| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. 10:46 - Apr 16 with 4669 views | Coastalblue |
Still dissenters to that opinion or is everybody agreeing now? |  |
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| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 10:55 - Apr 16 with 3899 views | Stenvict |
I'm sure before he took charge, he looked at the squad and thought it would be fairly easy to win games with the squad as on paper it looks a good L1 squad. He has now realised that they're mentally weak, physically unfit, and haven't been properly coached for the last 2 years. |  |
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| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 10:58 - Apr 16 with 3875 views | TractorCam |
| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 10:55 - Apr 16 by Stenvict |
I'm sure before he took charge, he looked at the squad and thought it would be fairly easy to win games with the squad as on paper it looks a good L1 squad. He has now realised that they're mentally weak, physically unfit, and haven't been properly coached for the last 2 years. |
Indeed, he pretty much said as much when he was in the sky studio against Sunderland. |  |
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| We did have one of.... on 11:07 - Apr 16 with 3859 views | Bloots |
.....if not the best squad in the league, the standard of football in this league is terrible.
(albeit a few are massively over rated by our fans)
But they have totally lost it mentally over the last few months and that's just as important. The lack of mental strength has now totally translated itself to a lack of performance the pitch.
They aren't interested, they are broken footballers that need to sod off.
Everyone out. |  |
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| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 11:17 - Apr 16 with 3820 views | Radlett_blue |
The squad was still good enough to be in a play off place when Cook took over, despite being managed by a supposed incompetent. |  |
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| We did have one of.... on 11:21 - Apr 16 with 3786 views | Steve_M |
| We did have one of.... on 11:07 - Apr 16 by Bloots |
.....if not the best squad in the league, the standard of football in this league is terrible.
(albeit a few are massively over rated by our fans)
But they have totally lost it mentally over the last few months and that's just as important. The lack of mental strength has now totally translated itself to a lack of performance the pitch.
They aren't interested, they are broken footballers that need to sod off.
Everyone out. |
Indeed, and some of those players - Edwards, Jackson, Nolan, Norwood - will probably do well enough in this division for people to ask why we didn't keep them.
Utterly negligent of Lambert and Evans that the club got to this state with a large, expensive squad of decent players. |  |
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| We did have one of.... on 11:34 - Apr 16 with 3731 views | Freddy |
| We did have one of.... on 11:21 - Apr 16 by Steve_M |
Indeed, and some of those players - Edwards, Jackson, Nolan, Norwood - will probably do well enough in this division for people to ask why we didn't keep them.
Utterly negligent of Lambert and Evans that the club got to this state with a large, expensive squad of decent players. |
I like some of his quotes
''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''
''Our players are very, very aware of my feelings. If the whole squad didn’t want to come back from Wimbledon the other night, it wouldn’t have bothered me. I’d have got on with the season.It's where I’m at, I don’t really think I [need to say any more]. Obviously from you guys, I accept all the different stuff, all the players have agents and all the above. I couldn’t care less any more.” | | | |
| We did have one of.... on 11:38 - Apr 16 with 3697 views | BlueBadger |
| We did have one of.... on 11:34 - Apr 16 by Freddy |
I like some of his quotes
''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''
''Our players are very, very aware of my feelings. If the whole squad didn’t want to come back from Wimbledon the other night, it wouldn’t have bothered me. I’d have got on with the season.It's where I’m at, I don’t really think I [need to say any more]. Obviously from you guys, I accept all the different stuff, all the players have agents and all the above. I couldn’t care less any more.” |
This is what happens when you keep a man who's more interested in his five year contract and talking about how he used to play for Dortmund than actually doing his job for two years longer than you should do. |  |
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| We did have one of.... on 12:04 - Apr 16 with 3645 views | borge |
| We did have one of.... on 11:07 - Apr 16 by Bloots |
.....if not the best squad in the league, the standard of football in this league is terrible.
(albeit a few are massively over rated by our fans)
But they have totally lost it mentally over the last few months and that's just as important. The lack of mental strength has now totally translated itself to a lack of performance the pitch.
They aren't interested, they are broken footballers that need to sod off.
Everyone out. |
This.
As individuals 'on paper' we have the players to create one of the best (if not the best) squads in the division easily. I think Lambert's inability to get the tactics right (and his rigidity), the ridiculous number of injuries we have had, the ebbing of confidence as we have moved towards the end of the season and having a squad where the vast majority know they are on borrowed time has created a situation where a squad that should be smashing most opponents out of the park is barely capable of having a shot on goal.
I think the 'borrowed' time element has been a massive factor over the past month. It's all very well saying people should be playing for a new contract, but if that applies to the majority of the first team squad then the level of uncertainty surely becomes the dominant factor. Not quite the same, but imagine working for a company where the majority know they are about to be made redundant..... | | | |
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| We did have one of.... on 12:08 - Apr 16 with 3636 views | tractorboy1978 |
| We did have one of.... on 12:04 - Apr 16 by borge |
This.
As individuals 'on paper' we have the players to create one of the best (if not the best) squads in the division easily. I think Lambert's inability to get the tactics right (and his rigidity), the ridiculous number of injuries we have had, the ebbing of confidence as we have moved towards the end of the season and having a squad where the vast majority know they are on borrowed time has created a situation where a squad that should be smashing most opponents out of the park is barely capable of having a shot on goal.
I think the 'borrowed' time element has been a massive factor over the past month. It's all very well saying people should be playing for a new contract, but if that applies to the majority of the first team squad then the level of uncertainty surely becomes the dominant factor. Not quite the same, but imagine working for a company where the majority know they are about to be made redundant..... |
It's very much got the 'working your notice period' feel about it hasn't it. | | | |
| We did have one of.... on 12:10 - Apr 16 with 3631 views | hype313 |
| We did have one of.... on 12:08 - Apr 16 by tractorboy1978 |
It's very much got the 'working your notice period' feel about it hasn't it. |
Reminds me when years ago, our whole department was made redundant and we had 6 months left, it was like the last week of school when you got to watch Short Circuit 2. |  |
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| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 12:57 - Apr 16 with 3561 views | Keaneish |
I've always said we had the best squad in the league since coming down and i stand by that. The fact that Lambert destroyed it and let it go to ruin is a completely separate conversation. |  |
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| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 13:01 - Apr 16 with 3545 views | J2BLUE |
| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 12:57 - Apr 16 by Keaneish |
I've always said we had the best squad in the league since coming down and i stand by that. The fact that Lambert destroyed it and let it go to ruin is a completely separate conversation. |
I think the evidence has well and truly spoken on this one. |  |
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| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 13:55 - Apr 16 with 3431 views | Keaneish |
| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 13:01 - Apr 16 by J2BLUE |
I think the evidence has well and truly spoken on this one. |
Its the evidence of two-years decay and decline though. No doubt these players aren't the players they were 2-years ago. No-one has improved, form is at an all time low and they're as beleaguered and as hapless as they will have been aged 15. Coming down from the Championship to League One it was easily a good enough squad to bounce back. However, coached badly, they now barely look like pros.
Can 2-years of poor management do that to a player? In my opinion, absolutely. | |
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| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 14:11 - Apr 16 with 3390 views | Churchman |
| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 12:57 - Apr 16 by Keaneish |
I've always said we had the best squad in the league since coming down and i stand by that. The fact that Lambert destroyed it and let it go to ruin is a completely separate conversation. |
I think they’ve shown they are not the best squad in the league by a good long way. Most injury prone, easiest to roll over if you get in their faces early in games, easiest to beat if you get a goal up, maybe. Whether they are better individuals than they combine as a team will be shown by how many top half League One and above clubs come in for any of them. A few such as Downes and Wolfenden will be attractive to some, but the majority of those players? It will be interesting. |  | | |
| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 14:26 - Apr 16 with 3379 views | itfcjoe |
| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 12:57 - Apr 16 by Keaneish |
I've always said we had the best squad in the league since coming down and i stand by that. The fact that Lambert destroyed it and let it go to ruin is a completely separate conversation. |
I agree - certainly in the top 3 or 4 anyway.
The fact that we are playing so terribly and still within touching distance of the play offs tells its own story as to what the rest of this league is like - it's just mentally shot now |  |
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| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 14:32 - Apr 16 with 3357 views | PhilTWTD |
| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 14:26 - Apr 16 by itfcjoe |
I agree - certainly in the top 3 or 4 anyway.
The fact that we are playing so terribly and still within touching distance of the play offs tells its own story as to what the rest of this league is like - it's just mentally shot now |
I think the mental aspect is a large element of it. Three seasons of failure have instilled a losing mentality. They fall apart when things go awry, both within games and within seasons. Can't be a coincidence that two seasons have taken such a similar pattern.
In terms of the squad, as individual players, I'm sure most people would put a lot of our senior players on a list of the division's better players.
But while that may be the case, as a group they're less than a sum of their parts. Mentality and confidence comes into it but also aspects that are missing, we're lacking a bit of midfield steel, fitness is clearly an issue, particularly to play the sort of game Cook wants to play.
Clearing the decks and starting again is the approach that's needed and fortunately that has coincided with a load of players being out of contract and money being available. From the noises I hear they'll be trying to recruit as if they're a Championship side in waiting rather than just a team to do well in League One. |  | | |
| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 14:58 - Apr 16 with 3278 views | SouperJim |
| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 14:32 - Apr 16 by PhilTWTD |
I think the mental aspect is a large element of it. Three seasons of failure have instilled a losing mentality. They fall apart when things go awry, both within games and within seasons. Can't be a coincidence that two seasons have taken such a similar pattern.
In terms of the squad, as individual players, I'm sure most people would put a lot of our senior players on a list of the division's better players.
But while that may be the case, as a group they're less than a sum of their parts. Mentality and confidence comes into it but also aspects that are missing, we're lacking a bit of midfield steel, fitness is clearly an issue, particularly to play the sort of game Cook wants to play.
Clearing the decks and starting again is the approach that's needed and fortunately that has coincided with a load of players being out of contract and money being available. From the noises I hear they'll be trying to recruit as if they're a Championship side in waiting rather than just a team to do well in League One. |
It's a shocking state of affairs really. I know relegation is tough to come back from, but early on last season it looked like we had managed it with aplomb. The entire Evans era was one false dawn after another, certainly on paper much of this squad is good enough to challenge for promotion in this division but the mental fragility they display as a group is frightening.
They all need to move on and play football elsewhere, many of them I'm sure will find their way back and be better for it. But to go from being just outside the playoffs with 16 games to go when Cook came in, to winning just 2 in 10 and Cook now essentially saying the writing is on the wall and the vast majority of the squad has packed it in, is an utterly shocking state of affairs. Where is their professional pride? On paper promotion is still within their grasp even now, but instead their complete lack of will to win has us on course to probably finish even lower than last season.
Even in our darkest days under Jewell with a squad full of mercenaries and pay-cheque collecting hasbeens, it never felt quite this bad. A few of the younger pros aside, this group really aren't fit to wear the shirt. |  |
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| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 16:27 - Apr 16 with 3143 views | BlueBadger |
| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 13:55 - Apr 16 by Keaneish |
Its the evidence of two-years decay and decline though. No doubt these players aren't the players they were 2-years ago. No-one has improved, form is at an all time low and they're as beleaguered and as hapless as they will have been aged 15. Coming down from the Championship to League One it was easily a good enough squad to bounce back. However, coached badly, they now barely look like pros.
Can 2-years of poor management do that to a player? In my opinion, absolutely. |
You've only got to look at some of the unlikely lads that Mick took on to see what good coaching can do for previously unregarded players. | |
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| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 16:31 - Apr 16 with 3122 views | Keaneish |
| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 16:27 - Apr 16 by BlueBadger |
You've only got to look at some of the unlikely lads that Mick took on to see what good coaching can do for previously unregarded players. |
Completely agree. As well as plucking raw talent from obscurity, he prolonged the careers of senior pros who would no doubt have disappeared into obscurity. | |
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| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 16:41 - Apr 16 with 3102 views | istanblue |
It's a mentality issue. Been saying it for years. We have some decent players here who can do a job at this level if they're coached well and the right mentality is instilled within them. |  | | |
| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 17:11 - Apr 16 with 3057 views | vanmunt |
| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 14:32 - Apr 16 by PhilTWTD |
I think the mental aspect is a large element of it. Three seasons of failure have instilled a losing mentality. They fall apart when things go awry, both within games and within seasons. Can't be a coincidence that two seasons have taken such a similar pattern.
In terms of the squad, as individual players, I'm sure most people would put a lot of our senior players on a list of the division's better players.
But while that may be the case, as a group they're less than a sum of their parts. Mentality and confidence comes into it but also aspects that are missing, we're lacking a bit of midfield steel, fitness is clearly an issue, particularly to play the sort of game Cook wants to play.
Clearing the decks and starting again is the approach that's needed and fortunately that has coincided with a load of players being out of contract and money being available. From the noises I hear they'll be trying to recruit as if they're a Championship side in waiting rather than just a team to do well in League One. |
Can you imagine‘recruiting championship player quality’ we haven’t done that for about 10 years, that is why we are in the position we are in |  | | |
| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 17:20 - Apr 16 with 3044 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 14:32 - Apr 16 by PhilTWTD |
I think the mental aspect is a large element of it. Three seasons of failure have instilled a losing mentality. They fall apart when things go awry, both within games and within seasons. Can't be a coincidence that two seasons have taken such a similar pattern.
In terms of the squad, as individual players, I'm sure most people would put a lot of our senior players on a list of the division's better players.
But while that may be the case, as a group they're less than a sum of their parts. Mentality and confidence comes into it but also aspects that are missing, we're lacking a bit of midfield steel, fitness is clearly an issue, particularly to play the sort of game Cook wants to play.
Clearing the decks and starting again is the approach that's needed and fortunately that has coincided with a load of players being out of contract and money being available. From the noises I hear they'll be trying to recruit as if they're a Championship side in waiting rather than just a team to do well in League One. |
It's interesting that both seasons in League 1 we've started well with a high press, and then it's tailed off after a handful of games. I've wondered before if it was simply that our players weren't fit enough to keep it up (and they'd do well at this level if they could).
Players from the so-called lesser teams in League 1 seem to make up for their lack of that 'extra quality' with endeavour, like they feel privileged to be playing at this level and so do their darndest to compete. Our players give the impression that this is a false level for them and they should be higher. Problem is if the whole team goes onto the pitch with that attitude they'll get beat by 'lesser' players who want it more. |  |
| Trust the process. Trust Phil. |
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| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 17:31 - Apr 16 with 3011 views | Terra_Farma |
| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 14:32 - Apr 16 by PhilTWTD |
I think the mental aspect is a large element of it. Three seasons of failure have instilled a losing mentality. They fall apart when things go awry, both within games and within seasons. Can't be a coincidence that two seasons have taken such a similar pattern.
In terms of the squad, as individual players, I'm sure most people would put a lot of our senior players on a list of the division's better players.
But while that may be the case, as a group they're less than a sum of their parts. Mentality and confidence comes into it but also aspects that are missing, we're lacking a bit of midfield steel, fitness is clearly an issue, particularly to play the sort of game Cook wants to play.
Clearing the decks and starting again is the approach that's needed and fortunately that has coincided with a load of players being out of contract and money being available. From the noises I hear they'll be trying to recruit as if they're a Championship side in waiting rather than just a team to do well in League One. |
"But while that may be the case, as a group they're less than a sum of their parts."
Phillip - bob on and that is down to very poor and naive management.
Exciting times ahead. In PC we trust. | | | |
| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 18:00 - Apr 16 with 2973 views | Leaky |
We probably have good squad but a shi t team. |  | | |
| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 18:02 - Apr 16 with 2967 views | Mullet |
| It appears that Cook disagrees we have the best squad in the league. on 17:11 - Apr 16 by vanmunt |
Can you imagine‘recruiting championship player quality’ we haven’t done that for about 10 years, that is why we are in the position we are in |
Martyn Waghorn says hello. |  |
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