Joe Cole

[pauliewalnuts]

I am not happy about Joe Cole however he wears our shirt now so we need to stop debating his being here and look forward to something good from him in the coming season.
Time to close this thread and move on.

You could just ignore the thread if you don't want to talk about him, of course.

It'll sink away down the page when people get bored.

[Olneythelonely]

Why would a thread about one of our players be closed? I'm hoping there are plenty of times we'll need this thread over the next two years.

[Tony Erdington]

if we get 15 to 20 games out of Joe Cole I for one think he is a Good edition.

[KevinGage]

I think the issue is whether Cole is to supplement other signings or he's the most ambitious signing we get. If it's the former then I'm fine with it and I think he could be useful. If it's the latter then it's a slightly different matter. Either way though he's better than what we had available, so that's a good thing.

That's the thing.

The way Lambert is talking, he finally believes he's found his 'number 10,' after an epic search.

He's talking about where he will play, and how he will give us something we don't already have.
This doesn't sound like a player signed to add squad depth, or one asked to prove his fitness.

The ongoing comparisons with the Withe, Merson and McGrath deals fall down for a variety of reasons.   Primarily, they were still valuable and highly coveted players when they signed, despite nudging 30.   Withe was part of a strong Nottingham Forest squad who were operating at the top end of the table. Merson had just gone to a World Cup with England.  And McGrath, despite his issues, was wanted by Tottingham and Everton (and Sheff Wed, according to Ron). Ferguson didn't want to sell him to a potential rival though, so gave him the choice of retiring and a payoff or a move to us. 

All three were signed for big fees too, in line with their status at the time.

Joe Cole has been released by a side as poor as West Ham.

If any other clubs who finished roughly around where we did last season had signed Senderos and Cole, I don't think we'd be casting envious glances their way.

To listen to some on here (not you, Paul) you would think expressing concern at this kind of deal is akin to treason.  I haven't seen anyone yet advocating booing Joe Cole, or pelting him with rotten fruit on his home debut.  Of course we'll bloody well get behind him, as we have  with Harewood, Heskey and the many other signings that looked iffy at the time.

[dave.woodhall]

We bought Withe from Newcastle.

[KevinGage]

So we did.  I blame the acid. The overall point remains though.

[Chico Hamilton III]

So we did.  I blame the acid. The overall point remains though.

Yep. And I was much more inclined to trust Ron Saunders' assessment of players than Paul Lambert's.

[adamski villa]

I am not happy about Joe Cole however he wears our shirt now so we need to stop debating his being here and look forward to something good from him in the coming season.
Time to close this thread and move on.

This

Welcome to Villa Park Joe, THE home of football, hope you wear the shirt with pride and give your all.

[malckennedy]

So we did.  I blame the acid. The overall point remains though.

No it doesn't. You said Withe was part of a strong Forest side operating at the top end of the table, whereas he hadn't been at Forest for over 2 years. This backs up the point that he was regarded as past his best rather than supporting your point.

[KevinGage]

Does it bollocks.

He was our record signing at the time. 

And his record at Forest (and Newcastle) for the four years prior to joining us wasn't too shabby either, in sharp contrast to Cole.

[malckennedy]

What were those records? He wasn't even at Forest for their second European Cup win.

You may need a few minutes to look them up, especially as you didn't know he played for Newcastle!

[SW9-VILLA]

Not sure if I already posted in this thread, think I might have been wittering on about it on South London Lions instead and got confused? Anyway, mate of mine is a Hammers season ticket holder and says if we play him centrally he'll be a good addition for us. Fat Sam could never get the best out of him as he's a skillful player who likes to play, rather than hoofing it up to Fatty Nolan and Andy Carroll. He's a model pro as well and will be a good head to have in the dressing room.

Question marks obviously hover over his fitness plus as I've always liked him I'm probably being slightly optimistic, but I think people are letting the general malaise at the club boil over into seeing the worst in anything that the club do at the moment and it's creating a toxic atmosphere. Suppose we'll see soon enough anyway.

[PeterWithesShin]

Withe had something like 9 clubs in 8 or 9 years before joining us, and was a 1 in 3 striker in Division 2 with Newcastle. I doubt many were excited when he signed. And I seriously doubt anyone expected his signing to work out the way it did.

[saunders_heroes]

So we did.  I blame the acid. The overall point remains though.

No it doesn't. You said Withe was part of a strong Forest side operating at the top end of the table, whereas he hadn't been at Forest for over 2 years. This backs up the point that he was regarded as past his best rather than supporting your point.

We broke our transfer record to sign Withe, that doesn't suggest he was past his best.

[KevinGage]

Hmm, well lets see. 

He played 70 odd games for Forest in his two years there and weighed in with his fair share of goals.

He also played 70 odd games for Newcastle before joining us (again, with a healthy goal return).

How many games has Cole played in the last four years?

There is also the little matter of Withe being 29 when he joined:  Only three years younger with Cole then, and without the chequered injury record. Apart from that, the comparisons are sound.

Honestly, we could re-sign Bobby Pires and some halfwit on here would say "Ah! I remember when they wrote off Peter Withe... and we all know how that turned out!"     Everyone who posts that also seems to believe they are the first one to do so, for some weird reason.