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If it means we get it right and continue creating a more stable club then would another year really hurt that much.
In a way I would rather we do that then go out and panic buy/loan players in January to try and force a way up and then end up throwing cash down the drain.
This was always going to be tough to change a whole squad, some signings are looking like masterstrokes others are leaving a lot to be desired despite their hype.
I have full confidence Cook will get it right, I love his style of football but unfortunately it requires the right players that suit the system which I am not sure we have yet.
I think you are right in terms of the balance of the squad but Cook has to take some responsibility for that! My biggest concern is that to get out of this division you need to have some kind of consistency with form and Cook hasn't shown any signs of getting us to that point in the time he has been here.
We need a winning run (more than two games!) and we just don't look like getting that off the ground with him in charge. Every time we appear to have a ground breaking moment such as Porstmouth or Wycombe, we follow it up with nothing.
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If it takes another year then I am fine with that on 10:36 - Nov 24 with 1464 views
We will lose a substantial chunk of these players in summer should we(as looks increasingly likely) fail to go up and be looking at yet another major rebuild.
The first phase of Gamechanger's log term project is, ironically, 'get promoted ASAP'.
Also: 'it requires the right kind of players'.
Cook inherited a whole squad of the wrong sort. Now, it would appear he's brought in another 19 of the wrong sort.
I wonder if we're looking in the wrong place for where we need the 'right sort'.
[Post edited 24 Nov 2021 12:40]
I'm one of the people who was blamed for getting Paul Cook sacked. PM for the full post.
I think he is a good manager, and will never call for a manager of Town to be sacked.
But we look so far away right now, which after 25 games, a pre season, and a really strong squad is very worrying.
I am sure he is on thin ice right now though, but I still hope he comes out the other side.
I do think you make a good point regarding squad balance, whilst it has a lot of quality, I do think it unbalanced slightly. I guess it may be unrealistic to think you can build a brand new squad of 20 out and 20 in and get in absolutely spot on.
[Post edited 24 Nov 2021 10:40]
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If it takes another year then I am fine with that on 10:41 - Nov 24 with 1420 views
How long do we have to keep giving it another year though? We give managers far too much time. Yes, if they show signs of gradual improvement - absolutely, But Cook isn't showing this in terms of league results.
We finished 13th last year, in part due to Cook and in part due to Lambert.
We finished 9th and 10th the two seasons prior.
So if Cook manages to finish above 9th, he's improved on any manager we've had in L1.
If Cook manages to finish above 13th, he's improved on his own contributions last year.
If we don't go up, is 12th - 7th acceptable signs of improvement?
Totally agree. A lot of nonesense written on here after last night but you get that after losing.
We play good football, good accurate passing. Ddin't have the right team out there to win the game yesterday but it's getting there. Definitely another year in this division but that was always likely.
I can't understand why nobody remembers what Ashton said at the end of the last transfer window. That it was a good window but that by January the club would have a better system in place to recruit well and put together a good team. So expect changes again in January and a stronger team again as a result.
Cook won't get sacked just yet as the owners see this as a long term project. They also seem to be happy with just getting to the championship and if they get to the premiership that will be a bonus.
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If it takes another year then I am fine with that on 10:47 - Nov 24 with 1389 views
If it takes another year then I am fine with that on 10:41 - Nov 24 by wkj
How long do we have to keep giving it another year though? We give managers far too much time. Yes, if they show signs of gradual improvement - absolutely, But Cook isn't showing this in terms of league results.
We finished 13th last year, in part due to Cook and in part due to Lambert.
We finished 9th and 10th the two seasons prior.
So if Cook manages to finish above 9th, he's improved on any manager we've had in L1.
If Cook manages to finish above 13th, he's improved on his own contributions last year.
If we don't go up, is 12th - 7th acceptable signs of improvement?
Everything that people are saying about Cook right now, is what they were saying about Lambert.
The only difference between the two right now is that Lambert actually put together some winning runs and didn't try to pretend that he wasn't utterly half-arsed about his coaching and selections.
I'm one of the people who was blamed for getting Paul Cook sacked. PM for the full post.
If it takes another year then I am fine with that on 10:47 - Nov 24 by BlueBadger
Everything that people are saying about Cook right now, is what they were saying about Lambert.
The only difference between the two right now is that Lambert actually put together some winning runs and didn't try to pretend that he wasn't utterly half-arsed about his coaching and selections.
I hate the truth behind the fact that Lambert did better than Cook in terms of points - but its impossible to ignore.
If it takes another year then I am fine with that on 10:45 - Nov 24 by DavoIPB
Totally agree. A lot of nonesense written on here after last night but you get that after losing.
We play good football, good accurate passing. Ddin't have the right team out there to win the game yesterday but it's getting there. Definitely another year in this division but that was always likely.
I can't understand why nobody remembers what Ashton said at the end of the last transfer window. That it was a good window but that by January the club would have a better system in place to recruit well and put together a good team. So expect changes again in January and a stronger team again as a result.
Cook won't get sacked just yet as the owners see this as a long term project. They also seem to be happy with just getting to the championship and if they get to the premiership that will be a bonus.
If it takes another year then I am fine with that on 10:45 - Nov 24 by DavoIPB
Totally agree. A lot of nonesense written on here after last night but you get that after losing.
We play good football, good accurate passing. Ddin't have the right team out there to win the game yesterday but it's getting there. Definitely another year in this division but that was always likely.
I can't understand why nobody remembers what Ashton said at the end of the last transfer window. That it was a good window but that by January the club would have a better system in place to recruit well and put together a good team. So expect changes again in January and a stronger team again as a result.
Cook won't get sacked just yet as the owners see this as a long term project. They also seem to be happy with just getting to the championship and if they get to the premiership that will be a bonus.
"They also seem to be happy with just getting to the championship and if they get to the premiership that will be a bonus."
They're a pension fund and ITFC is in their "highly speculative" pot of investments.
The plan will be the Premier League in no more than 5 years. When it looks like Year 2 will be in this league changes will be made.
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If it takes another year then I am fine with that on 11:02 - Nov 24 with 1283 views
What even is his style of football? We're not a counterattacking side, we don't press high, we don't play on the deck at all costs, we don't play an especially high tempo, our wing play is inconsistent. I'm struggling to pick out any discernable style of play at all, let alone a style that one could "love".
I have no idea how anyone can still have such faith in Cook. He's failing hard here right now. We're bottom half of League 1 coming up to midway. We've now gone three games without a goal. We still have an abysmal record against all but the worst sides in the division. And all of that is happening after he was backed to an almost unprecedented degree at this level to build his own squad. What would it take for you to lose faith?
If it takes another year then I am fine with that on 11:08 - Nov 24 by Herbivore
What even is his style of football? We're not a counterattacking side, we don't press high, we don't play on the deck at all costs, we don't play an especially high tempo, our wing play is inconsistent. I'm struggling to pick out any discernable style of play at all, let alone a style that one could "love".
I have no idea how anyone can still have such faith in Cook. He's failing hard here right now. We're bottom half of League 1 coming up to midway. We've now gone three games without a goal. We still have an abysmal record against all but the worst sides in the division. And all of that is happening after he was backed to an almost unprecedented degree at this level to build his own squad. What would it take for you to lose faith?
[Post edited 24 Nov 2021 11:11]
I've said it a lot in the last 24 hours but I'll say it again.
Every reason given for keeping Cook is remarkably similar to that given for keeping Lambert on.
I'm just shocked that no-ones gone with 'the players are letting him down' yet.
I'm one of the people who was blamed for getting Paul Cook sacked. PM for the full post.
I think your confidence is totally misplaced, and another year under Cook will see us no further forwards.
We're not going up this season and he hasn't earned the right for another go.
What is it you love about his style of football exactly? We're hardly the Man City or Liverpool of the division. I mean, we look pretty good sometimes, but I'd still struggle to explain exactly what our style is. Lambert with better attackers perhaps?
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If it takes another year then I am fine with that on 11:14 - Nov 24 with 1150 views
If it takes another year then I am fine with that on 11:14 - Nov 24 by jayessess
If it didn't work this year, why would we expect it to work next year?
I'm going to call it out: those who still most vocally back Cook are primarily those that were most vocal about how awful a certain former manager was and how much better we'd be off once he left. They are still so invested in this notion that every manager since has been given ridiculous levels of support from them even as we've failed to deliver on the pitch over and over and over again. It happened with Lambert, it's happening again now.
I largely agree with the original post. As difficult as it is, given the years of misery we’ve endured, I feel we need to show more patience.
The club is in much better hands and is moving in a more positive direction overall. Results on the pitch may not be improving at the rate we all hoped for but changing the manager right now could serve to disrupt rather than help. I just don’t see any outstanding alternatives out there and I think Cook’s track record makes him worthy of a longer project.
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If it takes another year then I am fine with that on 11:22 - Nov 24 with 1092 views
If it takes another year then I am fine with that on 10:51 - Nov 24 by wkj
I hate the truth behind the fact that Lambert did better than Cook in terms of points - but its impossible to ignore.
The reason why it's a surprise to look back and find that that stat is correct is because there were many fans for whom winning games and accumulating points was just not their priority. Hence the vitriol towards Mick, and hence the vitriol towards Lambert, both of whom grew increasingly grumpy and were certainly not smiley scousers.
I wonder what Blue Action's view is, as I don't have a clue. I wonder if they know how much worse PC's record is than PL's, or how much more money he's had to spend. Maybe they don't - maybe they're just in the chemistry lab making fireworks to set off when they decide that the manager is too grumpy and the football is "anti-football".
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If it takes another year then I am fine with that on 11:23 - Nov 24 with 1081 views
If it takes another year then I am fine with that on 11:14 - Nov 24 by jayessess
If it didn't work this year, why would we expect it to work next year?
Because then it would have been a settled squad who had been drilling together for a year, rather than a team who were assembled less than three months ago.
Also, we would not have the faltering start to the season hanging around our necks. Fan morale would be quite different if we had even another four or five points and be right on the cusp of the playoffs, rather than sliding between 9th and 13th.
Plus changing manager, as we know all too well, is by no means a magic wand.
Not saying that's enough justification by itself to hang onto Cook (we need to show continual improvement, ironing out problems), just expressing how it's not an illogical position.
If it takes another year then I am fine with that on 11:22 - Nov 24 by Romeo4
I largely agree with the original post. As difficult as it is, given the years of misery we’ve endured, I feel we need to show more patience.
The club is in much better hands and is moving in a more positive direction overall. Results on the pitch may not be improving at the rate we all hoped for but changing the manager right now could serve to disrupt rather than help. I just don’t see any outstanding alternatives out there and I think Cook’s track record makes him worthy of a longer project.
The club may be in a better place, but that merely serves to highlight what a mess Cook is making of it on the pitch. We're 13th in League 1, ffs. That's worse than it was under Lambert at any point, and he was working under Evans and his chronic lack of investment in the club.
Seriously, what other similar-sized clubs got relegated to League One, spent three seasons in this diabolical league of non-football, and had fans posting mid-season
"I'm happy to stay here for another year"
No wonder I feel so disconnected from the club if this is the level of ambition of some of our fans. Bordering on pathetic.
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