A genius squandered by England: Joe Cole is the new Hoddle.. and he's right to face down Chelsea

By John Cross

Published 06:02 11/03/10

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In years to come, we will look back upon Joe Cole as a new version of Glenn Hoddle.

The most naturally gifted English player of his generation and yet hopelessly underused and misused by a succession of international managers.

Hoddle was exactly the same. A brilliant midfielder for Tottenham and yet he was wasted on England because where exactly was he supposed to fit into our rigid 4-4-2 system?

As a result, Hoddle won only 52 caps and, despite that being a lot by most standards, his talent merited far more. It should have made him England's Roberto Baggio or Zinedine Zidane.

At least Hoddle was always regarded as a legend at Tottenham. He was a brilliant playmaker, and manager after manager built their team around him and Hoddle enjoyed success at White Hart Lane.

Sadly, the same cannot be said of Joe Cole at Chelsea. And Cole has been largely wasted for England, too. At the last World Cup, Cole was arguably England's best player.

I always argue that he was anyway.

But I'll lay my cards firmly on the table. I'm a massive Joe Cole fan. Super player, gifted and a really nice bloke to boot. Always says hello and a real breath of fresh air after recent events.

But even in Germany, Cole was shoe-horned into the team on the left side of England's midfield. He's not a left winger. His full talent can't be utilised from there but it's better than nothing.

Since then, Cole has had a succession of injuries which has held back his career for club and country.

But Cole has a magic and style that some of his competitors can't match and is why I still believe he should go to the World Cup. He is far more talented than Shaun Wright-Phillips or James Milner, for that matter.

Some managers had trouble unlocking it. Cole had an odd relationship with Jose Mourinho at Chelsea. After a few public dressing downs, you could never tell whether he rated him or not. And I don't think Cole could either.

But the Special One did at least play him more often than not and use him to good effect. Cole played a major part in Chelsea's brilliant era of success under Mourinho.

However, Carlo Ancelotti clearly doesn't fancy him. And if you talk to any player, if in your subconscious you think the manager doesn't rate you and you can't win him round, then you will never be able to fulfil your potential on the pitch.

That's what is happening with Cole at the moment. He was left on the bench against Stoke in the FA Cup on Sunday, hooked after 45 minutes in the last round against Cardiff.

But in the defeat to Manchester City, Cole started and provided the inspiration and pass which set up Frank Lampard's opening goal. There were worse offenders than Cole, who deserved to be dropped after the subsequent humiliation by City.

However, Cole was back on the bench against Stoke. Clearly, doubts about his future are not helping. I'm not a betting man, but even I'd have a flutter that Cole will sign a new contract and stay at Chelsea.

Cole is a bit like Lampard in that regard. He's loyal, ambitious and yet is in no rush to move anywhere. Chelsea feels like home.

But he should be paid what he's worth. Footballers get paid an obscene amount of money. But they're entertainers, we pay to go to watch them (yes, I do on the rare occasions I'm not working) and surely they deserve their share of the spoils.

Anyway, the clubs can't complain. They started it all. They took wages above the £100,000-a-week level. They made a rod for their own backs.

What annoys me more is the dozens of average players on £20,000-a-week for being squad players. They're the joke. There are good first team players at clubs like Stoke, Birmingham, Wolves and Burnley on well below that.

But, for example, if you work in a garage and do the same sort of job as the guy next to you but he's on £300-a-week and you're on £200-a-week, are you happy?

Of course you want more. With footballers, if you don't want more, then your agent is certainly telling you that you should get more and the player, naturally, believes it.

Cole, we are told wants £120,000-a-week, and the club want to pay £100,000-a-week. John Terry earns £170,000-a-week. Lampard £150,000-a-week.

Just take it back to the guy in the garage and you can see why Cole's representatives are pushing for a better deal.

Furthermore, if Cole leaves on a Bosman-style free transfer this summer, then he can command a better contract than is being offered to him at Chelsea and better even than the £120,000-a-week he covets.

Because, again, the clubs have made a rod for their own backs on this one. They are the ones when Bosmans first came in that gave players huge signing-on fees, loyalty bonuses spread across the course of the whole contract and a huge salary to boot.

The clubs were happy to pay the players what they had saved on a transfer fee if it meant they got the best players. But when the tables are turned on them they don't like it. Well, more fool them.

There's no way at the moment Cole could fit into the strict Tottenham pay structure. Robbie Keane is the top earner on around £60,000-a-week.

Wanna know why Tottenham lost interest in Kenwyne Jones in January? Because he earns too much, he's on around the same as Keane and therefore wouldn't fit into the pay structure. That's Sunderland's centre-forward earning too much for Spurs.

Clubs, like Arsenal, get round the Bosman free transfers by doing what they did with Sol Campbell when they signed him from Spurs in 2001. Big signing-on fee, bonus spread across the contract and then his basic wage fits into the pay structure.

Tottenham could do the same with Cole. Harry Redknapp brought him through at West Ham and loves him. There will be no shortage of takers for Joe Cole. Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson also rates him.

City and United to battle it out for Joe Cole  

Therefore, my sympathy is with Joe Cole on this one rather than Chelsea's. If Chelsea are prepared to pay top dollar for players then they can't do it for some and not all. His current situation only strengthens his hand.

Fabio Capello recently dismissed him as no longer being the player he was. That is purely because he is not playing regularly. Simple as that.

If Cole gets a run of games from now until the end of the season, then the England door could still be open for him. Cole has that magic and spark that England may need in tight World Cup games this summer.

The sooner Chelsea sign up Cole the better. If Ancelotti doesn't rate him, then maybe it's best to move on. But I don't believe Cole wants to leave in his heart of hearts.

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