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Ashley Cole may have had some serious issues getting certain words out during Friday’s Europa League group stage draw, but he had no trouble with revealing that he is indeed returning to Chelsea as a youth coach, to working the under-15 age group. While he doesn’t say exactly when this will happen (or has it happened already?), it does fit the rumors that popped up immediately after he announced his retirement two weeks ago.
“I’ve worked under some great managers, took a lot from them so I will go back to Chelsea and work with their under-15s and see where it goes from there”
-Ashley Cole; source: Mail
Cole was the second Chelsea legend involved in a group stage draw in just as many days, after Petr Čech helped conduct the Champions League group stage draw on Thursday. But while Big Pete only had to draw the groups, Ash had the task of drawing the teams, some of which left him a bit tongue-tied.
We’re sure he’s going to have much better success on the training ground.
You can see the fear in Ashley Cole’s eyes as he prepares to pronounce some of these club names
— Chris (@chrisbraiths) August 30, 2019
Most entertaining European draw ever with Ashley Cole! We've had "Bazil" (Basel), "Espanya" (Espanyol), "Istanbul Basisiska" (Istanbul Basaksehir) and "Renz" (Stade Rennais) #EuropaLeague #EuropaLeaguedraw
— Chris Lincoln (@chrisbourne2win) August 30, 2019