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Chelsea Comment: One Rule For Ashley Cole And Another For John Terry, The Real Special One
Blues could regret driving out left-back with heavy fine
Feb 24, 2010 6:06:00 AM
By Sulmaan Ahmad | Chief Editor
With their right hand, Chelsea have thrown the book at Ashley Cole, while with the left, they continue to pat club captain John Terry on the back.
A fine as heavy as £400,000 - eclipsing the unofficial two-week wage maximum imposed on players for ill discipline - is on the horizon for Cole, whose fate is set to be decided later this week at a disciplinary hearing.
This, on the back of his private indiscretions being made public. An affair with Liverpool secretary Vicki Gough was revealed just weeks after John Terry's fling with Vanessa Perroncel had also hit the papers.
Chelsea's support for Terry was immediate and unrelenting. Now club owner Roman Abramovich, among others, is eager to make an example of a star player and it will be Cole who suffers.
This is not the first offence of either player, and it is John Terry's list of priors that stretches considerably longer than that of his Chelsea and England team-mate.
Maybe the straw broke the camel's back and Cole was just unfortunate that his affair was made public after JT's; maybe the fact that Cole's affair was conducted on club time and involved club personnel really did make all the difference; or maybe it is as simple as a perfect confluence of events that has allowed Chelsea to easily make the same decisions they were always going to make, regardless of the circumstances.
If Roman Abramovich's primary issue is the image of the club, then John Terry's indiscretions were far more damaging than those of Ashley Cole, despite the latter's involving club personnel.
Isolated from its context, Chelsea's treatment of Ashley Cole is severe but not necessarily too strict, by any means. It sets the right example and sends the right message - Cole himself will make back the £400,000 comfortably during his injury lay-off - but the fact Terry not only escaped similar punishment, but also received an endless string of ringing endorsements and limitless support from the club can only be construed one way.
The public perceptions of both players over the last decade tells a story of the double standards held not just by the higher-ups in football, but even a sizeable proportion of the fans.
Cole's every indiscretion has been scrutinised to quite incredible levels when considering that Terry has found himself in and out of trouble for almost twice as long, yet has remained comparitively free from the wrath of football fans until last month.
By what virtue has he set a better example than Ashley Cole? Both are top players in their position - in this regard, it's actually easier to argue a case for Cole than Terry - and both have disgraced themselves off the pitch on numerous occasions.
It almost seems as though Cole just doesn't have the right name and face to envoke the same feelings of forgiveness - or at very least, the turning of a blind eye - that Terry has brought out in the public, Chelsea and even his wife. John and Toni Terry are on the mend while Cheryl Cole has already been photographed without her wedding ring and is primed to file for divorce.
Perhaps Ashley Cole's exit from Arsenal, while clearly on principle as much as anything, did cross the border between being professional and being self-important. But if he was to leave Chelsea under the cloud of this fine, he would be much more justified in doing so.
If he leaves, the Blues will be faced with replacing him and fully realise what a formidable asset he has been on the pitch, regardless of whether his influence is quite as infectious or playing style quite as rousing as John Terry's.
Options within the Premier League for Cole are limited, but Europe's heavyweights would no doubt benefit immensely from signing the England international and be on alert the moment his exit begins looking more likely.
And all this with a major Champions League tie on the horizon. Jose Mourinho is coming back into town, but as he knows due to the circumstances of his own controversial exit and as Ashley Cole is now coming to realise, there really is only one Special One at Stamford Bridge, and his name is John Terry.
For more news on England, visit Goal.com's England section!
With their right hand, Chelsea have thrown the book at Ashley Cole, while with the left, they continue to pat club captain John Terry on the back.
A fine as heavy as £400,000 - eclipsing the unofficial two-week wage maximum imposed on players for ill discipline - is on the horizon for Cole, whose fate is set to be decided later this week at a disciplinary hearing.
This, on the back of his private indiscretions being made public. An affair with Liverpool secretary Vicki Gough was revealed just weeks after John Terry's fling with Vanessa Perroncel had also hit the papers.
Chelsea's support for Terry was immediate and unrelenting. Now club owner Roman Abramovich, among others, is eager to make an example of a star player and it will be Cole who suffers.
This is not the first offence of either player, and it is John Terry's list of priors that stretches considerably longer than that of his Chelsea and England team-mate.
Maybe the straw broke the camel's back and Cole was just unfortunate that his affair was made public after JT's; maybe the fact that Cole's affair was conducted on club time and involved club personnel really did make all the difference; or maybe it is as simple as a perfect confluence of events that has allowed Chelsea to easily make the same decisions they were always going to make, regardless of the circumstances.
If Roman Abramovich's primary issue is the image of the club, then John Terry's indiscretions were far more damaging than those of Ashley Cole, despite the latter's involving club personnel.
Isolated from its context, Chelsea's treatment of Ashley Cole is severe but not necessarily too strict, by any means. It sets the right example and sends the right message - Cole himself will make back the £400,000 comfortably during his injury lay-off - but the fact Terry not only escaped similar punishment, but also received an endless string of ringing endorsements and limitless support from the club can only be construed one way.
The public perceptions of both players over the last decade tells a story of the double standards held not just by the higher-ups in football, but even a sizeable proportion of the fans.
Cole's every indiscretion has been scrutinised to quite incredible levels when considering that Terry has found himself in and out of trouble for almost twice as long, yet has remained comparitively free from the wrath of football fans until last month.
Sulmaan Ahmad discusses the Ashley Cole situation on CNN
By what virtue has he set a better example than Ashley Cole? Both are top players in their position - in this regard, it's actually easier to argue a case for Cole than Terry - and both have disgraced themselves off the pitch on numerous occasions.
It almost seems as though Cole just doesn't have the right name and face to envoke the same feelings of forgiveness - or at very least, the turning of a blind eye - that Terry has brought out in the public, Chelsea and even his wife. John and Toni Terry are on the mend while Cheryl Cole has already been photographed without her wedding ring and is primed to file for divorce.
Perhaps Ashley Cole's exit from Arsenal, while clearly on principle as much as anything, did cross the border between being professional and being self-important. But if he was to leave Chelsea under the cloud of this fine, he would be much more justified in doing so.
If he leaves, the Blues will be faced with replacing him and fully realise what a formidable asset he has been on the pitch, regardless of whether his influence is quite as infectious or playing style quite as rousing as John Terry's.
Options within the Premier League for Cole are limited, but Europe's heavyweights would no doubt benefit immensely from signing the England international and be on alert the moment his exit begins looking more likely.
And all this with a major Champions League tie on the horizon. Jose Mourinho is coming back into town, but as he knows due to the circumstances of his own controversial exit and as Ashley Cole is now coming to realise, there really is only one Special One at Stamford Bridge, and his name is John Terry.
For more news on England, visit Goal.com's England section!
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