Now that the Rowdies have secured Joe Cole to a deal you may be wondering what the World Cup veteran has been up to recently.

After struggling to find consistent playing time at Aston Villa in the Premier League last season and then at the start of this one, Cole was sent on an emergency one-month loan deal to Coventry City in League One (the same league the Rowdies plucked starting center back Neil Collins from) in October.

Cole made enough of an impression in those first few weeks to have his loan extended to January before eventually signing on a free transfer for the remainder of the season at the start of the new year.

The former West Ham United and Chelsea star had two things to prove while with Coventry: First that he could be fit enough to contribute on a regular basis, and second that he still possessed the skill to make an impact.

According Coventry City manager Tony Mowbray, Cole proved he can certainly still carry his weight and be an important piece of the midfield for a team. Mowbray even said he would have loved to have kept Cole for another season but the strong offer from the Rowdies nixed that notion.

“I would have liked to have kept Joe who I think has proven his fitness and worth to the team,” Mowbray told the Coventry Telegraph. “He’s a fantastic character around our building – no airs and graces, not looking for favours or extra days off.

“He’s a top guy and he has shown his football ability. It’s come probably a little bit late in the day that I have felt as if I could trust him to play in the centre of midfield alongside John Fleck and not worry too much about having a combative Vincelot-type character breaking it up and winning headers.”

Mowbray’s confidence did seem to grow in Cole as the season wore on, as he got 8 of his 18 starting nods in central midfield in the final two months of his stint at the club after signing in October. Additionally, 7 of the 13 times he went the full 90 minutes for the club came over the last two months.

In total, Cole was able to post 22 appearances and 1,170 minutes of action with Coventry City, a considerable improvement from his dozen appearances that came sporadically last year with Aston Villa.

Along with the increased minutes, Cole was able to produce some offense. In his stay at Coventry City, he notched two quality goals and six assists. Notably, he recorded half of those assists in one match against Bury FC and also half of them came from set piece opportunities.

One of his two goals was also struck on a gorgeous set piece. From 26 shots taken, he managed to direct eight on frame.

Assists

This next one is undoubtedly the cream of the crop and the exact type of the play the Rowdies needs more of to start scoring consistently. Cole receives the ball in a nonthreatening position but outpaces his defender to the center of the field and show great vision and touch to set up a teammate inside the box.

This last one seems like a slight stretch to award Cole an assist. The forward had to most of the work sprinting to touchline and muscling the defender off the ball, but who are we to disagree with the statisticians in England?

Goals

Either one of these glorious finishes from Cole would be more than welcome with the Rowdies after the rough first month the club has had in front of net. That said, the more likely role for Cole will still be as a set up man in the attack.