Cole at last Bridging gap with Stamford faithful

ASHLEY COLE seems to be winning over the Chelsea faithful and it’s about time. He was a very unpopular signing for a number of reasons. Obviously the long-term association with Arsenal was never going to make him an instant hit; that he was seen as taking the place of the popular Wayne Bridge also made some dislike him, which is hardly fair.

Ashley’s high-profile marriage and frequent appearances in the show-biz pages of the tabloids haven’t helped the public’s perception of him either, but I think he has become somewhat of a target by the red-tops. I’d wager that on at least a couple of occasions the so-called incidences he has been involved in have been largely engineered by the aforementioned journalists. But supporters need to put any pre-conceptions behind them and just recognise that the first season apart, he has been an outstanding signing. He has contained some of the greatest players in the world and in doing so has hugely contributed to our win ratio. It’s a contribution that has not gone unnoticed by his team mates as they voted him player of the season last year even if the supporters did not (I did!).

I have met him briefly on a couple of occasions and I can only speak as I find; he was polite, modest and more intelligent than your average player.