Demolition Man

Blog written by tractorboykent
Published: 16th April 2021 15:35

Paul Cook isn’t a man to mince words. Even though we are all sick of the continuing spiral of underachievement at Town, it was nevertheless still a bit of a shock to hear him lay into the 18 that capitulated to Wimbledon in what he described before kick-off as a season defining match.

“If the whole squad didn’t want to come back from Wimbledon the other night, it wouldn’t have bothered me” just about sums it up.

It’s hard to imagine a list of weaknesses longer than the one he bemoaned â€" “We don’t put crosses in the box, we don’t create chances, we don’t defend well, we don’t retain possession of the ball, we’re not very fit, we’re not very athletic.”

In line with his words, the clear-out has now started.

The problems we have are, of course, deep-rooted and they go back over some years. This is well illustrated by the first team squad in terms of how long players have been around, who brought them in and how many managers they have played under prior to Cook.

Player	Year Signed	Managers Played Under
Holy	2019	Lambert
Cornell	2020	Lambert
Ward	2020	Lambert
Chambers	2012	Jewell/McCarthy/Hurst/Lambert
Wilson	2019	Lambert
Nsiala	2018	Hurst/Lambert
Edwards	2018	Hurst/Lambert
Skuse	2013	McCarthy/Hurst/Lambert
Nolan	2018	Hurst/Lambert
Judge	2019	Lambert
Huws	2017	McCarthy/Hurst/Lambert
Jackson	2018	Hurst/Lambert
Norwood	2019	Lambert
Sears	2015	McCarthy/Hurst/Lambert
Drinan	2018	Lambert
Hawkins	2020	Lambert

NB Excludes KVY (who has played so little football and who, I think we would all agree, has some real quality) as well as loanees in and out

This suggests that the foundations of the current crisis have been laid by several managers. We’ll all of course have our own opinions on individuals. Personally, I think we must acknowledge that Freddie Sears was great for us at one point, Kayden Jackson, despite scoring in his early days, looks to me like he will never make a footballer, but collectively we are, as Cook says, a soft touch and that’s been the case for too long.

We all hoped that our decline had culminated in relegation but actually it just continued. These players â€" to a greater or lesser degree â€" have been part of that so it’s inevitable that if we are to sweep away the culture then we must remove many of them.

What are likely to be tougher decisions (at least for us as fans) are those affecting the younger players who have come through the youth set-up, ie ‘our own’. For a long time the academy was held out as our big hope and many of us were yelling for the kids to be given a chance. Well, the current squad at least shows that a good number have been:

Player	Year Joined (age)	Managers Played Under
Woolfenden	2009 (11)	McCarthy/Hurst/Lambert
Kenlock	2014 (18)	McCarthy/Hurst/Lambert
Lankester	2006 (6)	Hurst/Lambert
Bishop	2003 (7)	McCarthy/Hurst/Lambert
Nydam	2008 (9)	McCarthy/Hurst/Lambert
Downes	2005 (7)	McCarthy/Hurst/Lambert
Dozzell	2007 (8)	McCarthy/Hurst/Lambert
Dobra	2015 (14)	Lambert

Andre Dozzell (quite apart from the respect we all have for his dad) and Jack Lankester, for instance, are Town supporters and these numbers show that most have grown up with us as a club.

The fact remains though that, while they have time on their side, they still have to deliver. Sadly for many of us, the promise of some (such as Teddy Bishop) seems to be receding rather than progressing.

The suggestion that Town’s squad is as ‘strong as any in League One’ was the basis of an expectation that Paul Lambert would get us back up. The assertion was repeated even as recently as when Cook arrived, but not by him and, notably, not by the buyers (maybe only by the seller...).

We, of course, know it to be nonsense. Even a cursory glance at the highlights on Quest every week shows a host of clubs with much stronger sides, many of which are nowhere near the top two. What’s more we have been so regularly outplayed by teams in similarly modest positions that it’s undeniable.

As we approach a mass clear out then it is impossible not to compare the last time a manager took such an approach, and how that ended.

Paul Hurst’s situation was, of course, quite different. Cook has both the need and the opportunity with so many players out of contract and new owners providing funds backed by expectations.

As supporters, we may well not agree with some or even many of his decisions that he is about to make but we are being asked to trust him.

It’s worth pondering the much-repeated fact that, were it not for the points deduction, Cook’s Wigan team which was made up of youth and freebies, many of whom were playing without any guarantee of being paid, would have finished near mid table in the CHAMPIONSHIP. That is as good an illustration as any of what he can achieve with some half decent foundations.

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