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The next time I see Cole is at the Roc Nation offices. He’s there to talk to Jay-Z about the restaurant venture.
Jay-Z doesn’t wish to do any media on the initiative and asks the journalists to leave. It seems self-image is everything to him. How he is perceived by the public is essential to his success as an artist and businessman. If he’s not looking his best, feeling at his most articulate or is tired – he doesn’t put himself out there.
Cole on the other hand is the polar opposite. He’s not really concerned with how he’s perceived. For him it’s very simple. He is a footballer and as long as he is doing this well – then that’s all that matters.
Cole doesn’t buy into the whole PR game – and on the face of it some would say he’s suffered for it. However, it begs the question whether he is naïve or his reluctance to engage with PR is actually quite refreshing.
“I don’t do things to try and get publicity or anything like that,” he said. “I’m not opening the restaurant for publicity. I’m doing it for the love of meeting Jay-Z and giving people a chance to get back into employment.”
Love him, loathe him, the public’s perception of Cole raises an interesting debate.
In the modern game, how well you play football doesn’t appear to be the main thing the public judge footballers on any more.
But who is responsible for creating that dynamic? The players who employ PR people, the public that crave non-football related information or the media who are knocking on the doors of top footballers’ parents?
See the full Ashley Cole interview in the new series of Football Focus which returns to BBC1 on Saturday 6 August at 1215 BST.
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