Coventry City's Joe Cole was in the England U18's technical area for their 4-1 win against the Republic Of Ireland today.
Cole has been helping with Neil Dewsnip’s England U18's for the last few days and speaking about his role, the midfielder said to TheFA.com: “This is a new challenge for me and an exciting one too. I’ve got a lot to learn but spending time with squads like England U18s, learning how they do things and how they learn is a really important part of developing as a coach.
“I’ve been in squads with Andre Green when I was at Villa and I’ve coached him. I coached Reece Oxford at West Ham when I did my B Licence, which I really enjoyed, so it’s been nice to have some familiar faces in the camp.
“As an experienced player you always wished you knew what you knew when you were 17 what you know now,” he said.
“You need to soak up everything that the coaches are giving you, and make every minute that you’re away with England count.
“England is a massive thing for me. I loved playing for my country at all levels and it’s something I never took for granted.
“Hopefully a lot of these players will progress to the senior ranks – I’ve seen the group train and there are some really good technicians in the squad, and the spirit around the camp is really strong.”
Dewship said about Cole: “It’s really valuable to have a coach and player of Joe’s experience work with our players.“Joe is someone with huge knowledge of the game and someone the players can look up to, but it’s also important for us as an organisation to help develop coaches.
“He is on our coaching pathway and that is something we really want our country’s great players to do, especially when they are getting their coaching qualifications while still playing.”
Coventry City's Stephen Hunt also attended the game at St Georges Park.
More at http://www.thefa.com/news/england/development/2016/mar/joe-cole-england-u18s-4-1-republic-of-ireland#