Cook: Gary's Disappointed With the Quality of Player We Have in the Building - Ipswich Town News
Boss Paul Cook listed the aspects of Town’s play that he and assistant Gary Roberts have found frustrating in their first six weeks at Portman Road, and it was a pretty damning assessment.
Cook has made no secret that he has been less than impressed with what the squad he inherited from Paul Lambert have shown since he took charge with the Blues’ play-off push faltering having won just two of his 10 games in charge, while losing four and drawing four.
Asked how Roberts, who is in his first coaching position having still been a player at Accrington when Cook brought him to Portman Road, is settling into his new role, the Blues manager said: "He’s not very happy. He’s not very pleased. He’s very disappointed with the quality of player we have in the building.
"What we’re saying to our lads now is ‘someone please step up to the plate, anyone, whoever wants to step up to the plate to be here and stay with us in the future, for years or months or days that we’re here’.
"I don’t know how long I’ll be Ipswich manager. I don’t know how long the new owners will trust me for.
"For me to renew players’ contracts and keep people at the club, I’ve got to trust them. At all my teams historically I have had 10, 12, 15 players at every club that I trust. I don’t have that at Ipswich Town and I think Gary’s found that really frustrating.
"That we don’t put crosses in the box, we don’t create chances, we don’t defend well, we don’t defend set pieces well, we don’t retain possession of the ball, we’re not very fit, we’re not very athletic. You can write a list of what we’re not really good at.
"So to say Gary’s not really happy, you can imagine it’s quite similar to the mood I’m in today. It’s a lovely day in Suffolk and by the time I’ve finished with you [the media] I will smile, I will be a happy manager and I will travel to Charlton with all the enthusiasm in the world.
"But we’re not going to start putting on faces now for people and say everything’s rosy in our camp. Everything is not rosy in this camp.”
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