Ashley Cole hopes to build on his legacy at Chelsea with a job in the scouting department after he concludes his playing career.
Ashley Cole played at Arsenal’s academy and started his professional career there before transferring to Chelsea in 2006. Having won many more trophies – including the Champions League – with Chelsea, Cole favors Stamford Bridge over the Emirates for the next stage of his career.
"I hope I can go back to Chelsea and do something there, not so much coaching but scouting or something. I enjoy scouting, watching the young lads come through. I have done a little for my agent, but I’d like to do something a bit more serious. I’d love to go back to work at Chelsea somewhere, somehow. – Evening Standard"
Cole could potentially reunite with his former teammates John Terry and Frank Lampard on Chelsea’s management staff. Terry has been working on his UEFA coaching badges over the last few seasons, taking classroom sessions and working alongside the academy coaches. His “reduced role” one-year contract is part of his long-planned transition from the pitch to the touchline.
Frank Lampard has his letters of recommendation lined up for his eventual return to Chelsea. Roman Abramovich, Jose Mourinho and Guus Hiddink have all voiced their support for Lampard’s coaching career with the club.
"[Lampard] comes back to Chelsea. For sure. Everybody wants it. Mr Abramovich — the No 1, the most important person — wants Frank to be back very much, I want him to be back and the staff want him back, so he comes back for sure… To repeat Mr Abramovich’s words, “He can come back the way he wants.” Jose Mourinho, 2014 – Daily Mail"
Adding Cole, Lampard and Terry to the management staff would provide significant continuity and stability for the club, particularly for young players nervously transitioning into the professional ranks. This trio could also influence the club’s youth development and transfer policy, which is currently rudderless and lacking a player’s advocate.
The trio would be a personal connection between aspiring youth in the academy and the most successful period in Chelsea’s history. The three would share triumphant stories from Munich and Wembley; how to overcome nights like that one in Moscow; and what to expect playing in the spotlight of global football. Having role models is one thing – regularly interacting with them is a completely different level of inspiration and growth.
More crucially, hiring Cole, Terry and Lampard would bring the number of former first-team players on staff to… three. Chelsea’s youth development policy (“strategy” is too flattering a word) treats players as assembly-line widgets. Youth players are the input, first- or second-tier starters are outputs, transfer fees are cash flow.
As a member of the scouting team, Ashley Cole would not just recognize playing talent but also the “soft skills” that contribute to an effective locker room: camaraderie, willingness to learn, leadership potential. He could give detailed, personal and experience-based notes to John Terry and Frank Lampard on the coaching staff.
Together they would sketch out the optimal development path for each player. If a plan called for a player to be sent on loan, they would determine the appropriate team based on what skills the player needed to develop and the milestones for evaluating his progress.
Why would they do this? Because as former players, they know what it is like to sit on the bench while some new guy is in the starting XI. They know what it is like to have your future in doubt, whether as a 20-year old on the cusp or as a 34-year old legend. They know which experiences build character and make for a stronger player, and which are counterproductive, if not downright cruel.
These three had their share of youthful indiscretions, which they obviously overcame to become champions many times over. They can speak to nearly every aspect of the player experience. As captains and leaders, they each have a lifetime of football to draw from and relate to the next generation of Chelsea’s youth.
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Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and John Terry don’t need to do anything else to ensure their standing in Chelsea’s history and lore. Their willingness to continue their lives with the club is testament to the character that made them great in the first place.