Thursday, 10th July, 2014
Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert feels his new signing Joe Cole is “still hungry” to perform well.
The midfielder joined the Villains from their Premier League rivals West Ham United on a free transfer last month and became the club’s second summer signing after Philippe Senderos.
The 32-year-old, who started his career with the Hammers, joined Chelsea in 2003 and spent seven trophy-laden seasons at Stamford Bridge before moving to Liverpool.
Cole failed to recreate his magic at Anfield and joined French side Lille on loan in 2011 before re-signing for his boyhood club West Ham in January 2013.
But the Upton Park outfit too decided not to renew his contract after it expired at the end of last season, enabling Villa to snap him up for free.
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However, Lambert has backed Cole, who he believes has proven himself at both club and international level, to put in impressive displays for Aston Villa in the upcoming campaign.
"He has won things at the highest level and has played in masses of big games", the manager explained to his club’s official site.
"He's been involved in massive England games and knows how to win things. He has been terrific not just as a footballer but as a lad too. I'm looking forward to seeing him playing, I really am.
"There is no doubting his ability. He missed a lot of football last year due to one thing or another but this is a new chapter for him and hopefully he can kick on.
"As soon as you start to lose that fire in your stomach as a footballer then I think there is no point. He is still hungry to do really well. That is the sign of a real top player.
"If you've still got the attributes at that age that you had when you were 16 or 17 then you're not going to go far wrong.
"He can make things happen. If he can perform the way I know he can do then we are going to have a really good player on our hands."
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