Hislop: Redknapp Ruined J.Cole

Interesting reading today in the papers that Shaka Hislop has claimed that his former manager at West Ham, Harry Redknapp, is responsible for the failure of Joe Cole to live up to early hopes.

“Harry kind of liked Joe just to express himself, and we’d play around him, or around Joe’s unpredictability,” he said. “But encouraging him to be himself didn’t help him.

“Talented though he is, when you don’t have the ball he’s got to give you something else. Everything about his game on that side, when your team don’t have possession, he simply wasn’t good enough. Harry did not help him in that respect; I don’t think he was coached in that way.”

Cole, who moved to French club Lille on a season-long loan from Liverpool scored his first goal for his new club last weekend. Yet Hislop insists he could have enjoyed a far more glittering career had Redknapp utilised him better.

“Harry wants players to come and just play naturally and he would fill the gaps around that,” he continued. “It was the same with Paolo Di Canio. He would be allowed to do exactly what he wants and we would fill the gaps around him.

“It worked – you can’t take that away from Harry. But in Joe’s case, in terms of stepping up that extra level, it held him back. I know Joe well, I like him a lot and I hope he rediscovers his form. But you have to bring more than just that type of natural, unbridled ability.”

I always thought Joe Cole was going to be a far better player than he turned out to be. I really thought we had the next Paul Gascoigne on our books when I watched him play. It was like having a Brazilian player, fantastic skill and ball control and dribbling past two or three players.

To be honest I don’t entirely agree with Shaka, as when he went to Chelsea it was coached out of him to be the free spirited play maker he was for us, every time he got the ball he passed it straight back to the person who gave it to him and have very little conviction when trying to beat people, almost like he would be dropped for losing the ball.