| Say what you want about Paul Cook 13:20 - Dec 27 with 15103 views | TalkingBlues |
But by god he made some bloody good acquisitions for this club, many of which still form the beating heart of the team and the outlay, or lack thereof, is also pretty remarkable:
Aluko - Free
Walton - Loan, subsequently signed by McK permanently for ???
Burns - Undisclosed (but rumoured to be around £350k)
Morsy - Undisclosed
Celina - loan
Evans - Free
Edmundson - £875k
Burgess - £880k
Chaplin - £875k
Edwards - Free
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| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 08:37 - Dec 28 with 2310 views | solemio |
I'm surprised that nobody has had the courtesy to thank TalkingBlues for giving us permission to say what we want about Paul Cook. Standards are falling. |  | | |
| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 08:53 - Dec 28 with 2271 views | tractorboy1978 |
| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 17:10 - Dec 27 by Nthsuffolkblue |
A squad is only as good as the team the manager gets playing on the pitch.
I am sure Pompey and Derby have ridiculous squads for this level. Sunderland did for years. |
That's not true though, hence why Cook lost his job. I love McKenna, he's been absolutely fantastic, but he's not performing points wise any better than he should be with the squad at his disposal. | | | |
| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 09:31 - Dec 28 with 2199 views | C_HealyIsAPleasure |
All hail King Cookie for less than half of last Summers signings being decent, with a budget that was larger than the rest of the division put together
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| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 09:38 - Dec 28 with 2165 views | Dubtractor |
| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 09:31 - Dec 28 by C_HealyIsAPleasure |
All hail King Cookie for less than half of last Summers signings being decent, with a budget that was larger than the rest of the division put together
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Honestly, I'm genuinely surprised by people still looking for positives from his time here. He made a complete mess of things, with two teams, and that's without getting into the unnecessary 'demolition man' bullsh1t.
He's been gone over a year, we're in a much better place now, and I don't know why people are keen to revisit his reign. |  |
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| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 09:48 - Dec 28 with 2132 views | Pique |
| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 09:38 - Dec 28 by Dubtractor |
Honestly, I'm genuinely surprised by people still looking for positives from his time here. He made a complete mess of things, with two teams, and that's without getting into the unnecessary 'demolition man' bullsh1t.
He's been gone over a year, we're in a much better place now, and I don't know why people are keen to revisit his reign. |
In fairness, I think the only point the OP was trying to make was that, for a rubbish manager (which Cook undoubtedly was for us), he made quite a few decent signings that now form the core of our team. Unlike Keane and Jewell, who largely wasted Evans' money on average/poor players, and certainly unlike Hurst.
I don't think anyone's trying to rewrite history - generally speaking Cook was very poor indeed. |  | | |
| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 10:22 - Dec 28 with 2060 views | Darth_Koont |
I was thinking about Cook after seeing McKenna’s team emerge over the past calendar year.
Agreed that there were/are very few poor signings. And some great signings in there. On top of which it was Cook who really brought Donacien back into the fold which was a fantastic move. But his successful transfer record isn’t a massive achievement considering we’ve paid good money for good players and even Championship players.
His managerial record deserves a bit of leeway the other way. He inherited a team that was too flaky and shaky for promotion and then he had to turn a completely new squad into another new team. We’ve seen the strides McKenna has made over the year (and another couple of transfer windows) so I don’t think that was an easy feat at all. Yet many fans were expecting similar 16 months ago from a standing start.
Overall, I think he was neither good nor bad for us. He had a couple of opportunities and a lot of money but it was also a tumultuous time to be a manager and get the most out of a team to meet expectations. So yes, he was clearly unsuccessful in getting us competing at the top but the key for me is that he left McKenna in a good position with the squad. That’s nothing like where the club was left after Hurst and Jewell in particular where we wasted time and a lot of money – and still needed a new team after that. |  |
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| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 10:30 - Dec 28 with 2029 views | PhilTWTD |
| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 17:54 - Dec 27 by Illinoisblue |
What if you drink tea whilst pointing at a white board? Or take a couple sips while putting the cones out? |
Or drink coffee! |  | | |
| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 10:54 - Dec 28 with 1955 views | Mullet |
| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 10:30 - Dec 28 by PhilTWTD |
Or drink coffee! |
We're not ready to joke about it yet Phil. |  |
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| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 12:14 - Dec 28 with 1855 views | PhilTWTD |
| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 10:54 - Dec 28 by Mullet |
We're not ready to joke about it yet Phil. |
I can smile about it now but at the time it was terrible. | | | |
| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 12:24 - Dec 28 with 1810 views | clive_baker |
Think the OP is entirely reasonable personally. Cook couldn't get a consistent tune out of the squad and it was right to move him on, but I do think it's fair to say his dealings that summer have proven to be by and large successful. Not just those he brought in, but he took a drastic approach with those shown the door that I liked. There was a case of 1 or 2 babies out with the bathwater for me but I dare say they facilitated the signings we made so it's hard to be too critical. I wouldn't have thought Morsy, Evans, Walton would've stepped down for just anyone, they all knew Cook and had worked for him.
There's a couple that haven't worked out but that's always going to be the case when you're overseeing that much change, the hit rate has been good generally. The biggest issue I had with Cook was his selection of off field support, it's chalk & cheese compared with what KM has surrounded himself with. |  |
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| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 12:58 - Dec 28 with 1742 views | Radlett_blue |
| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 12:24 - Dec 28 by clive_baker |
Think the OP is entirely reasonable personally. Cook couldn't get a consistent tune out of the squad and it was right to move him on, but I do think it's fair to say his dealings that summer have proven to be by and large successful. Not just those he brought in, but he took a drastic approach with those shown the door that I liked. There was a case of 1 or 2 babies out with the bathwater for me but I dare say they facilitated the signings we made so it's hard to be too critical. I wouldn't have thought Morsy, Evans, Walton would've stepped down for just anyone, they all knew Cook and had worked for him.
There's a couple that haven't worked out but that's always going to be the case when you're overseeing that much change, the hit rate has been good generally. The biggest issue I had with Cook was his selection of off field support, it's chalk & cheese compared with what KM has surrounded himself with. |
I would guess the deciding factor for decent players agreeing to join Town would be the contract, plus the chance to join an ambitious club that might go somewhere, not the opportunity to work under Cook. Quite a few players were happy to come to town to work under the Dark Lord again! |  |
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| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 13:02 - Dec 28 with 1717 views | clive_baker |
| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 12:58 - Dec 28 by Radlett_blue |
I would guess the deciding factor for decent players agreeing to join Town would be the contract, plus the chance to join an ambitious club that might go somewhere, not the opportunity to work under Cook. Quite a few players were happy to come to town to work under the Dark Lord again! |
I'm not sure. Of course all those things have to be true and they're not doing if for the love of Cookie, but shouldn't underestimate the pull of working for someone they've enjoyed their football under before. | |
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| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 13:51 - Dec 28 with 1628 views | Nthsuffolkblue |
| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 08:53 - Dec 28 by tractorboy1978 |
That's not true though, hence why Cook lost his job. I love McKenna, he's been absolutely fantastic, but he's not performing points wise any better than he should be with the squad at his disposal. |
I think you misunderstand the point I am making. What matters is what the manager gets out of the squad on the pitch. Of course, on paper, some squads should be top 3, others top 10 and some expect to be fighting relegation. However, my point is that plenty of managers have failed to get those top 3 or top 10 squads anywhere near where they should be. That is what actually matters. Sometimes questions are then asked about whether the squad is really that good as much as they are asked about the manager.
You are correct about McKenna. However, there are plenty who haven't done as well as that, Cook especially. |  |
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| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 15:13 - Dec 28 with 1540 views | Mullet |
| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 12:14 - Dec 28 by PhilTWTD |
I can smile about it now but at the time it was terrible. |
Dammit Hambo | |
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| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 20:15 - Apr 3 with 664 views | JimInGreensboro |
Hurst, Lambert, Cook. A-Paul-ing. | | | |
| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 20:19 - Apr 3 with 623 views | bazza |
| Say what you want about Paul Cook on 13:35 - Dec 27 by jeera |
This has been done to death.
At the time people were arguing who was responsible for the signings, Cook and/or Ashton. Yes a few were signed prior to Ashton but not all of those.
When things weren't going well Ashton was getting blamed for taking over and purchasing some of the new signings by Cook supporters.
It's bizarre to keep bringing this up as though it's somehow relevant to our present situation.
Cook was awful here. |
But other than that, he made some good signings tho yea.. |  | | |
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