Arsenal's 10 Most Hated Players
2. Ashley Cole
In 2005, Chelsea, their manager Jose Mourinho and Arsenal defender Ashley Cole were all found guilty of secretly meeting at a London restaurant without the Gunners's prior permission as the Premier League was engulfed in a bitter tapping up storm. Cole was punished for going behind his club's back to engineer a move away from the Emirates and as a result became something of a judas figure among fans.
Chelseas chief executive Peter Kenyon, Mourinho, Cole and his agents Pini Zahavi and Jonathan Barnett were alleged to have been present at the meeting and Cole received a £100,000 fine for his infringement. The scandal resulted in Coles controversial move from Arsenal to Stamford Bridge in 2006 after the defender attacked his former manager Arsene Wenger in his autobiography for feeding him to the sharks in the aftermath of the tapping up storm, as his relationship with fans and manager alike descended into irreparable disrepair.