country, he would be a laughing stock. Nice to see that Joe Cole has settled in very quickly and is living off Liverpool’s past. That’s the way to win trophies. The last time Liverpool won the league I was still in kindergarden and now I am going for my second college degree.
As for the atmosphere, oh yes, it was electric in 2005. And it was reminiscent of a library the last time Joe Cole visited it. All because they couldn’t afford to see United as champions.
Yes, that’s the biggest club in the country material…
Good player but not United material.
No point in bemoaning what would never be. If he had trouble breaking into Chelsea’s 11
then he would defo sit bench on Uniteds
“All you could hear were Chelsea songs (all two of them!)”……HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
I’m SOOOOOOO glad we didn’t buy this over-priced Pr*ck!!
@costas
i was a year old shitting in my pants.lol
@Costas:
Hear Hear! Well said mate!
Liverpoo are bigger than Chelsea and we’re bigger than both simples.
I applaud you Scott. This is one of your best articles in a long time. The last 3 paragraphs – Perfection.
Of course the Scousers are bigger than Chelsea. The Rentboys are just a small club. Not in the habit of taking on Chelsea rejects.
Delighted we didn’t sign him. He has scored 11 goals in 3 seasons and had 4 assists. Hardly breathtaking stats. He is injury prone and expensive. I still would like a move for a creative midfielder though. Fergie was never going to pay 90k a week to a 28yr old suseptable to injury.
It’s never good to see anyone you rated go to Liverpool BUT I suppose the only saving grace is that if he’d have gone to Man Utd I think he might have come back to haunt us.
it’s a worry when an old boy does well against you but he could have helped Utd take te title back as I could see Fergie using him well and punishing us . . . . . of course if he really makes a difference at Liverpool I suppose they might make 5th place!
Off topic but I spotted this in the Guardian Sport today…
Rio Ferdinand on Twitter. (reoferdy5)
Yesterday lunchtime he seemed to be questioning the Glazers financial decisions when he wrote:
I wonder What would you do in our position,Would u refrain from making acquisitions,try 2 make a profit or just try 2 make a difference…?
He then backtracked and half an hour later wrote:
And that wasn’t referring to my club!
To which he was asked:
What was it referring to then?
He said:
Life in general.
I think he’ll be in trouble with United for this, we’re known for running a tight ship, one where players don’t usually question the club. I’ve heard before that the club had even banned the players from using social networking sites altogether. Thoughts?
one of the best reads, definetively! So true! “it’s not all rosy at United right now but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take time to reflect on what great things we do have at our club.”
This is why, today, i decided that i will get a tattoo in the neck with an old english font saying
M.U.F.C.
Belive
KLAAS JAN HUNTELAAR IS A LIVERPOOOOOOOOL PLAYER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
City are trying to sign Landon Donovan. There gonna have about 50 players next season.
top quality scott, great article
@Costas
exactly what probably the whole world is thinking right now apart from a few deluded liverpool supporters
Rom’s best articles?
How about a cheeky bid for Ireland?
@willierednut
Yeah, and they’re all moneygrabbing whores. If i ever see one of them winning a trophy, i would cut out my eyes.
Great read, Scott
.
What time is the game?
@Red sam 12:30 i think
scott good read i enjoyed it
@ willierednut
Ireland is a decent player but do we really want an arsehole like him at our club? A proven Premier League player who’s been consistently good without causing any trouble would be ideal. Someone like Arteta or Ashley Young maybe
usually agree with you, but not fully on this one. the sad part is liverpool was the only team in the running that could give him a starting role so i dont think it was all about the money. and im fine with that reason bc it shows how shit the club is in midfield and how low the player is valued now.
I don’t think Fergie would go for Stephen Ireland. I think the rumors regarding our interest in Defour are more credible. Just worried that he hasn’t recovered from his injury yet. Thought he was back to full fitness by now.
I must be the only person on here who thinks that the criticism of Joe Cole is a bit strong; he’s an experienced player with 3 EPL titles under his belt and he has a skill level which is the envy of most professional players; I thought he would have been a shoe-in at United playing as an advanced central midfielder or in “the hole” behind a lone striker.
While I understand the money argument I think the truth is that most of the prospective bidders were put off paying big wages for a player with a poor injury profile; I think United decided not to make an offer because of the wealth of young talent that’s coming through here – SAF has taken taken a gamble on youth over marquee signings (philosophy or finance, I don’t care anymore).
With the options running out Cole has opted for the scousers; this is down to the pulling power of Roy Hodgson (does anyone seriously think he would have signed for Rafa Benitez?). The scouse fans are convinced they’re on the way back and where there’s belief success often follows.
As for wringing the last drop of cash out of a club I can’t help but think of Rio, Vidic(‘s agent), Tevez and a few others; we should not be banging on about other team’s players when some of ours are just as culpable!
I wouldn’t have minded seeing cole in a United shirt.
Shit happens and we move on.
Whoever Davide is some needs to hand him a new pair of undercrackers.
I think he has just shat himself.
arijc – I would wonder how Defour is after that injury, it was a bad one. Eduardo was never the same after his injury.
Cole would have been a great addition to our squad, he certainly adds a bit of quality and he ran our midfield ragged at OT last season.
I am really shocked seeing as though we signed Owen last season on a free.
to be honest, we didnt need him.
we have valencia and nani for his position.
willierednut – Yeah. At least his agent is talking sense by saying that he will only move when he is completely fit. Don’t want a repeat of the Hargreaves situation or the Eduardo one as you rightly pointed out. We should take our time to assess him before thinking of signing him.
As a Chelsea fan I have to agree. My estimation of Cole has gone down since he joined Liverpool. If he had gone to you I could perhaps understand as he would still be competing for major trophies but it seems after everything Cole is more interested in the contents of his wallet than his trophy cabinet…each to their own.
Maybe he was drunk he was saying that a baby in his mothers womb knows that united is the biggest and best club in the word and not the dippers
Well thats the point proved then as normal bye the moderator.
I have thought he was mercinary and they are welcome to him 29 in november of this year says a lot.
Most of this talk about him being brilliant is based on football media and non fan based information, who actually regularly watch there players and clubs.
@Willie at 18.44 TiskTisk, You did say you wanted Cole at United.
@Costas @18.44 Second College degree, you swot you. lol Evening mate.
@Debaser @18.50 YOU are not a Pixie are you, I want to be a Debaser. lol
Glad you have posted on the blog.
So looking forward to the match tonight its gonna be a great game my prediction 4.0 United.
Would love to see Amos get a chance and big game time.
RedScot – Ya, i wanted United to sign Cole, but thats history now.
@Willie, you are just a turn coat and dont stand bye your principles, you are History.
You are no longer my boyfriend. lol
Evening mate I am so excited about the match, hyper, genuinely.
Are you working tonight or off, maybe get some of your sarky comments which I am sure we all laugh at.
Wise moveJoe Cole. Joining the biggest and most prestigious club in the land!
5 TIMES ; WE WON IT FIVE TIMES…………..
ireland is a quality player bit of a fuckin looper but quality nothing that fergy couldnt fix. . he obviously isnt wanted by mankini so definetly worth a cheeky bid
RedScot – I’ll watch the first half mate, early start in the morning. You lost Alan?
@Willie OK well enjoy the first half.
I think Alan was just refecting his feelings on Cole, clearly he is not sad to see him depart!
Biggest club in the country??? They aren’t even the biggest club in the North West!!
I find it funny how the media are lauding his signing as a great acquisition. Funny because when we signed a past-it-injury-prone-has-been it was a sign Fergie was clearly clinically insane.
Anyway, I look forward to us turning on a Barcelona 08 type atmosphere this year for the dippers to show Cole what a decent group of fans sound like!!
send macheda on loan he’s our worst stricke, he has nothing, overrated imo
I don’t think it was about money at all. He ended up going to the lowest standard, highest profile team that would give him a starting place and who have no option but to keep playing him when they found out he wasn’t very good.
He didn’t want a perfectly decent wage at Chelsea if he didn’t play (because he’s not good enough to play). The same applies to Spurs and Arsenal where they have so many alternatives for his position he’d get dropped when they discovered he wasn’t very good. West Ham apparently offered him most money, but even Cole isn’t thick enough to go back there. Liverpool were his only choice. And Cole was Liverpool’s only choice too, whatever the cost.
The truth is, every team that didn’t sign him should be breathing a very big sigh of relief right about now.
I don’t see the problem here. If it was any of us, we wouldn’t be critical about trying to get paid for our skills, particularly since careers here can be pretty short.
Given our wage structure, we understandably didn’t work for us, but what’s wrong with him getting a good wage for a team that is likely to play him a lot?
If you can show me an example of united or any other club being loyal to a player when they didn’t really need to and didn’t really need him, then I’ll grant your criticism.
Guys Cole has some points ,.
Anfield’s atmosphere was fantastic during Chelsea’s match right…..
And Stevie me as well…….
the club’s situation is promising….
Maybe if he gone to Shity I would say he si greed….but going to Anfield makes him idiot
As much as we all want new Signings at Man Utd, I doubt it would happen.. Every other side is make major Improvements, but not Us! WHY???
i think cole just took the first job that came along that came close to the wages he wanted,and now hes trying to justify it in terms of their history/atmos blah blah.if chelsea rated him so highly they wouldnt have paid 6 mill or whatever for Benayhill.i,ll give him about a month of footy and reckon he’ll have an injury recurrence…but lpool will keep playin him and it’ll be treatment room time like torres.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/mikenorrish/100010897/90000-reasons-why-joe-cole-joined-liverpool/
Says it all.
just read it. carraghers great isnt he…’its a message that liverpool mean business!’..a player on a free!! what a pleb. let the badge kissing commence joe!
In point 2 you kind of described Tévez.
Chelsea always had the best away support in the league up until recent years.
They were always the loudest who came to Old Trafford, but that seems to have changed since they won the Prem League.
United were never interested in Joe Cole, his injury record put them off and his style doesnt suit Uniteds formation.
If Liverpool go out of the UEFA Cup early doors, I can see them being strong contenders for the league. Dont let last years eague position fool you. They wll be a much better outfit this season.
Alan – Not like the scousers to live on their history. Fuck me. These cunts are talking like they are gonna win the league. Cockney wideboy “arry” says Spurs can do it. As for Citeh fans pointless competing next season as they have the league sewn up! Christ. The deluded dipper bug is catching.
Shawn – Err because we don’t need to make “major changes” What are these major changes mate? Cole to the scousers and Benayoun to the Rentboys? Ooh scary.
When it comes to my job, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m a greedy b*stard. So I can relate to money hungry footballer a little. There is no such thing as enough money.
” Fancy having one of our players claim to be a United fan, claim to love our fans and club, claim to want to see how their entire career there, only to go on and sign for a club we hated because they offered more money and then bang on about how amazing that new club is. How that club is massive, how the atmosphere there is the best, how it was a ‘no-brainer’ to leave United for that club. It just wouldn’t happen.”
Are you kidding me? What about David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Siddharth K – Eh? At no point did Ronaldo ever claim to love our club or be a lifelong fan. And Beckham didn’t join a club we hated, he didn’t bang on about how amazing that club was, he didn’t claim their atmosphere was the best and he didn’t say leaving United for that club was a ‘no-brainer’.
So, what do you mean?
When looking at our loyal players, the ones who love our club, they want to play for our club because it’s United, they don’t have “sleepless nights” over more money playing for shit clubs, they don’t flirt with other clubs so they can improve their salaries, and they don’t leave us for hated rivals and proceed to bang on about what a great decision that is. It’s all downhill after United Foster said just before leaving and you can’t get your time at United back confessed Ruud. Our club inspires these feelings in the players.
A few sentences say a hell of alot about the type of players we have at our club
Perhaps Tevez is a better example, when you cut it down the Tevez and Cole transfers are very similar in the sense they were both “fan favourites” who said they loved the clubs, only to leave for more money at a lower club and then criticize not only their old clubs but the fans too, which seems strange as the fans both times round, initially anyway had a great deal of support for the players until they disrespected them by belittling the club. Players should realise no matter how much they are loved no player is bigger than the club. the clubs were there before they were born and will be there long after they retire (except maybe Portsmouth of course)