Quote: Roddy B "Not sure who blamed him for the result? Read the quotes and they seem to be quotes attributed more towards Cole in general, rather than blaming him for the defeat. Singling somebody out for criticism when it's warranted is perfectly OK IMO. Cole is a joke, his time here has been a joke and I couldn't care less where he goes. He seems an OK bloke who doesn't strike me as a bad influence, he simply isn't up to scratch and doesn't seem to try enough get back to where he once was.'"
The thing is, how good was he actually? Throughout his career he's mainly been moments of brilliance in predominantly OK performances. He made his name as the main playmaker in the infamous West Ham side that was 'too good to go down' but promptly did, and I personally think he can thank England's lack of a left-sided player for gifting him an international career he scarcely deserved. Apart from a couple of good seasons during Chelsea's best period in recent years, he's always been little more than a fancy-dan luxury player.