Mitchell Cole leaves Stevenage for Oxford
14/06/2010 2 Comments
After weeks of uncertainness regarding Mitchell Cole’s future at the club, Oxford United have announced that they have signed the 24 year old winger on a free transfer ahead of the new season. Cole leaves Broadhall Way with a year still remaining on his contract after 3 and half years at the club.
Cole’s career at Stevenage is very much a tale of what could have been. He was signed by Mark Stimson from Southend United in the 2007 January transfer window with the huge footsteps of George Boyd to follow after the White Pele’s departure up the A1 to Peterborough. Stimson stated that Cole was a quality player and one worthy of filling Boyd’s boots.
“The supporters have seen in the couple of games that he has played he has great pace. He is probably the quickest player that I have worked with in non-league football, I haven’t seen one quicker and he has got a good delivery as well so he is going to be a big plus for us. Coming from the Championship to the Conference just shows you what this club is about, that is the type of player that we can attract.” Stimson talking about Cole’s arrival
To be fair to Cole, he started his spell at Stevenage well with some impressive performances on the left wing. His pace was always his big asset and this would terrorise defences in the Conference. He was never going to be as effective as Boyd was, but Cole gave Stimson’s team a different, direct threat.
Cole seemed to play his best football for Stevenage under Stimson, who was his former manager at Grays. It was in his first season that Cole’s finest moment as a Boro player came when he helped turn the FA Trophy Final of 2007 around. He scored Boro’s opening goal in that game and that helped the Hertfordshire club come from 2-0 down to win the final 3-2.
However, those moments of brilliance were rare. Often the Mitchell Cole we would see on a Saturday afternoon was a lazy one, who wouldn’t pull his weight and not get involved in the game enough. He was also seen swearing at supporters after being criticised for not putting in enough effort. The frustrating thing with Cole was that when he was bothered, he was simply one of the best players in the division. When he wasn’t though, it was like having to play with 10 men.
During his time with Boro, Cole became increasingly injury prone and seemed to constantly lack enough fitness to complete 90 minutes. This was frustrating for both the club and the player as he couldn’t seem to be able to deliver what everyone knows he could do if he applied himself.
In the end, Stevenage have had enough of Cole and he has been allowed to leave for Oxford on a free transfer with a year still left to run on his contract. It’s a shame because he could have been a real talent for us, but seemingly doesn’t have the desire to want to be a success. Oxford have a real challenge on their hands if they plan on having Cole as a regular part of their side.
I think this is a good article sgm, I agree with it all. Mitchell Cole was first-class in his first season here, Stimson made a good signing there and Cole certainly knew how to play under Stimson’s tactics. He also seemed happier under Stimson, I wonder whether he just has never got on with Westley and didn’t like having to prove his worth more so than he did under Stimson. Financially I think he would have been too big a weight on the club’s budgets so like Drury it was a good business move to let him go. Oxford can afford his higher wage demands more easily, he will also probably appreciate the likelihood that he will play as more of an attacker than a midfielder for them as Wilder does like to base their team around 4-3-3. Mitchell won’t be a great loss, I hope Robbie Sinclair and Peter Winn come here and get on well, I expect Peter Winn to come here and go into the left midfield ‘vacancy’ now with Sinclair as the versatile Drury-replacement able to play on both sides in an attacking role.
I’m waiting with intrigue and mild excitement to see if, after June 30th, we see if the club signs a Football League player or two. I would like to see at least one with proven ability and experience at this level or higher, I would like us to bring in an additional striker although we do already have a lot of competition in that department (Beardsley, Griffin, Odubade, Sills, Boylan) but another prolific goalscorer would be very good for us. Rumours are going round that Scott Rendell is a player of significant interest to us, as well as Torquay and Burton who will be stiff competition if we are going for this signing. I didn’t like Rendell at Cambridge although he is a good player and scored goals for them, he did very well at Torquay whilst there last season, so he could be a big signing for us and with his nack of being ‘in the right place, at the right time’ for scoring goals he could be just the player we need to kick-off next season at full-strength.
Yeah Oxford have obviously offered Cole a better deal, one of which is probably not performance related. He could do well there. I wouldn’t be surprised at all.