Andy Cole Appreciation Thread

[SuperBrfc]

I am currently part way through reading the fantastic Issue 107 of 4000 Holes, on the Rovers' 2000-10 era, and having read an excellent piece on Souey and "the myth", I felt inspired to make this thread in order to reminisce about one of the finest strikers in Premier League history.

A man who wore the famous blue and white shirt and scored the key goal to land Rovers the League Cup in Cardiff. The man? Andy Cole. This thread is also a show of support for Coley, after he recently hit out at online critics for disrespecting his name by comparing him with Darwin Nunez. I think he is often viewed unfairly due to silly comments made by Hoddle on his finishing ability. He was certainly no Jason Roberts in the finishing stakes, and 187 Premier League goals tells us that.

Link to the Nunez story here: https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/andy-cole-nunez-liverpool-comparison-28815421

It still makes me proud to think that a top Premier League marksman like Andy Cole played for the Rovers and played a major role in the club being successful.

I remember hearing Coley say in an interview, how he regretted leaving Rovers and wished that he had stayed longer. This is backed up by 4000 Holes, where he is quoted as saying "I so wanted to see out my career at Rovers. That picture in my head had seemed so perfect - great club, family club, great team, scoring goals - but it had gone". Those last four words are in relation to a bust up he had with Souey, which forced him to leave the club. 

The sad thing is, it was just Souey being silly and petty at the time which forced Cole out. He would often call Cole "a myth" and ask him how many European Cups he had won. Banter, maybe? An attempt to gee up Cole, maybe? This spilled over one day during a training ground bust up between them, and that was that for their relationship.

On a brighter note, Cole revealed that Souey apologised to him for what went on at Rovers when the pair bumped into each other at Euro 2016. Water under the bridge now, but damn! It was all so avoidable.

Anyway, a few questions:

How did you feel upon hearing the news that Rovers had signed Cole? Shocked? Excited? Stunned? Was there anybody, apart from Vinjay, thinking "I don't want that United #@/:;"! anywhere near Rovers"?

I'm getting excited thinking about it even now, and he signed almost 22 years ago! (Where have the years gone?) What a signing though. What a statement of intent that was. I was absolutely buzzing at the time about the fact we were getting a top striker in. The reported £8m transfer fee only added to it all. The United link didn't even come into it for me.

What are some of your favourite Cole memories in a Rovers shirt?

Top 3 Cole goals in Rovers colours? Apart from the cup final goal.

I will name my three after having a think, but the goal of his at Loftus Road against Fulham is up there for me. Yellow HSA shirt, Tugay lofted through ball over the top, Cole chests it and smashes it into the net. I simply love that goal. Quality and clinical.

How did you feel when he left the club in 2004?

A clip to remind us of some of his goals. Tugay is the main subject of the video, but it has a few Cole finishes within it.

 

Cole made 99 appearances for Rovers, scoring 37 goals. He helped us to finish 10th in our first season back, helped get us into Europe twice, scored the winner in Cardiff, and played his part in ensuring we stayed up in his last season here. Worth every penny.

Thanks for the memories, Coley. What you did for the Rovers, especially in the cup final, won't be forgotten around these parts.

[SBlue]

I was maybe young and naive at the time, but it didn’t seem a shock that Rovers would spend that kind of money or that he would sign here at all. 

It’s only in hindsight and everything that has followed since that makes me sit here now and think - “Wow, we had Andy Cole”.

Great player, good times.

Edited March 24, 2023 by SBlue

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Signing Dwight Yorke to play alongside him when Jansen got injured ruined him. It was like they were in a competition to see who could run the least.

Cole and Jansen were brilliant together. 

[bluebruce]

This was his best strike for us, albeit not his most important:

 

[Andy]

I really liked Cole; we've been so lucky to have seen the likes of Shearer, Cole, Jansen, Santa Cruz, Bellamy and McCarthy - all top, top players in the Prem.

He linked up so well with the likes of Tugay and Jansen and was really key to the League Cup win and our league successes, in that era.

It's going back a while now, but I suspect my first instinct would have been to wonder if he was still motivated to do a job for us, after his time at United and the way he was forced out by Fergie.

But, boy, was he?

[DE.]

Only one word can sum up Coley's time here...

 

[SuperBrfc]

2 hours ago, SBlue said:

I was maybe young and naive at the time, but it didn’t seem a shock that Rovers would spend that kind of money or that he would sign here at all. 

It’s only in hindsight and everything that has followed since that makes me sit here now and think - “Wow, we had Andy Cole”.

Great player, good times.

I remember being impressed by the £8m fee as the words "club record signing" were mentioned quite a bit in the papers, on news reports etc. The reality of the fee and wages probably didn't really sink in due to being young.

It was also the Champ Man 01/02 era and I was glued to that game at the time. I thought signing him on there for Rovers was an impressive feat, as it was difficult to do. Then when it happened for real...wow! 😁.

I agree though, the mess of the last 12 years really makes me appreciate the signing, and those days, all the more.

[SuperBrfc]

3 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Signing Dwight Yorke to play alongside him when Jansen got injured ruined him. It was like they were in a competition to see who could run the least.

Cole and Jansen were brilliant together. 

I think signing Yorke was a mistake. Him and Cole were a top pairing for the red rats, but by the time Yorke came to us I think his hunger had gone. Some of his traits seemed to rub off on Cole at times too.

I can only remember one good game of Yorke's off the top of my head. Villa away in the FA Cup when we won 4-1 and he scored two.

[Armchair supporter supremo]

I think he was still only 29 and in great shape when we signed him, but we sadly only got a good 6 months out of him before his lazy big time charlie pal dwight showed up and things started turning a bit sour, Souness being a tit with them in training didn't help matters though.

I bet Mark Hughes and has coaching team would have got him firing them in for fun again though had he stuck around a bit longer 

Edited March 24, 2023 by Armchair supporter supremo

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I remember watching the two of them against Sunderland at Ewood. It was a red hot August day and they never got out of a jog all afternoon. On the other hand Kevin Phillips was playing up front for Sunderland and must have covered twice as much ground as Cole and Yorke put together !

[Upside Down]

13 hours ago, bluebruce said:

This was his best strike for us, albeit not his most important:

 

That was the best he scored. Amazing. I think it finished 1-1 that game.

The best part is that lone scouser holding his hands out wide as it sails into the top corner.

The addition of Yorke was the downfall with Cole. It looked good on paper but in practice it was not the case. 

Cole and Jansen were a tremendous partnership. 

[Dreyski]

As well as Jansen, he played well with Stead in the latter’s first season. Stead’s goals dried up after Cole left.

Is he still our record signing?

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Yeah, I’d forgotten about that. I remember Cole crossing a lovely ball that Stead glanced in with a brilliant glided header at Everton that confirmed our survival that season. It was a really skilful header that I reckon if he’d had ten goes at it only one would have gone in.

Edited March 25, 2023 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[bluebruce]

2 hours ago, Dreyski said:

As well as Jansen, he played well with Stead in the latter’s first season. Stead’s goals dried up after Cole left.

Is he still our record signing?

Rhodes was reported as around 8 mill, I don't know which of the two actually cost a bit more.

[Dreams of 1995]

Brilliant memories 

We will be back 

[SuperBrfc]

17 hours ago, Armchair supporter supremo said:

I think he was still only 29 and in great shape when we signed him, but we sadly only got a good 6 months out of him before his lazy big time charlie pal dwight showed up and things started turning a bit sour, Souness being a tit with them in training didn't help matters though.

I bet Mark Hughes and has coaching team would have got him firing them in for fun again though had he stuck around a bit longer 

Yeah, we could have done with Coley that season where we had Dickov, Stead and Bothroyd as forward options.

I also think Coley would have bagged a good few under Hughes. He was still in good goalscoring nick at Fulham and City after he left us, so he had at least a couple more seasons left in him. Plus Yorke left the club in August '04, so that would have likely been a good thing for Cole too.

Talking of Yorke, I've just come across the following interview of his. The nerve of the guy to ask Fergie to allow him to have a year off, after winning the treble, as he felt he had achieved everything in football. No wonder his time at Rovers was as it was. He couldn't be arsed.

https://talksport.com/football/1373293/man-utd-sir-alex-ferguson-dwight-yorke/

[SuperBrfc]

8 hours ago, Upside Down said:

That was the best he scored. Amazing. I think it finished 1-1 that game.

The best part is that lone scouser holding his hands out wide as it sails into the top corner.

The addition of Yorke was the downfall with Cole. It looked good on paper but in practice it was not the case. 

Cole and Jansen were a tremendous partnership. 

His best and most spectacular one. Some of his more simpler looking goals are among my favourites too. Simply because he had that knack of being in the right place and more often than not, finding the net. To think we had the likes of Davies, Ward and Blake just a few years before, Cole was a massive upgrade on them.

I particularly like his two goals against Wednesday in both legs of the Cup Semi due to his clever movement and positioning. Top moves for both goals too.

Cole goal at 1:36 of this clip. Great pass by Dunny to set it off, but look at Cole busting a gut to get in the box. A true goalscorer.

Then we have this beauty at 3:32 below. Looks simple, but that's what top class players can do. The commentator sums it up perfectly. "Quality Premiership goal".

Fantastic memories.

Things are starting to look up for us for the first time in a long, long while. The excitement before the recent Sheff Utd game felt like the old days. I'm looking forward to the business end of the season, with some big games to come. COYB.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

37 minutes ago, SuperBrfc said:

His best and most spectacular one. Some of his more simpler looking goals are among my favourites too. Simply because he had that knack of being in the right place and more often than not, finding the net. To think we had the likes of Davies, Ward and Blake just a few years before, Cole was a massive upgrade on them.

I particularly like his two goals against Wednesday in both legs of the Cup Semi due to his clever movement and positioning. Top moves for both goals too.

Cole goal at 1:36 of this clip. Great pass by Dunny to set it off, but look at Cole busting a gut to get in the box. A true goalscorer.

Then we have this beauty at 3:32 below. Looks simple, but that's what top class players can do. The commentator sums it up perfectly. "Quality Premiership goal".

Fantastic memories.

Things are starting to look up for us for the first time in a long, long while. The excitement before the recent Sheff Utd game felt like the old days. I'm looking forward to the business end of the season, with some big games to come. COYB.

I didn’t show the Flitty red card. We would have won by a street in the second game but for that.

[DeeCee]

On 24/03/2023 at 14:49, SuperBrfc said:

I am currently part way through reading the fantastic Issue 107 of 4000 Holes, on the Rovers' 2000-10 era, and having read an excellent piece on Souey and "the myth", I felt inspired to make this thread in order to reminisce about one of the finest strikers in Premier League history.

A man who wore the famous blue and white shirt and scored the key goal to land Rovers the League Cup in Cardiff. The man? Andy Cole. This thread is also a show of support for Coley, after he recently hit out at online critics for disrespecting his name by comparing him with Darwin Nunez. I think he is often viewed unfairly due to silly comments made by Hoddle on his finishing ability. He was certainly no Jason Roberts in the finishing stakes, and 187 Premier League goals tells us that.

Link to the Nunez story here: https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/andy-cole-nunez-liverpool-comparison-28815421

It still makes me proud to think that a top Premier League marksman like Andy Cole played for the Rovers and played a major role in the club being successful.

I remember hearing Coley say in an interview, how he regretted leaving Rovers and wished that he had stayed longer. This is backed up by 4000 Holes, where he is quoted as saying "I so wanted to see out my career at Rovers. That picture in my head had seemed so perfect - great club, family club, great team, scoring goals - but it had gone". Those last four words are in relation to a bust up he had with Souey, which forced him to leave the club. 

The sad thing is, it was just Souey being silly and petty at the time which forced Cole out. He would often call Cole "a myth" and ask him how many European Cups he had won. Banter, maybe? An attempt to gee up Cole, maybe? This spilled over one day during a training ground bust up between them, and that was that for their relationship.

On a brighter note, Cole revealed that Souey apologised to him for what went on at Rovers when the pair bumped into each other at Euro 2016. Water under the bridge now, but damn! It was all so avoidable.

Anyway, a few questions:

How did you feel upon hearing the news that Rovers had signed Cole? Shocked? Excited? Stunned? Was there anybody, apart from Vinjay, thinking "I don't want that United #@/:;"! anywhere near Rovers"?

I'm getting excited thinking about it even now, and he signed almost 22 years ago! (Where have the years gone?) What a signing though. What a statement of intent that was. I was absolutely buzzing at the time about the fact we were getting a top striker in. The reported £8m transfer fee only added to it all. The United link didn't even come into it for me.

What are some of your favourite Cole memories in a Rovers shirt?

Top 3 Cole goals in Rovers colours? Apart from the cup final goal.

I will name my three after having a think, but the goal of his at Loftus Road against Fulham is up there for me. Yellow HSA shirt, Tugay lofted through ball over the top, Cole chests it and smashes it into the net. I simply love that goal. Quality and clinical.

How did you feel when he left the club in 2004?

A clip to remind us of some of his goals. Tugay is the main subject of the video, but it has a few Cole finishes within it.

 

Cole made 99 appearances for Rovers, scoring 37 goals. He helped us to finish 10th in our first season back, helped get us into Europe twice, scored the winner in Cardiff, and played his part in ensuring we stayed up in his last season here. Worth every penny.

Thanks for the memories, Coley. What you did for the Rovers, especially in the cup final, won't be forgotten around these parts.

We're you a fan? 😁 Great player, great goalscorer, I was stunned positively, he did us proud 👍

[SuperBrfc]

Good interview with Coley here, if anybody is interested. It's with a United fan channel so it is mainly about his time there.

However, he does tell the Waggott story at 36:15 for a couple of minutes up until around 39:45.

He also briefly talks about Rovers towards the end at around 1:30:36, with some nice words about the club and John Williams.

 

[47er]

On 26/03/2023 at 06:42, DeeCee said:

We're you a fan? 😁 Great player, great goalscorer, I was stunned positively, he did us proud 👍

Loved the one Cole smashed in at the near post. Needed a lot of confidence and skill that one.

What a player Tugay was! I honestly feel that if he created those chances today we would miss them all!

[roverandout]

On 24/03/2023 at 19:32, Andy said:

I really liked Cole; we've been so lucky to have seen the likes of Shearer, Cole, Jansen, Santa Cruz, Bellamy and McCarthy - all top, top players in the Prem.

He linked up so well with the likes of Tugay and Jansen and was really key to the League Cup win and our league successes, in that era.

It's going back a while now, but I suspect my first instinct would have been to wonder if he was still motivated to do a job for us, after his time at United and the way he was forced out by Fergie.

But, boy, was he?

Sutton?

[roverandout]

I think Cole only signed for us to give himself one last opportunity to go to the world cup.  As soon as he was omitted from the squad he retired from international football.  It was a bit childish.  Then again England had a plethora of world class strikers during cole's time 

[SuperBrfc]

10 minutes ago, roverandout said:

I think Cole only signed for us to give himself one last opportunity to go to the world cup.

Yeah, he said as much. He wanted to play first team football and was hoping to make it into the England squad for the 2002 World Cup.

He also said in that interview posted above, and elsewhere, that his intention was to finish his career at Rovers. He only left due to falling out with Souness.

[SuperBrfc]

All of Cole's goals for Rovers in one video. Brilliant. I had forgotten about the goal away at Pompey. Goal 31. The skill to nutmeg the defender and a drilled finish. That's in my top 3.