Cole's injury: why no news is bad newsUpdated: December 20th, 2006
The lack of news concerning Andrew Cole’s fitness is becoming worrying - and could have hugely damaging implications for the coming season.
Cole had his second knee operation in April, but according to this interview with the player from June 17 it is still not clear when he will play his next game:
“The medical team are going to monitor me through the pre-season and my aim is to get fit before the start of the season and I’ll go from there. I cannot speak highly enough of the medical staff. I don’t think they get all the credit they deserve because they have been working their socks off.”
There has been no news on the injury since then, which suggests it’s unlikely he’ll make pre-season training. With Cole turning 35 in October and with a long history of injury, we could be facing the prospect of losing the player for a large part of the season.
This could be a huge blow for the team, as last season’s stats reveal just how much our fortunes depend on him.
In the 22 Premiership games Cole played last season City earned 34 points, or 1.54 points per game. In the 16 games he didn’t play we earned just nine points - 0.56 per game.
If you averaged that out over the whole season that would add up to 58 points with Cole (enough for a 7th place finish) but just 21 points without him (putting us in 19th place).
As well as scoring nine league goals his ability to create goals for others, especially Vassell, was also remarkable.
City scored 32 goals (1.45 goals per game) when Cole played, but only 11 (0.69 goals per game) when he didn’t.
Which makes you wonder where the goals will come from if Cole is sidelined next season.
Vassell scored seven times in the 22 league games he played alongside Cole, but managed just one (against Villa) in 11 without him. In fact, four out of Vassell’s eight league goals came against his old club.
While Samaras scored a fairly respectable 4 goals in 10 starts, in the 882 minutes he was on the pitch City managed only four other goals.
Dickov’s 14 goals in 50 appearances at Blackburn over the last two seasons suggest he will not be a prolific scorer with us, while the midfield should also be a cause of concern.
Barton was our third top scorer last season with six league goals, but you have to wonder whether the unsettled midfielder will be able to show a repeat of that form.
All of Sinclair’s three league goals last season were scored when Cole was playing, while new signings Dabo and Hamman are hardly likely to up the goal tally.
Dabo managed just two goals in 31 appearances for Lazio last season (and just 10 goals in his 249-game career) while Hamman hasn’t scored in the Premiership since Dec 2003 - against us.
With just five weeks before the start of the Premiership, the need for a free-scoring midfielder has never been more pressing.