Charting the Decline of Joe Cole

“When you’re older, you’ll be able to tell your grandchildren you were at Upton Park the day Joe Cole signed his first professional contract.” West Ham PA announcer, 1998

“Lionel Messi can do some amazing things but, anything he can do, Joe can do as well, if not better.”
Steven Gerrard, August 2010

Still regarded by many as the most gifted player England has produced since Paul Gascoigne, hype is something Joe Cole has had to live with for a very long time.

This is the man parts of England’s World Cup squad almost went to war with Fabio Capello over last summer, and someone who can look in his trophy cabinet and see at least three Premier League and two FA Cup winners medals gleaming back at him, along with more than 50 England caps.

But while this time last year, Cole was seen as the saviour of England’s dismal World Cup campaign, this summer he is contemplating a backward step. A move away from one of England’s biggest clubs and into the second, or maybe even third, tier of Premier League sides.

So how has it come to this and what does it say about the development of English football that a player so gifted, and not yet even 30, is now being ignored and marginalised by some of the game’s top managers?