Cole: I'm ready to write a new chapter of my career at Anfield
By Dominic King
PUBLISHED: 20:00 GMT, 23 July 2012 | UPDATED: 20:00 GMT, 23 July 2012
Joe Cole is ready for the battle to win over hearts and minds as he stated his determination to play a key role for the 'new' Liverpool.
After enjoying a successful season-long loan with Lille, Cole's enthusiasm and eagerness to succeed on Merseyside cannot be called into question and he feels the club to which he has returned is dramatically different to the one he left last August.
Brendan Rodgers, who worked with Cole at Chelsea, has been impressed with England international's desire during training here in Boston and there is little doubt he has the skill and knowledge to fit into the style which the new Liverpool manager wants to implement.
Fresh start: Cole is hoping to kickstart his Anfield career under Rodgers
Cole, though, has never shown his true form at Anfield and, for that reason, there is scepticism on the Kop about what he will be able to contribute under Rodgers.
The 30-year-old, however, is confident he can turn public opinion in his favour.
When asked if he felt he had to win people over, Cole replied: 'Yeah but I am only looking forward. Everything I have done in my career is in the bank and has been and gone. But I want to write new chapters.
On tour: Cole featured for Liverpool in their 1-1 draw with FC Toronto on Saturday
'I want to be part of the revival of this great club and help make it successful. I want to help my team. I have spoken with Brendan and, as far as I am concerned, I am here (for the season). I'm looking forward to the season and we will go from there. It was great to pull on the shirt again.'
When Cole signed on a Bosman in July 2010 after leaving Chelsea, it was envisaged he would dovetail sweetly with Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres but a red card on his Barclays Premier League debut against Arsenal, coupled with a subsequent loss of form and injury problems, proved ruinous.
It has hardly helped, however, that he has been at Anfield during the most turbulent managerial spell in the club's history, with Rodgers becoming the third man in three years to take the reins after Roy Hodgson and Kenny Dalglish.
'It's not traditional for the club to change managers but we need stability now,' said Cole, who played the second half of Liverpool's 1-1 draw with FC Toronto on Saturday. 'Everyone needs to be settled and I am 100 per cent sure that the right man is in the job. He is the best out there.
'The fans are intelligent. They know (finishing) sixth, seventh and eighth in the last three seasons isn't good enough. But we are a work in progress now and we have got the right man in charge. The lads have all been impressed with everything that he has done. He is so on the ball.
'There is no point looking back to how everything started here for me. That has been and gone. I am just looking forward to the season. When I came here, I wanted to be part of the revival of this great club. Nothing has changed. I want to be part of this team and so we can all do it together.'
Harmony, then, will be crucial if Liverpool are going to reclaim a place back in the top six and Rodgers has been working on building team spirit in Boston; there have been a couple of trips to see the Red Sox baseball team, while the squad have also been given time to explore the city.
'It just feels so much more settled,' said Cole. 'The fans are well educated with their football; they have seen so many great players. They also know the not good players.
'They also know a good manager and you speak to anyone out here or back home and they know we have got a good manager. Brendan's style looks off the cuff but it isn't. It is very, very tactical. You are concentrating hard and thinking constantly. Every training session is brilliant.
'I can only see us going in one direction but we have got to work hard to make sure that happens.'
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