Cole taken off for the 12th match in a row
Joe Cole is expected to seek talks with the
Chelsea
manager, Luiz Felipe Scolari, after being taken off against
Southend United - the 12th club match in a row in which the England
midfielder has been substituted.
Cole was taken off in the 84th minute on Saturday with Chelsea
leading 1-0 and went down the tunnel without shaking hands with
Scolari or acknowledging his manager.
The 27-year-old is understood to want to discuss his predicament
with Scolari. Although he is regularly starting matches for
Chelsea, he is becoming wearily accustomed to being taken off, at
times because of injury, and twice in a run which stretches back to
late September he has been substituted at half-time.
Scolari, who has been the subject of criticism recently from the
striker Didier Drogba, claimed on Friday that all his players 'love
him'.