| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook 21:24 - Apr 20 with 7000 views | TieDyedIn95 |
I have been a big supporter of Paul Cook coming here and he's had 100% of my backing since he arrived but like others (and even more moderate posters) have suggested the team morale and overall performance, shape, instruction have dipped to so many new lows since his arrival I am also getting genuinely concerned.
I understand the players have downed tools, but why aren't we trying out more of the squad? Why aren't we using a system that suits what we have, if we are just going to use what we have? What I will say is it's clear the players do not rate Cook and have taken to him as warmly as they did to Paul Hurst and that is worrying for me. I am not someone who over rates this squad by any means, but we should have enough in us to beat Rochdale, Wimbledon, Wigan, Northampton and so on. We beat the piss poor teams last season in most cases without even breaking a sweat and we were a mid-table side then. So what has happened?
So I am going to say we're in a weird position of taking a gamble of continuing on with Paul Cook next season. I know many are calling for a complete squad over haul but that approach rarely works either. If we go too radical like we did under Hurst we could end up getting relegated. Cook is trading off his reputation with Pompey and Wigan here, which is the only reason we should keep him because what we've seen from him so far is a lot of shouting, animation but a complete regression in footballing terms. Paul Lambert would have done better had he stayed on, not saying he should have, but hew knew the squad and its limitations and they were poorer than what most supporters believed they were. Cook took none of what Lambert did on board, or even Gill who was there and has pushed to adopt his own system as quickly as possible, also likely on the assumption that Lambert was the sole issue.
The idea that he's going to recruit 15 odd players in the summer from this league and lower and suddenly walk this league is not realistic. Yeah, some of the old guard have to go, some of the injury prone and that lot have to go but players like your Nydhams, Kenlocks, Bishops, Downes, Wolfies and even to some extent Edwards and even dare I say it... Judge should easily be able to manage football in this league with some good recruitment around them. All of the strikers have been bad, except Norwood when he is fit but he's a liability for the club in other ways that we can probably do better there.
I just don't know if it's just the players after this many games. We have been absolutely awful. We've been told it will be better next season so many times before when the writings been on the wall that it has to be stupid to ignore what we have seen.
Cook out? I don't know. My heart says no, but my head is telling me that maybe it is a risk to keep him on after the end of this season. |  |
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| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 08:34 - Apr 21 with 1737 views | itfcpaul |
Stop being ridiculous |  |
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| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 08:41 - Apr 21 with 1728 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
If you give a good man a turd, the good man is still a good man and the turd is still a turd.
Patience is a virtue. |  |
| Trust the process. Trust Phil. |
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| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 08:43 - Apr 21 with 1729 views | Bobbychase |
Sacking him - massive gamble. And would make us reviled in football.
Here's where we are: A manager with a very, very good track record at this level in place. New owners who have pledged to be ambitious in the transfer market.
Why can't people just wait a few weeks? We might well have signings in the wings ready to come in the moment the season ends. |  |
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| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 08:45 - Apr 21 with 1716 views | itfcpaul |
| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 08:43 - Apr 21 by Bobbychase |
Sacking him - massive gamble. And would make us reviled in football.
Here's where we are: A manager with a very, very good track record at this level in place. New owners who have pledged to be ambitious in the transfer market.
Why can't people just wait a few weeks? We might well have signings in the wings ready to come in the moment the season ends. |
because not everyone is born with intelligence, common sense, lack of stupidity and the ability to not fill their time posting inane comments to be inflammatory to fill their sad. empty lives
Too harsh??????? | |
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| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 08:50 - Apr 21 with 1705 views | itfcjoe |
| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 08:32 - Apr 21 by StokieBlue |
Weren't you very pro-Cook previously?
Seems harsh to be so negative (on other threads) about him given he's inherited an absolute mess. It's been poor, nobody can disagree on that but he doesn't have the tools he wants. It's like hiring a carpenter and then saying you can't get any wood for 3 months so use that existing pile of bricks over there.
SB |
He's got a great record, and he deserves the summer - but this has been really poor and is getting worse.
If you were to buy a business would you not take a full review of the people in key positions though? |  |
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| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 08:54 - Apr 21 with 1690 views | yorkshireblue |
| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 21:28 - Apr 20 by TieDyedIn95 |
What about some more of the U23's and the excellent U18's we now have on the books? Surely you'd try them over Drinnan and serial failure Sears? |
I've seen this a lot.
For me, the answer, could be by throwing them in to early and potentially getting a hiding, you risk tier development - see England Rugby's Tour of Hell as an example. For me, the correct approach - long term - is to bring in a few youngsters so that they have experienced players around them to aid their development.
I'd say the bigger gamble is getting rid of Cook. Who would we get in to replace him? Certainly noone with the track record he has. |  | | |
| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 08:57 - Apr 21 with 1681 views | Bobbychase |
| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 08:45 - Apr 21 by itfcpaul |
because not everyone is born with intelligence, common sense, lack of stupidity and the ability to not fill their time posting inane comments to be inflammatory to fill their sad. empty lives
Too harsh??????? |
No, spot on.
"Look, here are the keys to a golden future, you just have to wait a month."
"But I want a golden future NOW. Waaaaaah." | |
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| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 08:59 - Apr 21 with 1673 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 08:50 - Apr 21 by itfcjoe |
He's got a great record, and he deserves the summer - but this has been really poor and is getting worse.
If you were to buy a business would you not take a full review of the people in key positions though? |
Not if you'd just put someone in that key position. You'd give your new man the tools to do the job before writing him off. | |
| Trust the process. Trust Phil. |
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| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 09:00 - Apr 21 with 1661 views | itfcjoe |
| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 08:59 - Apr 21 by The_Flashing_Smile |
Not if you'd just put someone in that key position. You'd give your new man the tools to do the job before writing him off. |
But they haven't put him in that position - Phil, and the EADT guys couldn't have been clearer in that belief | |
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| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 09:03 - Apr 21 with 1643 views | StokieBlue |
| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 08:50 - Apr 21 by itfcjoe |
He's got a great record, and he deserves the summer - but this has been really poor and is getting worse.
If you were to buy a business would you not take a full review of the people in key positions though? |
I would have done the review before publicly backing the existing key positions.
I agree it's been poor but it was poor before. There were signs that small winning run was going to end either way.
SB |  |
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| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 09:04 - Apr 21 with 1637 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 09:00 - Apr 21 by itfcjoe |
But they haven't put him in that position - Phil, and the EADT guys couldn't have been clearer in that belief |
They said he was their top man as well so you're splitting hairs.
I also think Cook waited for this job because he'd had wind that the takeover (and investment) were very likely happening. | |
| Trust the process. Trust Phil. |
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| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 09:10 - Apr 21 with 1619 views | RobTheMonk |
There comes a point where past performances at different clubs can't dictate the future. No one can convince me that we've been any better under Cook than Lambert - in fact, we've arguably been worse. Lambert, although hardly ever beating the top teams at least got results against those around and below. We've not scored against three relegation candidates and have conceeded six goals against Wimbledon and Northampton. Say what you want about the players, but the managements job is to motivate and set the team out.
I go to corners last night. We have Drinan, McGuiness, Hawkins and Wolf in the box... so we played it short and it ends up going back 30 yards and nothing comes of it. Why are we going short? It was ridiculous.
Also, we played alot of longball up front to Jackson. Jackson can't win headers.
I'm happy to give Cook the summer - but I have creeping doubts... [Post edited 21 Apr 2021 9:12]
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| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 09:11 - Apr 21 with 1617 views | itfcjoe |
| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 09:04 - Apr 21 by The_Flashing_Smile |
They said he was their top man as well so you're splitting hairs.
I also think Cook waited for this job because he'd had wind that the takeover (and investment) were very likely happening. |
But your second para is the total opposite of what Phil thinks with regards to the takeover - i.e. Cook signed up to work with Evans and O'Neill.
It's one thing to say he was top man when in position, those better informed than me seem to think we wanted to get Michael Appleton away from Lincoln. But we can't honestly say we know and that makes Cook role more precarious than we would want as fans | |
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| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 09:49 - Apr 21 with 1571 views | crossyitfc |
| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 08:50 - Apr 21 by itfcjoe |
He's got a great record, and he deserves the summer - but this has been really poor and is getting worse.
If you were to buy a business would you not take a full review of the people in key positions though? |
You can only piss with the c*ck you've got, Joe. Let's have it right |  | | |
| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 09:52 - Apr 21 with 1568 views | TRUE_BLUE123 |
| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 22:54 - Apr 20 by itfcjoe |
There are more managers in the world than Paul Cook |
Tbf Joe, we could appoint any manager on the planet and I still think you would be the first to ask questions over them. Even if it was Pep Guardiola.
At one point does the fact that managers keep failing even one with a fairly perfect record like Paul Cook. Make people wake up to the fact it might not be the managers |  |
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| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 09:58 - Apr 21 with 1554 views | tractor_lady |
| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 21:28 - Apr 20 by TieDyedIn95 |
What about some more of the U23's and the excellent U18's we now have on the books? Surely you'd try them over Drinnan and serial failure Sears? |
Not sure bringing youngsters into a team devoid of confidence and with seniors hardly leading by example is particularly good for their carer path?! | | | |
| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 10:01 - Apr 21 with 1549 views | pointofblue |
| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 08:57 - Apr 21 by Bobbychase |
No, spot on.
"Look, here are the keys to a golden future, you just have to wait a month."
"But I want a golden future NOW. Waaaaaah." |
Where has anyone said they want everything to be right and rosy? It’d be nice to plod on with a mid table record as it’d mean we’d be more that competitive in the play off chase. As it is we’re sinking.
Cook was left the opportunity to get us into the play offs and we have failed to do so. Yes, the players should shoulder a lot of blame but Cook is not blameless. It is a big summer for him and the club and we desperately need it to work out. | |
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| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 10:24 - Apr 21 with 1531 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 09:11 - Apr 21 by itfcjoe |
But your second para is the total opposite of what Phil thinks with regards to the takeover - i.e. Cook signed up to work with Evans and O'Neill.
It's one thing to say he was top man when in position, those better informed than me seem to think we wanted to get Michael Appleton away from Lincoln. But we can't honestly say we know and that makes Cook role more precarious than we would want as fans |
We can only really go on what they say and they say he was also their no.1. They've also categorically stated they won't be coming in and sacking the manager. If they do that now they'll be seen to be liars.
I'm not saying it can never happen obviously but it seems unlikely to me.
The 'Cook knowing about the takeover' thing is just my opinion, but it fits with why he waited so long for this job (arguably turning down better jobs in the process). Also, we know now that the takeover has been rumbling on for more than a year - and Evans sounded Cook out long before firing Lambert. I find it unlikely there was no mention of a possible takeover and Cook knew nothing about it when you put all those things together. | |
| Trust the process. Trust Phil. |
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| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 10:44 - Apr 21 with 1515 views | J2BLUE |
| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 10:24 - Apr 21 by The_Flashing_Smile |
We can only really go on what they say and they say he was also their no.1. They've also categorically stated they won't be coming in and sacking the manager. If they do that now they'll be seen to be liars.
I'm not saying it can never happen obviously but it seems unlikely to me.
The 'Cook knowing about the takeover' thing is just my opinion, but it fits with why he waited so long for this job (arguably turning down better jobs in the process). Also, we know now that the takeover has been rumbling on for more than a year - and Evans sounded Cook out long before firing Lambert. I find it unlikely there was no mention of a possible takeover and Cook knew nothing about it when you put all those things together. |
I don't think they would be seen as liars if we lose the next four games. Cook's record will be awful.
Don't get me wrong, he was given a thankless task but there would be enough there for the new owners to say enough is enough. It would be incredibly unfair but they wouldn't look like liars.
Cook must have known SOMETHING. Too many things don't quite add up. Evans was many things but he struck me as someone who would be honest about things like the takeover to a new manager. Cook said it would be exciting. Are we supposed to believe this is purely down to the new stats based recruitment? What the hell did we do before, draw names out of a hat? |  |
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| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 10:48 - Apr 21 with 1498 views | Keaneish |
| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 21:26 - Apr 20 by TRUE_BLUE123 |
It isn't a gamble. If we sacked Paul Cook, we would not get anyone better. His record speaks for itself. If he buys players who work with his system, which he will in the summer.
We Will Be Fine. I am so confident of that |
Completely agree with you - the hysteria at the moment is nonsense. As I said in another post, Mick McCarthy is 2 wins in 10, a run that has missed the play-offs, exactly the same as Cook. No-one at Cardiff is calling for Mick to leave so why here? Ridiculous.
Mick, like Cook will get it right. Cook at the moment is trying everything and anything to get a tune out of them. People need to be patient, it’s as simple as that |  |
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| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 10:49 - Apr 21 with 1496 views | hype313 |
| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 09:49 - Apr 21 by crossyitfc |
You can only piss with the c*ck you've got, Joe. Let's have it right |
He's trying to make an Omlette out of pasta, at least give him some eggs to see how he gets on.
If the Omlette turns out like one of J2's Signature dishes in time then by all means call it a day. |  |
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| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 10:56 - Apr 21 with 1486 views | jontysnut |
| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 21:39 - Apr 20 by itfctilidie |
It's not unrealistic though is it. Lincoln managed to recruit a whole new squad last summer on a lot lower budget than Cook will have. |
Agree that he has a track record of rebuilding squads, but I'm worried about who would want to come here - at the moment we're a basket case |  | | |
| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 11:01 - Apr 21 with 1464 views | hype313 |
| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 10:56 - Apr 21 by jontysnut |
Agree that he has a track record of rebuilding squads, but I'm worried about who would want to come here - at the moment we're a basket case |
There will be many players wanting to come here, new ownership with a vision, a manager with an infectious personality who has done it all before and the opportunity to earn good money.
It might be a basket case right now, but that will change very quickly within the next 8-10 weeks. | |
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| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 11:05 - Apr 21 with 1457 views | ElephantintheRoom |
How many nils is that? Not many managers inspire a dead cat slump. It's almost as though the manager and the players dont see anything inspiring about playing for some faraway debt merchants whose much-trumpeted plan fell apart super league style in hours, rather than days, when the CEO failed to turn up. | |
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| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 11:07 - Apr 21 with 1456 views | chrismakin |
| The gamble of keeping Paul Cook on 11:05 - Apr 21 by ElephantintheRoom |
How many nils is that? Not many managers inspire a dead cat slump. It's almost as though the manager and the players dont see anything inspiring about playing for some faraway debt merchants whose much-trumpeted plan fell apart super league style in hours, rather than days, when the CEO failed to turn up. |
I'd agree if we still didn't look close to scoring,
but even last night, woodwork twice, a 1 yard sitter missed
You can't put that on the manager |  |
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