A week or so ago at Arsenal, the former West Ham forward Carlton Cole approached a couple of newspaper journalists at half-time. ‘Hello, I am Carlton,’ he said, extending a hand.
On radio duty for BBC 5 Live for the first time, Cole explained he’d been nervous beforehand but that he was enjoying himself. Soon talk turned to the football and he offered an insightful view on the Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The next day Cole was on radio duty again — this time at Manchester City’s game against West Ham — and this time his world threatened to fall apart.