Ashley Cole deserves to be greeted like a hero, not jeered like a pantomime villain

Blogs.metro.co.uk 06/02/2013

At some point on Wednesday night tonight, a large proportion of the home crowd, perhaps even a majority, will boo Ashley Cole, England’s most consistent performer of the last decade.

A couple of weeks ago I was at the O2 Arena for an NBA game when, as the occasion demanded, the cameras feeding the big screen began picking out the celebrities sat courtside. Some were cheered, some were jeered but the overwhelming response was indifference.

Until the cameras picked out Ashley Cole.
The sight of the Chelsea and England left-back, making a futile attempt to hide under the peak of his baseball cap, was greeted by prolonged, enthusiatic and near-unanimous booing.


Off-field issues wich belong on the news and gossip pages have led to the 32-year-old being cast as one of the nation’s pantomime villains but it remains a real shame that his football hasn’t earned him greater credit.
Since being fast-tracked into the England team in 2001, Cole has proved himself one of the best in the world for over a decade. England’s most-capped full-back, he continues an impressive lineage of men to have worn the England No.3 shirt. For 32 of the past 34 years either Kenny Sansom, Stuart Pearce or Ashley Cole have played left-back for England. They have 263 caps between them but the elder men would probably concede Cole is the pick of the bunch.

 None of England’s so-called Golden Generation have matched Cole for consistent excellence
His international coming-of-age was at Euro 2004, where he placed Cristiano Ronaldo calmly in his back pocket during England’s quarter-final defeat to Portugal. Ever since, Cole has been a dependable constant for his country, defending and attacking with equal ease.

David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard may have offered more promise, and had more of an affect on games, but none has matched Cole for consistency.
I could add an anecdote about him beng a nice fella and loved by his team-mates, but this is about the football. Sure, Ashley Cole has made plenty of bad choices off the field and let himself down more than once but, unlike many, he has never let down his country. For that reason, I hope it’s cheers rather than jeers which greet him on a special night.