Ashley Cole Named England Player Of The Year

This isn't the most exciting or surprising news you'll ever see, but it's worth commenting on anyway - Ashley Cole has won the voting for England player of the year. It's worth considering just how poor everyone else had to be to left Ashley Cole win a popular vote, but well, they were, and it's not like Cole doesn't deserve it. In second place came current vice-captain Steven Gerrard and in third was occasional substitute Adam Johnson, which is possibly even more damning of the national team's performances in South Africa than people voting the highly-unpopular Cole into first place.

I don't want to rehash the embarrassing display at the World Cup for too long, but while the rest of the team was awful, Cole was his usual self, working tirelessly up and down the left flank and watching his teammates fail to complete even the most basic of football tasks. Cole has been the best left back in the world for a number of years now, and although age is starting to catch up to him he's still a highly effective player and well worth the acclaim. It's a shame, though, that England have refused to really let him shine with their dogged refusal to play football like a 21st century team and subsequent dismal failures on the biggest of stages.

Oh well. Congratulations on the award, Ashley!