Frank Lampard has succeeded in luring Ashley Cole to abandon Chelsea’s academy to reunite with him at Everton. Recall that immediately Everton appointed Lampard as the head coach of Everton, reports went viral that he wanted Ashley Cole to join him at the Merseyside club.
After days of negotiations, the 41-year-old retired England international agreed to leave Chelsea’s academy to become a first-team coach at Everton.
As it stands, Frank Lampard’s backroom staff at Everton is now made of at least six coaches. The coaches include assistant managers Joe Edwards and Duncan Ferguson, first-team coach Paul Clement and Ashley Cole, first-team coach and head of performance Chris Jones, and goalkeeping coach Alan Kelly.
Recall that Lampard and Ashley Cole played together in the national team of England and Chelsea football club. Cole and Lampard helped Chelsea to win one Premier League title, four FA Cup titles, one league cup, one Community Shield, one UEFA Champions League, and one Europa League.
Cole left Lampard at Chelsea in 2014 to join Roma where he played for two years before he joined LA Galaxy and then retired at Derby County in 2019.
He began his coaching career at Derby before he followed Lampard to Chelsea in 2019 to become an academy coach. He is also an assistant coach of the England U21s alongside head coach Lee Carsley.
After Cole was named Everton’s first-team coach, Lampard told the club’s official website how delighted he is to “add Ashley into” his backroom team.
“Everyone knows about his superb playing career and what he has achieved in the game”, the former Chelsea coach added.
“He is now a well-respected coach which has been recognized by his work with England Under-21s. He’ll bring a wealth of enthusiasm, game-play experience and is a very good young coach who adds strength to our coaching staff.”
While Cole said: “I was thrilled when Frank asked me to join him at Everton. This is a brilliant opportunity with a fantastic club and I am coming here to work hard and try to help bring success to Everton.
“The chance to link up again with Frank was another huge draw. He is an excellent manager and leader. With the rest of the staff here, we have everything in place for what we want to achieve together.”
Welcome to Everton, @TheRealAC3! 🔵 pic.twitter.com/9RjXrZobdM
— Everton (@Everton) February 3, 2022
Frank Lampard and his team of coaches are expected to help Everton to return to winning ways. They will resume work on the pitch on Saturday, February 5 when Brentford visit Goodison Park to take on Everton in the FA Cup 4th round.
After that, their attention will be shifted to the Premier League in which Everton have been struggling. The Merseyside club are currently sitting on the 16th spot on the league table with 19 points in 20 games.
