Former Town boss Paul Cook insists he and his staff should have been given longer at Portman Road in his first public comments since his sacking a month ago yesterday, and says working with the performance department brought in by the club over the summer led to “challenges”.
Cook, 54, was relieved of his duties following the 0-0 FA Cup second-round draw with Barrow having only been appointed at the start of March.
Overall, the former Chesterfield, Portsmouth and Wigan boss was in charge of Town for 44 matches, winning 13, drawing 17 and losing 14.
Asked whether he should have been given longer to turn the Blues around even in light of those figures Cook told Sky Sports News: "One hundred per cent we should have been given longer time. One hundred per cent. I get stats, I get all the stats in the modern-day game.
"I think it’s grossly unfair when you can put a manager’s stats on the table when in the summer we released 27 to 30 players and we brought in 19 new ones. So we’re actually probably talking about two different teams.
"The stats can stand up. We initially went six games I think it was without winning, so that would have brought a pressure.
"We brought a lot of new lads in and a lot of good players, some really good players, a very strong squad. No pre-season into them, signing players very late and then, more importantly, taking their time to integrate into a system, a shape and all the above.
"After an initial period of not winning in six, the next 14 league games yielded seven wins, three draws and four defeats.
"We were sacked after 20 league games and for anyone to tell a manager that 20 league games is enough, in my world, you’re wrong.
"The last six home league games with me and my staff in charge at the club, we won four, drew one and lost to Rotherham.
"So you can always look back. I’m so disappointed because it’s a fantastic club, the fanbase, the training ground, the town itself, absolutely magnificent, they deserve success.
"The supporters down there are fantastic. Were me and my staff given enough time? No, not in my opinion, but that’s Mark Ashton and the owners’ decision, and you have to respect that.”
He says he wouldn’t have stuck around had he known that he wasn’t going to be given the time he anticipated: "If the new ownership had told me if it’s not instant success you’d be gone, I wouldn’t have stayed.
"That’s my only regret, I brought new staff in - Franny Jeffers, Gary Roberts, Ian Craney and John Keeley - who were very committed to a project.
"I managed Portsmouth for two years and it wasn’t all swimming and sailing. The first year we just managed to get to the play-offs, the second year we won the league. I thought that was good progress.
"Certainly for myself and the lads who went in, working with a new performance department brought in by Mark Ashton and not by me, the challenges we had within that daily over training and fitness etc.
"My only regret as a senior manager I stayed after the summer. I should’ve been stronger and forceful with my decisions around it.”
In the summer, the Blues added Andy Rolls as director of performance, Jon Ashton as first-team fitness coach and Andy Costin as head of sports science.