PREMIERSHIP: Daniel Taylor on the prospects of what was once the most feared striking partnership in the Premiership and beyond now that they have linked up at Blackburn Rovers
For A few moments, it was just like old times. As the ball flew across the penalty area, the Blackburn Rovers number nine already knew where his new team-mate was running. His lay-off was performed with the nonchalance of someone who had done it a thousand times before. Without breaking stride the number 19 moved on to the ball. His shot struck the back of the net before the goalkeeper had moved.
Blackpool's home, with its shabby stands and peeling paintwork, may have been an unlikely venue but, for two strikers with something to prove, it was here that the second coming began in earnest, the resumption of a partnership which three years ago helped Manchester United accumulate the treble of European Cup, Premiership and FA Cup.
Three years? Somehow it seems even longer since Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole, with an understanding of each other's game that bordered on telepathy, would regularly fill the most accomplished defenders with trepidation.
At Blackburn, they have picked up where they left off. Yorke's first goal for his new club complemented two from Cole in their 4-2 pre-season victory at Blackpool and, last Friday, Yorke struck again in a 3-2 defeat of Lazio, for whom Jaap Stam, another disillusioned former United player, was a second-half substitute. The three players could meet again this season, with Yorke and Cole spearheading Blackburn's attack on their return to Europe in the UEFA Cup.
Watching the two 30-year-olds link up in Blackburn colours may take getting used to, but there are signs that a partnership Alex Ferguson clearly regarded as having passed its shelf-life will illuminate Ewood Park this season.
Ferguson rarely makes errors in his judgment of players but, given that both Yorke and Cole should have at least four more years at this level, Blackburn are entitled to feel that at a combined cost of £12m they are a sound buy.
"It's not long ago that they were regarded as the best attacking pair in Europe," said Blackburn's manager Graeme Souness. "Andy is a predator. He does the job for us that Ian Rush used to do for Liverpool. And Dwight is the ideal partner, as they have shown time and time again. I couldn't tell you why United were willing to let them go, but I'm glad they did."
At first sight it seems the two are too alike to be successful as a partnership, even if Yorke is more a dribbler than the direct Cole. But Ferguson's autobiography offers this: "Dwight's alertness and subtlety provide opportunities for Andy to exploit his predator's instincts."
Stam predicts that "United's loss will be Blackburn's gain" and hails the Yorke-Cole partnership as the best he has ever worked with. "I could never have guessed that Andy and then Dwight would be sold," he said. "When they were playing together and on top form they were sensational."
Ferguson has admitted he was reluctant to sell Cole but the player was agitated about losing his place to Ruud van Nistelrooy.
"At my age I needed first-team games and Blackburn could offer me that," explained the former England striker. "It's as simple as that."
Yorke, however, is a more complicated business, especially considering that Ferguson's autobiography includes the tribute "he is a front player with a remarkable range of exceptional abilities . . . his joyous appetite for the game shines through the smile that is nearly always on his face".
What is clear is that Ferguson was so dismayed by the amount of time Yorke spent with Trinidad and Tobago that he pressed him to give up his international career. Most damagingly, however, the manager grew sick of hearing about Yorke's nocturnal activities. The manager concluded long ago - and Roy Keane says likewise in his own autobiography - that United's European Cup triumph had blunted Yorke's desire for success.
Yorke's riposte is that he seldom had the opportunity to dispel the notion of a gifted player gone to waste. "The last year has been the most difficult time of my career, but my goalscoring record speaks for itself and I left with my head held high," he said. "I trained hard all week and at the weekend I wasn't getting a look-in.
"The manager calls the shots and when it's Alex Ferguson you have to accept what he says. I've kept my mouth shut even though it was hard sometimes, and that's what I will continue to do. I'm a hard worker and a believer and I'm just grateful Blackburn have given me the chance to regain my old confidence and self-esteem. It's about pride more than anything."
The chance to be reunited with Cole was, Yorke acknowledged, one of the principal attractions. "We work together well, but we're also very close friends and that's important. As far as I'm concerned he's one of the most underrated players around. I can't believe he's not in the England squad but sometimes it seems that your face just doesn't fit.
"Maybe you could say the same about me at Manchester United."
