| a season of 4 parts (so far) 18:11 - Mar 6 with 1949 views | positivity |
seem to be 4 distinct "eras" to this season. hope we don't get a 5th as the pattern is downward!
pre-morsy/edmondson/walton/celina:- (i know a couple made their debut in the final game, but neither were up to speed) 6 games, 3 points -5gd , 22nd. relegation form
cook's end 14 games, 24 points +11, 5th playoff form
mcgreal's caretakership:- 3 games, 2 points -2, 18th borderline relegation form
mckenna:- 13 games, 27 points +12, 3rd borderline auto/playoff form
whatever happens this season, hoping for a more settled squad and managerial situation next time out |  |
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| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 07:16 - Mar 7 with 1747 views | Vic |
So we win on Saturday and KM is only 6pts better than Cooky over hi last 14 games. Not much really is it! |  |
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| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 08:01 - Mar 7 with 1708 views | jayessess |
| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 07:16 - Mar 7 by Vic |
So we win on Saturday and KM is only 6pts better than Cooky over hi last 14 games. Not much really is it! |
Scaled up to a season it's the difference between a 100-point season and a 78-point one. |  |
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| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 08:43 - Mar 7 with 1662 views | itfcjoe |
| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 08:01 - Mar 7 by jayessess |
Scaled up to a season it's the difference between a 100-point season and a 78-point one. |
And it ignores the 6 games Cook had at the start of the season, or the 14 the year before, plus all the rubbish cup defeats |  |
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| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 08:59 - Mar 7 with 1640 views | Churchman |
| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 07:16 - Mar 7 by Vic |
So we win on Saturday and KM is only 6pts better than Cooky over hi last 14 games. Not much really is it! |
Or put it this way, KM has managed the same points from 13 games as Cook managed from 20. During that time Cook’s team kept 4 clean sheets, McKenna’s 9. |  | | |
| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 09:04 - Mar 7 with 1615 views | Vic |
| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 08:43 - Mar 7 by itfcjoe |
And it ignores the 6 games Cook had at the start of the season, or the 14 the year before, plus all the rubbish cup defeats |
But it shows how things were improving as we gelled  | |
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| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 09:33 - Mar 7 with 1566 views | tractorshark |
| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 08:43 - Mar 7 by itfcjoe |
And it ignores the 6 games Cook had at the start of the season, or the 14 the year before, plus all the rubbish cup defeats |
Yes, I don’t think they count in Cook’s world.
He was so insistent he was sacked after 20 or so games while conveniently forgetting the previous season’s shambles.
Throwing the previous players under the bus when they were just outside the playoffs was at best appalling man-management and at worst monumentally stupid arrogance.
He may well have been correct but thank god McCarthy didn’t do that when he first took over from Jewell. | | | |
| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 09:44 - Mar 7 with 1546 views | gordon |
| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 08:43 - Mar 7 by itfcjoe |
And it ignores the 6 games Cook had at the start of the season, or the 14 the year before, plus all the rubbish cup defeats |
Exactly - if you include cup games, Cook won 2 of his last 9 games, 7 of which were at home, and all the cup games were against weaker teams.
Cook had one decent period in terms o f winning points from Lincoln to Wycombe when he got 20 points from 10 games which did include 3 good wins, but even then this spell also included the really poor draw at Cambridge, a rubbish defeat at Accrington and the lucky draw at home to Sheffield Wednesday. |  | | |
| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 09:53 - Mar 7 with 1521 views | Churchman |
| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 09:04 - Mar 7 by Vic |
But it shows how things were improving as we gelled |
Well, things did improve after the first six games and of course the team did need time to gel. The reason for that though was the way Cook chose to go about things in addition to other changes at the club (new appointments etc).
I was very supportive of Cook, probably for too long, but he increasingly looked a bit erratic and developing a siege mentality. Defence - an afterthought. Mistakes were made at that time but what it really comes down to is whether McKenna and his team are a better fit for the club than Cook and his team.
It’s looking that way to me and assuming we are still stuck in this pit of a division next year we will be far better placed to challenge. | | | |
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| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 09:59 - Mar 7 with 1494 views | Keno |
"cook's end 14 games, 24 points +11, 5th playoff form"
it never really felt like we that good, that consistent tho did it? |  |
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| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 10:07 - Mar 7 with 1442 views | Darth_Koont |
I think if we compare those two longer periods under Cook and McKenna the difference is that we’ve become more defensive (on paper) but that helps us absorb attacks and keep putting the pressure on the opposition.
Seems a much better long-term approach than Cook’s which was relying on making the attack dominant in every game. K-Mac hasn’t exactly resolved those issues in the attacking third but at least we’re looking at a goal to win games rather than 2 or 3.
At the time, I think we got rid of Cook a little too early. But I’m more than happy now with the solution and think we’re better prepared for what’s needed over the next few years. |  |
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| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 10:20 - Mar 7 with 1419 views | clive_baker |
A little harsh on McGreal given the circumstances. Charlton away was a complete mess but it came 1 day after he was given the job, he couldn't do anything but put Cook's team out and hope for the best, but we showed some guts at Wigan and got what was a good point under any circumstances, again away from home. He brought Norwood back in from the dark to good effect and I thought we were decent against Sunderland too, deserved to win IMO.
Cook was a disaster, and the signs were there from early on. For me we flopped when he joined, he got worse results than Lambert with the same squad when the p/offs were in reach. I don't know why he wasn't publicly telling that squad what they wanted to hear and dangling the carrot of new contracts at them in reward for performances, instead he threw them all under the bus relatively early on and then seemed to be scratching his head at why they weren't giving him anything.
I thought the way he acted over the summer was awful, and a few of us who said as much at the time got pelters. He's entitled to his opinoin on players of course, that's his job, but I still maintain there's a way to deal with people who have been at the club since they were 9 years old. It's very short sighted to act in a certain way and not expect others to look unfavourably upon it. I'm not accusing players like Woolfy of being unprofessional but it's probably hard to respect a manager who has treated your friends and colleagues with such disdain.
Following that he seemed to recruit a really ill equiped support team, a bloated squad that lacked balance, he never addressed our defensive frailties and really just looked like he was happy to take the approach of throwing enough mud in the hope some stuck. Results were inconsistent, with performances to match. While his dismissal was certainly a little quicker than we have become accustomed to, it was decisive and justified. Given the cards he was dealt here, the opportunity he had to invest and the level we're operating at, there's a very strong argument that he did a worse job than some of his recent predecessors IMO.
KM's start has been hugely encouraging, we look so much more robust and better organised defensively, so much more comfortable on the ball, playing far more football in the right areas. I think the gap is too large this season but it's really promising for the future. I hope the owners give him the backing in the summer to add what he thinks he needs. |  |
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| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 10:32 - Mar 7 with 1367 views | gordon |
| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 09:59 - Mar 7 by Keno |
"cook's end 14 games, 24 points +11, 5th playoff form"
it never really felt like we that good, that consistent tho did it? |
Yeah - after Wycombe on the 2nd November until he was sacked, we went on a rubbish run of 9 games where the only wins were Oldham in a cup replay, and home to Crewe who were bottom - included being comfortably beaten at home by Rotherham. Whatever momentum we'd built up with the wins against Wycombe, Doncaster and Portsmouth was well and truly gone by the time Cook was sacked. | | | |
| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 10:39 - Mar 7 with 1331 views | Churchman |
| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 10:07 - Mar 7 by Darth_Koont |
I think if we compare those two longer periods under Cook and McKenna the difference is that we’ve become more defensive (on paper) but that helps us absorb attacks and keep putting the pressure on the opposition.
Seems a much better long-term approach than Cook’s which was relying on making the attack dominant in every game. K-Mac hasn’t exactly resolved those issues in the attacking third but at least we’re looking at a goal to win games rather than 2 or 3.
At the time, I think we got rid of Cook a little too early. But I’m more than happy now with the solution and think we’re better prepared for what’s needed over the next few years. |
I thought at the time we got rid of Cook too early and said so at the time. The gift of hindsight said that we should have let him go at the end of last season when he himself has said he was not aware of the way the club was going with performance teams etc.
I think the timing of everything was a bit messy and for the incoming people a little unlucky. Dementor Evans sacking Lambert a month before the takeover, appointing Cook when he did. Gill could have seen out the rest of the season. The appointment of the CEO 1 June and Cook’s ridiculous bomb squad approach, however much some of the players deserved it.
What is done is done. We have some good players thanks largely to PC. We also have settled down as a club. Lots to do though and I agree that the attacking third is to be sorted, but a January window and lack of time meant that was always going to be a problem.
Lots to be optimistic and regardless of the next 10 games I’ve not been as happy with the direction of travel (old work-speak - aaaargh!) since Burley’s time. All good. | | | |
| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 11:43 - Mar 7 with 1265 views | tractordownsouth |
| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 09:44 - Mar 7 by gordon |
Exactly - if you include cup games, Cook won 2 of his last 9 games, 7 of which were at home, and all the cup games were against weaker teams.
Cook had one decent period in terms o f winning points from Lincoln to Wycombe when he got 20 points from 10 games which did include 3 good wins, but even then this spell also included the really poor draw at Cambridge, a rubbish defeat at Accrington and the lucky draw at home to Sheffield Wednesday. |
Not to defend Cook but on the balance of play we definitely deserved a point at home to Sheffield Wednesday. |  |
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| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 11:48 - Mar 7 with 1253 views | Darth_Koont |
| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 11:43 - Mar 7 by tractordownsouth |
Not to defend Cook but on the balance of play we definitely deserved a point at home to Sheffield Wednesday. |
And a win away to Sunderland. Home side effectively did a smash and grab at the end when we really should have been a goal or two to the good already.
But under K-Mac and the new system we probably wouldn’t have lost that at least. | |
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| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 11:55 - Mar 7 with 1225 views | tractordownsouth |
| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 11:48 - Mar 7 by Darth_Koont |
And a win away to Sunderland. Home side effectively did a smash and grab at the end when we really should have been a goal or two to the good already.
But under K-Mac and the new system we probably wouldn’t have lost that at least. |
We've deserved to beat Sunderland in at least 3 of the games since we've been down. Becoming a bit of a bogey team. | |
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| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 16:52 - Mar 7 with 1084 views | positivity |
| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 08:01 - Mar 7 by jayessess |
Scaled up to a season it's the difference between a 100-point season and a 78-point one. |
yes, as i said in the text, it was poor-good-poor-excellent, just hoping the trend doesn't continue! | |
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| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 17:11 - Mar 7 with 1046 views | Churchman |
Ta for this. Nothing shows more clearly how poor the start to the season was than that comparison. It also shows after that, how this year’s team is accumulating points at a faster rate. Long may it continue. | | | |
| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 17:17 - Mar 7 with 1033 views | positivity |
| a season of 4 parts (so far) on 08:43 - Mar 7 by itfcjoe |
And it ignores the 6 games Cook had at the start of the season, or the 14 the year before, plus all the rubbish cup defeats |
apparently cup games don't count!
the 6 games at the start were with a much weaker team than cook & mckenna have been able to use in the games that followed.
you'd be hard -pressed to find a manager who'd rather have:-
hladky>walton
burgess>edmondson
harper>morsy
fraser>celina
etc etc
mckenna may well have got a bit of a better points return from those 6 games, but the current squad are undoubtedly much better | |
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