PREMIER LEAGUE icon Ashley Cole is reportedly expected to leave Serie B side Cesena after just eight games.
The 45-year-old landed his first managerial job with the Italian club in March.
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Ashley Cole is expected to leave Cesena Credit: Getty
Cole took charge of the Serie B side in March Credit: Getty
He penned a short-term deal with an option to extend if he met “certain conditions” while in the role.
But just three months in, Cole is now expected to depart.
Italian outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport claims that he briefly held talks with Cesena officials about a potential extension.
However, it is now “almost certain” that he will step away by the end of the month.
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Guido Pagliuca, Emanuele Troise and Stefano Vecchi are among the names that have been linked with the job so far.
Cole spent just eight games in charge of Cesena, managing one win, three draws and four defeats.
His appointment was not well-received by many fans in March, with some players also believed to be unhappy.
The former Arsenal and Chelsea star also admitted that he struggled with the language barrier following his arrival.
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Cole told the Could It Be Magic? podcast: “I think the language is massive.
“It is important, and I struggled to get a number two. I literally jumped in the puddle, jumped in the mud, and just went… I’m just going to have to go. It was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down.
“And I was like, that is what it is. You know, you have to sink, or you swim, and right now it’s looking all right.
“It’s tough because I’ve never been in this position. I didn’t know what to expect.
“It’s been hard getting around the language a little bit. I lived in Italy for a year and a bit. My wife is Italian, but I don’t really practise speaking it.
“So you know going back to the basics again of understanding the little words to get me by.
“But now I need to continue to have conversations with players and just tighten up on my language a bit. But doing the 11 v 11 stuff, I didn’t do too much 11 v 11 as an assistant.
“So that would probably be the main difference, really, where you set up your team, how you are going to press, when you get in a mid-block?
“Are you going to set up? Are you going to be aggressive? Defend your box? It’s like a lot of details to get in.
“But like I said you know it is a challenge. But I’ve watched and been around enough coaches and managers to understand it and pick it up quite quickly.”
Following his retirement at the end of the 2018/19 season, Cole became a coach at Derby County and has also worked for England U21s, Everton and Brimingham.
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