Cheryl Cole - Is her career over?

By Jason Wright (Entertainment Expert)

THREE weeks ago, Cheryl Cole seemed to be on top of the world.  Now, not just her dream job in the US has been taken away, so now could her career.

DROPPED: Cheryl Cole's dream is conquer America is over

     Reports last Wednesday suggested that there was some unrest on The X-Factor USA judging panel and Fox hinted if things couldn’t be solved, action would be taken.  Then on Thursday morning, news filtered through in Britain that Cheryl had been fired, despite Simon Cowell’s willingness to keep her onboard.  The overall consent from the American media is simple; they just can’t understand her strong Newcastle accent, a reason that had been clearly dismissed furiously by the British public.

     A reshuffle will now take place within the programme.  Nicole Scherzinger is now expected to move from her presenting role onto the judging panel leaving Steve Jones to host as sole anchor.  This is certainly the best solution as Scherzinger did make a great impression when guest judging on last year’s UK series of the show.

     As for Cole she has returned home to Britain after just a 20-day stint in the Atlantic.  Her career is now in complete jeopardy, despite receiving the backing from JLS and Dannii Minogue.  Of course, there is the simple method of rejoining the UK version of the show.  That is unlikely, with auditions due to begin in Birmingham this week and it is almost certain now that Kelly Rowland and Tulisa from N-Dubz will join Gary Barlow and Louis Walsh on the judging table.  It wouldn’t be feasible for Cheryl to rejoin the programme because ITV would have to put filming of the programme on delay again.  They already had to do that when Minogue left a fortnight ago, which led to Simon Cowell calling a crisis meeting.  Her solo music career seems to have stalled and with a lack of communication with Girls Aloud, is this is the end of Cheryl Cole?

     It seems hard to accept indeed but sadly it seems to be that way for “The Nation’s Sweetheart.”  Having shot to fame in 2002 when selected to be in the line-up of Girls Aloud through the ITV talent show ‘Popstars: The Rivals,’ everything Cole touched from then seemed to turn to gold.  A turbulent four year marriage to Chelsea footballer Ashley Cole saw the public see her in a new light and a role on X-Factor soon beckoned.  There was a swing in popularity last year through a dismal series of X-Factor, which included refusing to send one of her acts home in a final sing-off in November, plus her near-fatal battle with malaria.

     Either way, it’s hard to argue that Cheryl has had a glittering level of success.  However, the ultimate question now is, is her career over?  Unless ITV hand her a remarkable and impossible lifeline, then unfortunately, the answer is yes.

Men behaving badly in the beautiful game

LAST week was a bad week for the game of football.  The beautiful game was dragged through the mud by a series of unprofessional events which soured its image spectacularly.  Touchline brawls, tunnel punch-ups, unpunished elbows and gun incidents; the game made the headlines for completely the wrong reasons.

Saturday

INNOCENCE: Rooney protests the incident, and gets away scot-free

Nine minutes into the match between Wigan Athletic and Manchester United and Wayne Rooney throws an elbow into the back of James McCarthy’s head.  It is an act of thuggish behaviour from Rooney, who still has to justify many for earning £250,000 a week.  Remarkably, referee Mark Clattenburg seemed to share a joke with Rooney about the incident and only gave Wigan a free-kick for the incident.  In his match report, Clattenburg believed that he had dealt with the incident in a calm and professional manner, meaning that the FA couldn’t punish Rooney further until strict FIFA guidelines.  Once again, Wayne Rooney sets a poor example for those who idolise him.

Sunday

Twenty-four hours after the Rooney saga and it is another England team-mate who faces the wrath and condemnation for his actions.  The News of the World break the story that Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole carried an air rifle into the club’s training ground and ‘accidentally’ shot a 21-year old work placement student.  Carlo Ancelotti insists he is still in control with events at the club, but how can this be deemed acceptable.  The club are believed to have fined Cole the maximum two weeks wages for this bizarre and frankly, unforgiveable behaviour.  If Chelsea had been serious, a suspension invoked by the club would have got the message across.

Monday

Stoke City and West Brom have played out a drab 1-1 draw in the Barclays Premiership and Jonas Olsson is angry when he attempts to shake the hand of a Stoke player.  The player, reportedly Dean Whitehead refuses to accept Olsson’s reconciliation attempt, which suggests of some previous bad blood.  In his rage, Olsson punches a picture in the Britannia Stadium tunnel afterwards.  Tony Pulis is furious and insists that disciplinary action should be taken.  Roy Hodgson apologises on Olsson’s behalf, but once again, a stance has not been set out by the club in question.

Tuesday

A pivotal clash in the Premiership title race sees Chelsea beat Manchester United 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.  However, it is Sir Alex Ferguson’s behaviour that is called into question.  Ferguson is incensed at the appointment of Martin Atkinson as referee for this match.  He questions Atkinson’s ability as a referee and insists the game was bound to be unfair.  In the match itself, Chelsea’s winner came from a dubious penalty decision, whilst Nemanja Vidic was sent off and David Luiz avoided a red card for two blatant trips on Rooney.  The FA charge Ferguson with improper conduct and rather than most accepting the charge, Sir Alex has decided to contest the decision, which could lead to an extended ban from the touchline.  Although I personally thought Atkinson had a poor game and made some incorrect calls, there was no need for Ferguson’s outburst and I hope the FA throw the book at him.

Wednesday

UGLY: Neil Lennon and Ally McCoist have to be pulled apart

North of the Border and Celtic entertain Rangers in a fifth round Scottish Cup replay.  It is already the fifth time that these giants of the Scottish game have met this season and the fireworks explode on a bruising and shameful night for the history of the Old Firm Derby.  Three Rangers players; Steven Whittaker, Majid Bougherra and El-Hadji Diouf are all sent off.  Whittaker and Bougherra for fouls that are more expected in a wrestling ring, not a soccer pitch.  Diouf was dismissed after the full-time whistle for an outburst at the referee.  He then evaded police to throw his shirt into the Rangers crowd.  The Senegalese also had an ugly clash with Celtic boss Neil Lennon on the touchline during the match and was goaded all night by the Celtic fans.  This leads back to a spitting incident whilst playing for Liverpool in a 2003 UEFA Cup tie at Parkhead.  At full-time, Lennon and Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist attempt to stage their own version of ‘Big Fight Live!’  They have to be pulled apart by both benches.  With over 30 fans arrested too, it’s a grim night and leads to calls for significant disciplinary action from the SFA, even from the Scottish Parliament.  The whole incident is a complete fracas and distasteful for many.  Oh and there was a football match, which Celtic won 1-0.

Thursday

Manchester City suspend Kolo Toure after the FA confirm that the Ivorian defender failed a routine drugs test following the Manchester derby last month.  Toure is an integral part of the City team and was club captain at Eastlands last season.  It is thought that the club received the news before Wednesday’s 3-0 FA Cup fifth round romp of Aston Villa, hence why Toure didn’t play.  Toure, who played for Arsenal between 2002-2009 is believed to have taken a weight loss tablet, which his wife is on.  Arsene Wenger, who still has regular contact with Toure confirmed at his pre-weekend conference on Friday that Toure takes it, as he is concerned about his weight on a regular basis.  When playing for Sheffield United, Paddy Kenny did something similar and got a nine-month ban for his actions.  If a B sample comes back positive, Toure could face upto two years out of the game, effectively ending his career in England and tarnishing all of his great memories in this country.  Once again, strong action has to be taken, so the message gets across that cheats simply don’t prosper.

For football, it has been a forgettable week.  For many lovers of the game, we all hope this was an unfortunate week and just a nasty sequence of events, but it is understandable why those who don’t follow the game question the worth of today’s footballers and their excessive wage demands.

It is now time for the politics to end, and for the worldwide and national governing bodies to get together and stamp out this kind of childish behaviour which ruins a sport most of us love for the majority.

Rooney Plays Away - Why Are Footballers Caught Cheating?

Wayne Rooney answered some of his doubters last night, with an excellent performance in England’s 3-1 Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland.  The Manchester United striker scored his first goal for the Three Lions in over a year and after a miserable summer in South Africa and a lacklustre start to the new Premiership campaign with his club, he looks to be back to his best.  However, it’s his scoring off the pitch that is making the headlines.

Tabloid newspapers the Daily Mirror and the News of the World reported on Sunday that Rooney had been playing away and sleeping with another woman, allegedly a prostitute in Spain.  It is also alleged that Rooney had paid this mysterious woman over £1,000 for steamy sessions, whilst his wife, Colleen was carrying his child.  True or not, this latest escapade adds to the list of high-profile footballers who have been caught out in their private lives this year.

First in January, the then England captain John Terry was reported to be having an affair with model Vanessa Perroncel, who was involved with Terry’s former Chelsea team-mate Wayne Bridge.  In March, Bridge decided to retire from international football, as he couldn’t play in the same team as Terry.  England boss Fabio Capello had little alternative in sacking Terry as England captain, replacing him with Rio Ferdinand.  Soon after this news broke out, Terry’s high-profile team-mate at Stamford Bridge, Ashley Cole had a barrage of tabloid reports, suggesting he’d had sexual relations with at least five women.  This was the final straw of his tense four-year marriage with the X-Factor judge and Girls Aloud sensation Cheryl Cole and a divorce was granted last week in the High Court.  Last month, it was Tottenham’s lanky striker Peter Crouch who came under fire for having relations with several women in Spain.  Although still together, it has severely damaged Crouchie’s previously clean reputation and his relationship with the model Abbey Clancy.  Now, with Rooney under the spotlight, you begin to wonder how many more footballers will have their private lives turned under the screw before the end of the year.

Capello and Rooney’s personal sponsors, Nike, Coca Cola and EA Sports have all backed Wayne publicly, insisting that it is just a ‘private matter.’  Surprisingly, his club manager Sir Alex Ferguson has remained quiet under the matter, and he is bound to face a grilling from the journalists at his traditional pre-match press conference at United’s training ground, Carrington on Friday morning. 

Some of the blame has been shifted onto the media, and news spreads fast nowadays, especially with the social networking generation.  Also, clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and especially Chelsea need to draw a line under these issues and tighten their policies when it comes to their highly-paid superstars going out to posh restaurants and flashy nightclubs in town.  Then, there’s the matter of the women involved, some seem to be in the game for having a good time and even launching ‘a career’ out of these saucy stories.  However, it is the footballers who need to trend a tight line.  One step out of line and the media have the capability of blowing the whole story out of proportion.  It takes two to tango, and maybe footballers should be setting a better role model to their idols, such as young children.  If these kids see these stories, they are going to think it is okay for them to do at an older age.  There can be no doubt that these are distasteful stories and they will get people interested, but it does set a very bad example for younger generations.

Rooney may have got through the initial stage with flying colours, but it will be interesting to see how Ferguson handles his troubled star, especially as Rooney is bound to get an absolute pasting this weekend.  Manchester United only head down to Merseyside on Saturday lunchtime to play his former club, Everton, who have never forgiven Rooney for his move to Old Trafford for £27million six years ago.  It could well be a spicy occasion and a very tricky afternoon for Rooney to keep his discipline in check.

Cheryl and Ashley Split - No Surprises

After weeks of speculation about sordid affairs involving another top-paid Premiership superstar who plays for Chelsea Football Club, the news broke yesterday of Cheryl Cole’s split from her husband, Ashley.

The England left-back, who is currently out injured with a broken ankle and faces a race against time to be fit for the World Cup in South Africa has seen a series of front page headlines for the wrong reasons, with allegation of affairs with up to six different women, whilst with Cheryl.  Eventually, the Girls Aloud singer has decided enough is enough and rightly so.

Following the recent furore surrounding Chelsea skipper John Terry, this is the last thing that both Carlo Ancelotti and Fabio Capello needed.  Capello has come out today with a quote, warning the England team about their future conduct.  It will be very interesting to see what the spirit in the camp will be like, with next week’s friendly against Egypt at Wembley looming large.  Chelsea have taken action and fined Cole for his actions, reports suggesting up to £400,000.  Ashley should be hanging his head in shame, he only has got himself to blame.  Excuses are the saddest and oldest trick in the book when it comes to infidelity. 

For Cheryl, it’s time to move on and she has such incredible support from her fans and close friends.  Girls Aloud will be backing her all the way, as they have done throughout, as will her close associates from The X-Factor.  Her performance at last week’s BRIT awards showed bravery, but in reality, she probably should have pulled out, as it sounded terrible.  A few days away in the United States were the best thing she could have done, and it is clear that she has done a load of thinking.  Ashley had played away before, back in 2007 and it took a lot of courage for him to be forgiven for that.  Stupidity should have been stamped on Cheryl’s head if she took him back again.  I still think she probably still loves him, but if there is no trust in a relationship, then it just isn’t going to work.

The Cole marriage has been under scrutiny for a while now; it has been one of the most talked about celebrity couples, but nowhere near on the strand of ‘Brand Beckham.’  Yesterday’s news was no surprise at all; it had been expected for a long while.  Cheryl has now requested for the media to leave her alone and give time to sort her head out.  I would hope that will be the case, though knowing the British media, that’s probably more of a hopeful rather than expectant plea.  She can do a load better than Ashley Cole and I do hope that everything will end up working for her in the end.

My final point is on relationships involving sportstars.  The Tiger Woods shenanigans before Christmas still burn very bright, especially after his frank press conference last week.  Formula 1 ace Lewis Hamilton went his separate ways with Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger at the start of the year, though there is now talk they are back together and now the latest implications involving Terry and Cole.  This is the case of ‘Men Behaving Badly,’ and big time.  You’d think these highly-paid global stars would be able to keep their trousers on, especially considering the farcical wages they pick up during a horrible economic period.  It would be nice to see these guys began again to dominate the back pages for their actual talents, rather than their clear lack of relationship skills on the front pages.  Lessons need to be learnt from this wave of cheating scandals, but will they….I really find that hard to believe…   

John Terry - A Man Under Pressure?

This blog was first published on January 30th at http://happydude88.livejournal.com/

John Terry may have been heading Chelsea four points clear at the top of the Premiership table on Saturday night, but his actions off-the-pitch were dominating the Saturday newspapers. Consequently, his winner at Burnley will pass no more than into the record books and it leaves a black mark on the FA if they don’t react.

On Friday afternoon, the High Court lifted an injunction imposed by Terry’s lawyers which has seen the tabloids take full advantage of the opportunity. It is alleged that Terry had an affair with French model Vanessa Perroncel. Perroncel was the girlfriend of Terry’s former Chelsea team-mate, Wayne Bridge. It is unclear yet whether the affair took place whilst Terry & Bridge played together at Stamford Bridge. The left-back, who now plays for Manchester City has refused to comment on the story, but as he plays for England, as Ashley Cole’s understudy, this could turn into a very tricky situation.

The FA has refused to comment on the story and Chelsea, as expected, are totally backing their captain 100%. However, the furrowed silence from both camps, plus the clear appeal to have an injunction in place, suggests that JT has been playing away. Not only does his have a fight on his hands to save his marriage with childhood sweetheart, Toni Poole, but the England captaincy. Fabio Capello is currently out of the country, but he has been known for his strict acts of discipline at former clubs Real Madrid, Juventus & AS Roma. Surely Capello has to act and a quiet word won’t do the trick. Although Terry’s place in the side shouldn’t be in jeopardy, his captaincy should be.

This isn’t the first time that John Terry has faced public scrutiny. Only two months ago, the News of the World alleged Terry was present when an undercover journalist accepted a £10,000 bribe for Terry to give him a behind-the-scenes tour of Chelsea’s training ground. Previously, he has also been caught gambling and was involved in an incident back in 2002, outside a nightclub with Jody Morris, which led to an unsavoury trial, which he was eventually cleared. If England ends up winning the World Cup this summer, they need to do it with a captain who is squeaky clean and Fabio Capello has a big decision to make now. Surely, Terry can’t lead the team into the finals now; he is a man now under a lot of pressure to deliver. The FA must act with immediate efficiency.