4th behind RVN with RVP 5th. Cantona 2nd and Ronaldo not even on the list.
The disrespect for Andy Cole
- Thread starter FujiVice
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
Well Ronaldo wasn’t a striker and he was comfortably better than Berbatov, Solskjaer and McClair. Better than Yorke and a much better goalscorer than Hughes.
For individual seasons Van Persie and Yorke have him beat. Cole contributed more to United over his career than those two did.
I dunno if we consider Cantona a striker? Free role AM / 2nd striker I guess. I'm hesitant to put Ronaldo as a striker while he was with us tbh. Yorke was short lived, but those two seasons were a class above.
Of course we do.
Berbatov and Ole ahead of Cole!?
I’d put Cole ahead of Van Persie, if it’s just about their time at United.
I'd put Cole ahead of both of them.
Berbatov flattered to deceive, lots of lovely touches but he wasn't great.
I'd put RVP ahead of Cole though. His peak was higher but Cole obviously contributed more.
Was a fantastic striker at the time. I remember not understanding as an early teenager knowing Arsenal let him go and then watching him bang goal after goal after goal for Newcastle. His partnership with Beardsley at that time was pretty special, they had Newcastle on fire. I suppose we had Ian Wright who was a similar type of player and was more established, and his eventual partnership with Bergkamp reminded me of those 2.
I remember the massive controversy at the time of him signing for Utd, Keegan having to out to face the angry fans at St James Park to explain his decision. He had felt that he had lost a bit of spark and decided to replace him with Les Ferdinand, but couldn't get him until the summer To be fair to him he started as Cole left off when he joined the following season.
I think Cole was just a victim of circumstance at the time. England had a great selection of strikers at the time, and Cole was never seen we being the best of them at any given time. Unfortunately for him it would always be seen as Shearer and 1 other, so guys like Cole, Fowler, Wright, Ferdinand, Collymore etc never really got the caps their talent deserved.
I remember the massive controversy at the time of him signing for Utd, Keegan having to out to face the angry fans at St James Park to explain his decision. He had felt that he had lost a bit of spark and decided to replace him with Les Ferdinand, but couldn't get him until the summer To be fair to him he started as Cole left off when he joined the following season.
I think Cole was just a victim of circumstance at the time. England had a great selection of strikers at the time, and Cole was never seen we being the best of them at any given time. Unfortunately for him it would always be seen as Shearer and 1 other, so guys like Cole, Fowler, Wright, Ferdinand, Collymore etc never really got the caps their talent deserved.
Cole never took penalties and was still almost one in two
It’s strange that a striker with so many goals, doesn’t get the praise he should.
I for one don’t rate him as highly as I maybe should. Just can’t give a reason for that.
I think watching him week in week out during his hey day, I saw a lot of negatives in his game, which were papered over by his goals
I for one don’t rate him as highly as I maybe should. Just can’t give a reason for that.
I think watching him week in week out during his hey day, I saw a lot of negatives in his game, which were papered over by his goals
One thing i remember about watching Cole was that he was a goalscoring machine, yet was still quite frustrating to watch in that missed a air few chances. .
It shows though how many chances he created for himself/ got on the end of, if he could afford to miss a good few, yet score a hat full
Cole was a brilliant player. would love to have someone in his mold up top at the minute. He should have been one of the first into that PL hall of fame
It shows though how many chances he created for himself/ got on the end of, if he could afford to miss a good few, yet score a hat full
Cole was a brilliant player. would love to have someone in his mold up top at the minute. He should have been one of the first into that PL hall of fame
From what I remember at Newcastle he was a total goal machine, his goal scoring record there is amazing.
Then at Utd from 1995-1997 he struggled, he was low on confidence and you could tell just by watching that Cantona would get frustrated with him. He also had the bad injury when that fat cnut Ruddock broke his legs.
97/98 after Cantona retired is when it turned around for him and from then on he was brilliant for Utd. Scored a lot of goals, although not at the same rate as he did for Newcastle, but his all round game was miles better.
Great in the big games, consistent , professional and rarely injured. He was a brilliant striker, he left Utd too soon.
Then at Utd from 1995-1997 he struggled, he was low on confidence and you could tell just by watching that Cantona would get frustrated with him. He also had the bad injury when that fat cnut Ruddock broke his legs.
97/98 after Cantona retired is when it turned around for him and from then on he was brilliant for Utd. Scored a lot of goals, although not at the same rate as he did for Newcastle, but his all round game was miles better.
Great in the big games, consistent , professional and rarely injured. He was a brilliant striker, he left Utd too soon.
Ronaldos not a striker.
Rooney
Cantona
Cole
Yorke
Rvn
Ole
Rvp
Berbatov
Would be my list. Hughes and mcclair did most of their best work pre prem.
I wonder if anyone ever run the numbers to see how many he could have had if he had taken penalties.
There is a bit of this, excellent selection, Cole's caps were spread over 7-8 years, with a lot of sub appearances. You only have to look a few years later at guys like Vassell, 22 caps, Crouch 42 caps and Defoe, 57 caps to see one of the issues of that time. Defoe was a good player but effectively the poor mans version of Andy Cole. Robbie Fowler only getting 26 caps is mad as well especially given how dynamite he was in the first few years of his career. Speaks to fewer games, not as many subs allowed. Les Ferdinand only 17 caps and he was a super player.
Ranking Cole is tough against other Utd strikers, RVN in most peoples eyes would be comfortably ahead of Cole, but if I was picking a team most of the time I would rather have a striker like Cole than one like RVN, more options for the team. Anyone putting Ole over Cole I just don't understand, fairly straight forward pecking order for most of their time together and it wasn't Ole over Cole.
What's the justification for having Berbatov (extremely bizarre) ahead of him? Come on.
I think he took a couple. I remember him scoring one for Newcastle.
Shearer scored 56 pens to Cole's 1 (in the Prem)
Cole’s goals-per-league games ratio was higher than Shearer's.
I mean he was not better than Thierry Henry. or HasselBaink or even Teddy. Slow down
Can't argue with anything you've said there. It was tough for him at the start but he adjusted and became a top player at United in a different way than at Newcastle, where the team was designed for him to score goals. He was a key part of United's greatest ever season FFS.
Yes he was. Not Henry but the others.
Henry was one of the best ever in the league. But I'd take Andy over either Jimmy or Teddy any day. And he could rap too - good for morale
Ah man, what a goal that was...remember it like it was yesterday.
Cole was way better then Hasselbaink, and miles better then Teddy...not even close.
Nah man. Jimmy won 2 golden boots in 3 premier league years, combined with joint assist leader + scorer in the same season. Jimmy has a better scoring record in both eras 103/205. He hit 20 plus league goals 3 seasons in a row in different countries. Even when he bagged 18 league goals with Leeds he bagged 11 assists. He was closer to Yorke than Cole.
His threat level was simply greater with his superior striking ability (ability so blast it in from range along with his FK). I'd have Jimmy over Cole no sweat in the early 2000s era.[/QUOTE]
You are right about Henry of course, had thought he had come to the PL a little later. Would take Cole over Hasslebaink any day though, Jimmy had an amazing shot off both feet but a much more limited all round game than Cole for me, though I am surprised at his assist numbers.
Cole has a better goal to game ratio in the Premier league and more career goals (despite playing all of his career in England) so I disagree.
..
It really wasn't. People have made that argument about Cole.
Throughout Cole entire United stint his goal to game was 93 in 195 which is lower than Jimmy. His freak season at Newcastle may skew it to a 0.03 difference but we are talking about Cole around the early 2000s not 1992. Plus the premier league wasn't the best league in the world so why does it matter if you scored all your goals in England? The best forwards were typically in Serie A
Well he had Irwin and Cantona who were specialists at the start who would have taken the penos.
Cole actually scored 121 goals for United in all comps and I don't think his ratio in the PL was appreciably lower than JFH's at any point. And JFH spent a large portion of his career in Holland and Portugal, which were definitely not as strong as the Premier League at the time. Not sure why you're bringing up Serie A as JFH didn't play there to the best of my knowledge.
5 of those goals were in one match against Ipswich.
I loved Cole, annoyed the feck out of me when fans constantly called up radio phone-ins saying he should be sold and was made scapegoat for us losing the league in 95
But lets be honest in his first two years his finishing was very erratic.
He came to United quite young and raw, It took him time to bed in and feel comfortable playing for United.
Yeah from '97 he started looking the business.
Kevin Keegan: We've agreed a deal with Bristol City and we'd like you to come up for a medical. Can you come up tonight?
Cole: Nah, I'm doing my laundry.
Cheers for posting this mate, it's a really good listen. I wasn't expecting him to be this funny.Thanks for posting. Coley is class.
I'll always love Cole. I remember I'd be Cole and my older brother would be Yorke as kids whether we were playing football in real life or on fifa. If not them, I'd be Beckham and he'd be Giggs.
Legend 
Few more insights from Andy Cole and a funny character too
Where I came from, over the weekend Cole & Yorke were down for a meet & greet with fans as United Ambassadors. Also joined in a live screening event/ match for the Villa game.
Yorkie was really really friendly. Like Licha, Yorkie signed autographs for every single fan. I was (the only one) singing the "King of Pornography" song in front of Yorkie. He laughed and loved it. Headed towards me & signed my 1999 treble kit together with Cole (yoohoo!).
Yorkie looked in great shape still. From the stage interviews, could tell he was as serious an athlete as can be, beneath the grinning veneer. Both of them were talking about Donny's injury/ recovery, and Yorke shared he was really fortunate he did not really get any major or long term injuries during his playing days. Thought about it & quite incredible for a striker to always stay so injury-free (unlike Martial & Saha....).
Rapport between him and Cole was so genuine. Lovely to see them still so close after all these decades.
Cole struck me as quite a "serious" chap. Slightly moody that day, especially at the start of the event. Maybe he was tired. Didnt quite oblige to sign autographs for every fan & made the "excuse" of the Villa game starting. Certainly wasn't as friendly as Yorkie, haha. But for sure he has a strong personality (can better imagine him clashing against Teddy, heh).
On stage, they shared their favourite joint goal was the one against Barca in the CL group stages.
The current League Cup trophy was also live on stage, yum.
Yorkie was really really friendly. Like Licha, Yorkie signed autographs for every single fan. I was (the only one) singing the "King of Pornography" song in front of Yorkie. He laughed and loved it. Headed towards me & signed my 1999 treble kit together with Cole (yoohoo!).
Yorkie looked in great shape still. From the stage interviews, could tell he was as serious an athlete as can be, beneath the grinning veneer. Both of them were talking about Donny's injury/ recovery, and Yorke shared he was really fortunate he did not really get any major or long term injuries during his playing days. Thought about it & quite incredible for a striker to always stay so injury-free (unlike Martial & Saha....).
Rapport between him and Cole was so genuine. Lovely to see them still so close after all these decades.
Cole struck me as quite a "serious" chap. Slightly moody that day, especially at the start of the event. Maybe he was tired. Didnt quite oblige to sign autographs for every fan & made the "excuse" of the Villa game starting. Certainly wasn't as friendly as Yorkie, haha. But for sure he has a strong personality (can better imagine him clashing against Teddy, heh).
On stage, they shared their favourite joint goal was the one against Barca in the CL group stages.
The current League Cup trophy was also live on stage, yum.
Nice, thanks for the description!
Hopefully Cole is feeling better and is well after his health issues.
Pair of legends, both of them.
Keano would end two generations of footballers