Keown outlines admiration for Cole

Martin Keown knew from the first moment he clapped eyes on Ashley Cole the defender would stop at nothing to achieve his aims.

There have been few modern-day players as controversial as Cole and a bad off-field reputation has spilled over onto the football side over the last couple of weeks. First it was his four-letter Twitter rant at the Football Association, now an apparent hardening of attitudes in his contract dispute with Chelsea.

But Keown describes these scrapes as "unfortunate" and, like many who know the 31-year-old well, feels Cole is badly misunderstood.

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