AS Roma defender, Ashley Cole, sent out two tweets earlier revealing why he rejected the chance to contribute to a book that has been released by his former-club, Arsenal.
The Gunners have brought out a book to celebrate their achievement back in 2003/2004 of going through a whole season unbeaten, a team which Cole was a part of, but his revealed today that unlike his former-teammates, he WON’T be included in it, this is wrong!
Cole left Arsenal for fierce-rivals, Chelsea, after snubbing a new deal deemed un-acceptable by him and laughable by his agent. In 2006, the left-back was offered a new deal by Arsenal worth £55k-a-week, however Chelsea were offering him a deal worth around £90k.
The Englishman chose to leave Arsenal and it was a deal that saw William Gallas move in the opposite direction. Still to this day, Arsene Wenger claims it’s one of his biggest regrets in football.
Now after he left Arsenal, Cole was less than pleasant to the fans and to the club. He received awful receptions when he returned to play against Arsenal and he wasn’t a liked figure in North London.
However, he still was part of the invincibles and he will almost certainly go down as one of the club’s best ever left-backs. Despite him moving on and leaving Arsenal, he still deserves to have his say on what was an incredible achievement for the club and for him personally.
Cole has had a very successful career, but going unbeaten throughout a whole season must be one of his finest moments, yet due to fear of a backlash from fans, he has refused to have his say on the feat. Ludicrous.
Here is what Cole sent out: ‘People asking why I’m not in the Invincibles book I thought it would be for the best. I didn’t think fans would want it.
‘But I will never forget my times at Arsenal and the amazing achievements I accomplished there with great people.’
Now love him or hate him, I guarantee you mostly hate him if you’re a Gunner, you cannot take away the fact he was part of that team. Cole deserves his say and deserves to be remembered as an Arsenal invincible.
Yes some of the stuff he said was unnecessary and dis-tasteful, but he still was part of that team. Let him contribute to the book because at the end of the day, he was in that team.
Those are my thoughts on the matter anyway. I took to Twitter to see what other Arsenal fans had to say about Cole’s comments and his exclusion from the book.
@GoonerKieAFC: ‘It’s a shame he won’t be a part of Arsenal’s greatest ever achievement simply because of how a few bitter fans may think. No matter what fans think of him he deserves to be praised for what he achieved while at the club.’
@zahar_melamed: ‘He made the choice of not being interviewed. He was a great left back but also sadly a bit of an idiot.’
Charlie Wood: ‘I think that’s pretty stupid. People are only going to look back and remember the great season(s) they had, especially if they’ve bought a book about it. Sure he left, but he was a great player and he will be remembered for it in my opinion. Even if he is a prick.’
@Mathaeus_: ‘He should of been part of it he’s one of the best LBs ever but I understand his reasoning. Arsenal fans would have slated him.’
@PMansonAFC: ‘Obviously we can’t celebrate his part of the achievement as he went to our 2nd/3rd biggest rival, but there’s no doubting how big a part he played in that season. Arguably the clubs best ever left-back. Any Arsenal fan disagreeing is allowing their personal feeling towards him to cloud their judgement. Greatest LB I’ve seen represent Arsenal. Though I hate him.’
So as you can see, most fans are thankful for Cole and highly-rated him during his time at The Arsenal, but they just can’t help slating him when possible. Fair enough though. I’d do the same.
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles
