Revealed: How Chelsea put a gypsy curse on Joe Cole

By David Anderson

Published 09:30 18/08/10

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Poor old Joe Cole.

The only luck he has had since joining Liverpool has been the bad kind.

Between being axed by Fabio Capello and being sent off for the first time on his league debut against Arsenal, he isn't having the greatest of times at Anfield.

He could be forgiven for thinking he has been jinxed - and he would be right.

This column can reveal Cole is the subject of a gypsy curse instigated by his former club Chelsea.

The animosity began when Cole chose to join Liverpool on a free transfer from Stamford Bridge.

The Blues had expected him to mess up his career by moving across town to White Hart Lane or joining the English Galaticos at Eastlands rather than sign for one of their bitterest rivals.

Chairman Bruce Buck revealed their anger when he took a swipe at Cole for joining what he called "a smallish club somewhere north of the M25" in a typically classless act.

This was just a taster of the Blues' venom and they brought in a gypsy, who specialises in black magic, to ensure their former star met with a few mishaps on Merseyside.

The gypsy took a few goes to get the curse right because he was confused by which Cole the club wanted him to target.

He accidentally put the curse on Cheryl Cole first and within hours she was laid low by malaria in Africa.

He then put it on Ashley Cole, but his life has been such a car crash in recent months that no-one noticed.

He tried again and got Carlton Cole and the striker thought he was about to join Liverpool from West Ham when the curse struck.

After some help from Chelsea, the gypsy finally identified his intended victim and soon after the curse was laid, Cole lost his England place.

Then came his red card against Arsenal just 45 minutes into the new campaign and a three-match ban.

Liverpool have experienced curses before and they thought Rafa Benitez had been targeted because everything he touched turned to dust last season until they discovered it was because he was rubbish.

They have told Cole of the curse and the midfielder has taken to wearing a lucky rabbit's foot and a four-leaf clover.

However this will only give partial protection from the curse and the only way to lift it is by scoring the winner for Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.

That's if the curse doesn't finish him off first and Roy Hodgson offloads him on loan to Tranmere in January.

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