Wayne Rooney will not be the only figure in the new-look dugout at Birmingham City with a century of England caps to his name.
Ashley Cole, the former Arsenal and Chelsea left-back, will act as Rooney’s right-hand man at the Championship club, where NFL icon Tom Brady is now a minority owner. His appointment represents the latest twist in a coaching career that has already taken Cole from helping the youngsters at Chelsea’s academy to helping Everton stave off relegation.
Since July 2021, he has also been involved in the England setup as an assistant to under-21s manager Lee Carsley. He played an influential role behind the scenes this summer as England won the Under-21 European Championship. He will retain his position with England while working day to day at Birmingham.
But while many of us remember the fantastic player, who is Ashley Cole the coach? What is his coaching philosophy? And what qualities does he bring to a backroom team?
Cole instructs his England Under-21s players from the sidelines (Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
While in his pomp as a player, Cole was unconvinced he would eventually transition into coaching.
But, as a glittering career that took in 13 major honours — including three Premier League titles and winning a record seven FA Cups as well as the Champions League and Europa League once each — drew to a close, his outlook shifted. Scouting held an appeal. Then, having been handed the captaincy by Sigi Schmid during three seasons in MLS at LA Galaxy, he caught the coaching bug while sitting in on video analysis sessions.
After hanging up his boots, following a six-month stint under Frank Lampard at Derby County in the Championship, he joined his former team-mate back at Chelsea in the autumn of 2019 to work in their academy, initially helping with the under-15s and under-16s while studying for his coaching badges, before overseeing individual defensive work with the under-18s and under-21s.
Cole’s relationship with Neil Bath, the head of Chelsea’s much-admired academy and current director of football development and operations, had remained strong over his five years away from the west London club.
His coaching education was further enhanced by joining Carsley’s England Under-21s setup in the summer of 2021, a role he combined with a first senior position at club level under Lampard at Everton from the following February.
Cole instructs Everton’s players early last season (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
Paul Clement — who had coached Cole at Chelsea while working as assistant to Carlo Ancelotti — joined him on that staff at Goodison Park.
“I’ve known Ashley for some time now, so I’ve seen the transition from player to moving into a different profession,” says Clement. “I think he’s done it the right way; he’s not rushed it, he’s taken the right steps. That involved a good grounding at Chelsea — a place where you can learn a lot. There are lots of us who went down that path at the academy at Chelsea, so he had a good foundation there. Then he’s had the dual role where he’s been the under-21s coach at England and working at the sharp end with the first team at Everton.
“That wasn’t an easy environment. When you’re a coach, there are times you have to grind and go through difficult periods. The pressure is high and that was certainly the case at Everton. One of the things I really saw Ashley develop over his time at Everton was his communication skills. He got a lot more confident.”
Cole’s role morphed during that 11-month stint on Merseyside.
“The first part when we were there, he was in the stands during matches, getting a view from a higher position as, sometimes, you’re not seeing things so clearly from the side, especially at a ground like Everton where the dugout is very low,” says Clement. “At half-time in games, he gave us another viewpoint from higher up.
“Then, in the last six months, he stepped into the role of delivering set-play organisation both offensively and defensively — that was another good step for him.”
Chris Jones (left), Cole and Clement were on Lampard’s Everton staff (Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)
So what of his footballing philosophy?
Cole has been influenced by the stellar managers he played for. “I want to take parts of Jose Mourinho, in terms of how organised he was, Carlo Ancelotti for his man-management and how he would give players faith to go out and express themselves within his system and Arsene Wenger, who was definitely a great man-manager and put a lot of trust in young players to find things out for themselves and learn quickly from mistakes,” he told Chelsea’s website when first hired by their academy in 2019. “It’s about being adaptable.”
Clement points out that Cole favours the modern trend of “starting attacks from the back, building from the goalkeeper”.
Perhaps more surprising is that one of the best defenders ever to grace the game has enjoyed coaching the attacking aspects of play most of all since taking on his new role in the dugout.
“A lot of fans will say, ‘ You can’t play attacking football’, but, me being a defender, I hate defending,” he said during the under-21s Euros this summer, once a short return to Chelsea for last season’s run-in, working with Lampard during his caretaker stewardship of the team, had come to an end. “I don’t want to work on defensive work. I want to do the attacking play.
“Cars (Carsley) really gave me the licence to come up with certain game plans and style of play.”
Cole and Carsley prepare for the under-21s’ game with Serbia last week (Matt McNulty – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
Those within the England setup have been impressed by Cole’s impact.
“Ash takes a very personal approach in bettering my game,” Chelsea forward Noni Madueke told _The Athletic _after the under-21s’ emphatic 9-1 win over their Serbia counterparts last week. “Obviously, I am extremely good in one-v-one situations, but I could probably score and assist more. He is always on at me about that. We have been watching clips every day this week, making sure when I play, I get into the box. Luckily I got two finishes; one like the goals I usually score and a one-touch finish.
“Ash is on me every day on crossing with my right foot and finishing with my left foot and I watch loads of clips.”
Levi Colwill, a natural centre-half who is adapting to a new role as a left-back for Chelsea this season, was similarly effusive after working with Cole over the summer. “Ash gave me a big bit of advice — it’s when I try to break lines and I hit a pass with a lot of power,” he said. “Normally my right (standing) foot goes in front of the ball. He showed that to me. I hadn’t even noticed.
“I thought, ‘What are you on about?’, but he showed me the clips. The next day in training, I made a pass with my right foot behind the ball. I couldn’t thank him enough. It’s those little things that no one had ever told me.”
Carsley has trusted the 42-year-old to lead training sessions with England, a duty he is also likely to take on at Birmingham.
“He is a very interested coach,” says Carsley. “He wants to know everything and studies the game, watches a lot of football. He is very good in the dressing room. Everyone looks up to him.
“He will want the players to do well and will do a lot of individual stuff with them as well. If you are a left-back getting advice from Ash, you are probably going to listen. But there is a lot more to his arsenal than that. He is a very good all-round coach and will have a very bright future in the game.”
“Not all players who finish and go into coaching have the work ethic that’s required to be a coach at a high level, but he’s certainly got that,” adds Clement. “But he’s also done lots of things that other coaches haven’t and that will put him in a great position. He knows he’s quite early in the coaching journey, but he’s ticking a lot of boxes along the way
“Ash has had a really well-rounded education. The academy experience, stepping into a first-team role at a Premier League club in Everton, where the pressure was high — a tough, tough job — then back to Chelsea when results weren’t going well at such a big club, he would have learned a tremendous amount in that short period. Then he’s won the Euros with England.
“He’s had an incredible journey in such a short time and is going to provide great support for Wayne.”
GO DEEPER
Ashley Cole: ‘I hate defending. I want to coach the attacking play’
(Top photos: Getty Images)
