Devante is more than a number... he’s coming out of his shell
SAYS STEPHEN ROBINSON
DEVANTE COLE had the benefit of Sir Alex Ferguson living across the road and bridging a city divide with words of help and advice during his days as a young boy rising through the ranks in the Manchester City academy.
Yet, it’s as an adult, with his footballing life now at a very distinct crossroads, that the 24-year-old needs a friendly arm around his shoulder more than ever.
The glitz and glamour of City, who released him in 2015, seems a world away now. Before arriving at Motherwell on a six-month loan from Wigan Athletic in August, he had barely played for nine months in the wake of a spell farmed out to Burton Albion.
This is a guy needing something to happen in his career and his salvation might just come from a manager who remembers him from a difficult spell in his own journey and a club with a proven history of getting people moving in the right direction.
Stephen Robinson certainly knows the recuperative powers of a stay at Fir Park. When he returned after a previous spell as assistant to Ian Baraclough, he’d been hurt by a six-month spell in charge at Oldham Athletic which ended with the sack.
Now, having progressed to being manager after a short time as No 2 to Mark McGhee, he has Motherwell sitting third in the table with his reputation back on the rise.
At the moment Cole’s availability was mentioned during the transfer window just gone, though, it was that ill-fated spell at Boundary Park that returned to Robinson’s mind.
Back then, the son of former Manchester United favourite Andy was beginning to make his own name at League One rivals Fleetwood Town — going on to score 20 goals in two seasons there — and it is the form he showed at that point which makes the Motherwell manager (below) believe he can do something special again with just the right blend of guidance and support.
Cole’s winning goal at St Johnstone last weekend can be marked down as step one in the process.
‘Giving him a wee arm around the shoulder and letting him know that he’s more than a number here has helped Devante. It’s given him confidence,’ said the Northern Irishman.
‘We get these people in who have maybe just lost their way, lost their confidence and their fitness a little because they haven’t been playing, and make them realise they are one of 20 players here. If they aren’t starting, they’ll be on the bench.
‘This is only the start for Devante. We’ve got him until Christmas and we’d like to do something longer if it works for both parties.
‘He doesn’t say much. He’s quiet, but he’s starting to come out of his shell a little bit. I’ve got real belief in his ability and what he brings to the club.
‘We’re all starting to see now that he is a very good player, as are all the forward players. If you look at them, none of them were playing regularly.’
Of course, you sense the shadow of his father’s storied career hangs over Cole, too. Andy was a goalgetter extraordinaire, a phenomenon. He has been mentioned in dispatches since his son turned up in Lanarkshire, but never seen.
Robinson appreciates the difficulties created by familial bonds crossing into football. His own 19-year-old son Harry, currently on loan at Northern Irish side Crusaders, is trying to make his way at Oldham and hates when his dad’s name comes up in conversation.
‘Devante’s dad was top class, so he definitely has the pedigree,’ said Robinson. ‘He has that steely mentality and determination.
‘But, as with anybody whose dad has been in football, they don’t want that baggage.
‘My lad is embarrassed every time I get mentioned in one of his interviews.
‘They are footballers in their own right and I’m sure Andy will be the same as me.’
The Ferguson link, of course, comes from Andy being such an important figure in some of Old Trafford’s most successful sides and helping the United legend win his first Champions League in 1999. For Devante, though, Sir Alex was also the old guy who stayed across the road during his childhood.
‘The first place I lived was opposite him,’ recalled Cole. ‘I was at a young age where football was still just a bit of fun, but, as I got older, I spoke to him once or twice as well. I would have been a young kid at City at the time.
‘His advice to me was always just to get my head down and work hard.
‘I feel that I’m slowly getting there now (at Motherwell).
‘I needed a goal. I’ve got one now and I’m sure there will be more to come.’
His clincher at McDiarmid Park, of course, came after he’d somehow contrived to miss a cast-iron sitter. That, in his view, can be regarded as a positive ahead of today’s league visit of St Mirren.
‘I was there to miss and that’s probably the most important thing,’ he said. ‘I didn’t shy away.’