Cole to light up the City Ground

By: Tim | July 28th, 2008

If his form is anything like the title... So, a few days after my last post Forest confirmed that Andy, sorry, Andrew Cole will in fact be playing at the City Ground this season. What has the reaction been like, I hear you ask? Well, for £25k a week I think it’s fair to say that Colin Calderwood isn’t the only man in Nottingham hoping that Cole can ‘do a Windass’.

Funny old game, this football malarkey. After all, Cole was first linked with Forest while Cloughie was still in charge, some 15 years ago. That was before he embarked on a career which saw him bag PFA Young Player of the Year (1994), five league championships, two FA Cups and a European Cup – as well as becoming the second highest Premiership goal scorer ever, behind Alan ‘one celebration’ Shearer.

Impressive though that is, Cole started to show his age post-2006, after which successive Premiership clubs (Pompey and Sunderland) shipped him out on loan to the Championship while he struggled for fitness. Calderwood recently said that the club will keep a close eye on Cole to ensure they don’t overly fatigue him, but he expects him to be available for the majority of Championship matches.

Can former goal-king Cole do a Windass then? The jury is out on that one I’m afraid. His recent loan spell at Burnley is encouraging, he scored 6 times in 13 appearances for them last season. Not outstanding form, but it’s roughly what you’d expect of him given his goal scoring record – Cole averages about one goal every two games. The general consensus on the message boards is that if he gets the right service, to his feet, then he can do well.

Meanwhile, the arrival of Cole has obviously had an impact on the dressing room, with Lewis McGugan describing the signing as ‘unbelievable’: “He was one of my heroes. There are a lot of things you want to ask him. You’ve got to make sure the time’s right. Everyone’s buzzing. We just can’t wait for the season to start”.

Coupled with the recent addition of Joe Garner from Carlisle and it looks like Forest will be covered up front. We’re also shaping up to be a healthy mix of youth and experience, with players like Thornhill, McGugan and McCleary likely to be lining up alongside Cole and Earnshaw this season. Just a few question marks remain then, what about that defence Colin?