December 29 – Cole on the Move | On This Football Day

December 29 – Cole on the Move

A LOT of people in football have very short memories, but fortunately we are not among them. We remember a time long long ago in a division far far away (not really) when Graeme Souness was regarded as quite a good manager. Not only that but Andy ahem, sorry, Andrew Cole was thought of as quite the goal-machine.

This day in 2001 saw the two of them united as Souey paid £7.5million to take Cole from Manchester United to Blackburn Rovers.

At the time Cole was no longer first choice up front for United despite six hugely successful years at Old Trafford where he had won trophies galore and formed part of one of the most lethal front lines in football with grinning Tabagan Dwight Yorke.

The arrival of equine-a-like Ruud van Nistelrooy in particular put a large nail in the coffin of Cole’s United career and Alex Ferguson decided to cash in on him.

Meanwhile over in Lancashire Souness had just got Blackburn promoted into the Premier League where they were playing some rather nice passing football with the likes of Matt Jansen, Damien Duff and David Dunn at the centre of it all.

Souey saw Cole as the ideal man to convert some of the many chances the team was creating to cement their place as a top flight force once again.

Initially the deal seemed to work out well for all parties as Blackburn reached the league cup final in February 2002 where Cole scored the winner. Victory was all the sweeter for Cole as it was over a Tottenham side managed by Glenn Hoddle who had always been less than complimentary about the striker. In your face Glenda.

In 2002 Souness went out of his way to make Cole feel at home by signing his former strike partner Dwight Yorke from United.

The duo could not repeat the success they had had at Old Trafford though and after two years of so-so performances and scoring rates, both men left Blackburn.

These days Cole and Yorke have been reunited yet again at Sunderland by former United teammate Roy Keane, although, with the Mackems languishing in the bottom three of the Premiership it does not appear to be going that well.

Here’s Coley sticking the ball in the back of the old onion bag, and come back tomorrow for more from the vaults of football’s past . . .