Blues boss Paul Cook says he wants to see Town scoring more goals and playing on the front foot, believing that they currently don’t find the net enough and don’t create the chances they should.

James Norwood and Troy Parrott have been the strike pairing in recent weeks with the 18-year-old on-loan Tottenham youngster playing behind the former Tranmere frontman.

“I thought Troy Parrott was probably nearly just about our best player on the day,” Cook said reflecting on Saturday’s display at Gillingham.

“I thought he worked ever so hard. But a lot of his work at times is misguided and done in the wrong areas and I think we really do lack partnerships on the pitch.

“I’ve always been brought up in teams having left-back and left side of midfield, two centre-halves, two centre midfielders and those partnerships have to be allowed to flourish.

“We are really mindful of the fact that Troy’s 18, we’ve got a young lad playing, the volume of games, so it’s important we factor everything in and we get people in the correct slots and where they’re looking to play.

“At the minute we have a couple of imbalances in the team. That’s not a criticism of anybody or what’s gone on [before], it’s just the fact that what we’re searching for at the minute is that magic formula that will see us have a team that performs well, plays well and wins a game.”

Cook reiterated a point that he’s already made on a number of occasions that the Blues’ squad, 46 professionals plus six loanees, although with five players out on loan, is too big.

“It’s difficult when you have so many options, it’s really tough because when you get beat, the natural thing is to chop and change teams,” he said.

“And that’s football today, but if you look at the majority of teams at the other end of the table, they’re very consistent in both results and team selections and it’s something that we’ve got to search towards.

“At the minute, whether it’s right or wrong, we had a good little run, that was there for everyone to see. But previous to that results weren’t really consistent at all.

“So the bigger picture for me says that in our league performances, there’s criteria there which are there for all to see.

“The goals scored column for me is not good enough and going forward, irrespective of what damage it will do to the team, I need to see more goals in Ipswich Town. I don’t want to watch us defending deep. I want our fans to know we will play off our front foot and we will get after people.”

Town have scored only 36 goals in their 31 games so far this season, the 18th highest in the division and 20 fewer than top scorers Hull City.

Asked further about the squad being too big, a comment he made after Saturday’s match, and what an ideal number to work with might be. Cook said: “As you guys know, you guys have been in the media for whatever length of time you have, post-game for managers is not a good time.

“I speak more nonsense after games. I listen back and think to myself, ‘why are you saying that?’ because you have to make excuses for why you've been beaten.

“And the brutal truth is, again you're going back to pre-season and clubs having a clear plan and pathway.

“Having squads of our size, in my opinion, for whatever reason it's been put together, its number is too many and it's something that we will address as we go forward.”

Cook admits it’s difficult to find time to work on the training ground at present with matches coming with such frequency.

“You just can’t,” he said. “The first two or three days in the job were probably as manic as I've ever had in my career.

“The reality when lads are travelling home from Accrington and getting back at three or four in the morning on Wednesday and the time you're getting into Thursday, is that you're not training.

“It's the same for every club by the way, and this is why pre-season for football teams is so important.

“Pre-season is where you do all of your basic groundwork for what's ahead and for us at the minute, and certainly for me, it's about identifying a style of play and getting the best out of the group of players that we have, getting a formation that suits them all.

“Because I think it's there for everyone to see that we don't score enough goals, we don't create enough chances and sometimes for a manager that can be difficult because you'll chop and change, sometimes you want to give the personnel more time.

“But like every good team you have to have a supply to score goals and I feel that's something that we've got to get better at.”

Photo: TWTD

HighgateBlue added 13:19 - Mar 8 Just speaks a lot of sense. Pre-season has felt like wasted time for each of the last five or six seasons at least, for various reasons. It's reassuring to know how he would ideally like to do things if he had had a full season. To some extent he's getting his excuses in, but he's totally entitled to. On squad sizes, surely quality over quantity is the answer. At least, assuming we can keep 11 of them fit at any one time! ;) On Parrott, he says what a lot of us are thinking, but he has the expertise to identify in detail what can be done to improve him as a player (which I am quite sure I do not).

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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 13:20 - Mar 8 We don't score enough goals or create enough chances. It's encouraging PC has immediately analysed the main problem. Now he just has to find a solution.
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vanmunt added 13:21 - Mar 8 The task at hand slapped him in the face on Saturday, if that was playing for your position under a new manager then heaven help us.
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Suffolkboy added 13:25 - Mar 8 Brutal commonsense, unvarnished truths and a clear indication there will be a clear out and a definite change in emphasis – everywhere in this operation ! Hurrah ! some unmitigated statements which deal in blunt detail,and reflect probably what many ITFC fans ,supporters and observers have long thought . Clearer skies ahead !., COYB
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bluesteal74 added 13:27 - Mar 8 Your gotta love this guy he says it as it is, if we don't get promoted this season then I'm confident he'll get us up next season. Hopefully we can still do it this season via the playoffs though.COYB
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BlueForYou added 13:28 - Mar 8 Bravo! Nail right on the head! At last a manager who talks common sense. Been saying this for years now.
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Sixto6 added 13:32 - Mar 8 He talks a lot of sense ! If he's allowed to do things his way I trust him to put together a squad to get us promoted next season !
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slimjim added 13:38 - Mar 8 Nothing like stating the obvious! I am no getting carried away yet and as per my previous comments talk is easy let's see where we are after 10 games or so under PC. I can understand the positivity around the new manager and remember similar comments around the last two Paul's when they were appointed. I hope PC can turn the team around in this very mediocre league lets see results on the field over the next few weeks..

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ChrisFelix added 13:39 - Mar 8 Its nice to know that our manager thinks we have to many loan players. We also have a disjointed side & we dont score enough goals. Need to play as a team. Interesting times ahead. After more than 2 years of Lambert what a breath of fresh air
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BlueySwede added 13:45 - Mar 8 Spot on. But then again, I thought Lambert told some good home truths in the beginning as well, so what do I know. He was never able to turn it around. My main question is: Do Cook believe he can change it around this season with the current crop of players?
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runningout added 13:50 - Mar 8 Been a long time not creating good and many chances. Not a quick fix when midfield is not improving
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delias_cheesy_flaps added 14:10 - Mar 8 Pretty hard to score when your passing the ball backwards for the majority of a match!
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oldelsworthyfan added 14:12 - Mar 8 That was refreshing! He's spotted that we must have partnerships, and that some of the hard work is misguided. Consistency instead of rotation too. Football is not a complicated game!
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PositivelyPortman added 14:32 - Mar 8 I think that every board member on here already knew the problem of our poor goal scoring. Let's see if and when that gets rectified. It's not going to be easy with this current squad. I'd start with the midfield - it's just so lightweight and easily brushed aside. If the midfield is weak, then we're left with the long ball, and that needs target men. Most of our front men are smaller than average height, and so the next problem arrives....... Rather Cook than me.

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SouperJim added 14:41 - Mar 8 "I want our fans to know we will play off our front foot and we will get after people.” Well that's me signed up Paul. It's unfortunate that you've been given so little time to get things right this season, why Evans persisted with Lambert for so long is anyone's guess. As a general rule Town fans are a very patient bunch, but we're also desperate to get out of this division this season.

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Timefliesbyintheblue added 14:55 - Mar 8 Troy Parrot was just about our best player our new manager thought. How refreshing we have a leader that knows a footballer when he sees one. Our 'forum' supporters obviously disagree with his views on Mr Parrot if you see the posting made at 17:01 on Saturday. About 25 of the 31 postings can not see why he is here!
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PortmanTerrorist added 15:00 - Mar 8 MM became toxic in the end, but am sure he said similar thinks to Mr Cook. What's not to like, but only time will tell if he can mould anything progressive out of the group we currently have, or be funded to create something that will be on the 'front foot'. Wish him all the best, unfortunately, I think he will need it.....and we are due a bit.
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TimmyH added 15:30 - Mar 8 Spot on Paul!...Too many players overplaying at times when they should be shooting and about time we found the net more than twice! (which doesn't happen that often).
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Michael101 added 15:36 - Mar 8 Well said sixto6, problem is if Evans stays will be let pc do his job,every other manager has not been allowed so far.
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jas0999 added 19:20 - Mar 8 Correct.
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Len_Brennan added 19:35 - Mar 8 Can't disagree with any of that.
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have_a_word_with_him added 22:41 - Mar 8 46 professionals plus 6 loanees, when a match day squad is 18 and you have (hopefully) budding youngsters ready to step in in emergencies. How much money is being wasted! I thought Evans was a good businessman...
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KiwiBlue2 added 23:24 - Mar 8 If you need a helicopter to be able to take the end of season photo then its unlikely to have been a good season. I hope that PC will also have a close look at our rate of injuries which has been very bad for quite some time. All in all I think that PC has quickly got his finger on the pulse and I am looking forward to him having a very successful time here.... coyb
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Ipswichbusiness added 10:40 - Mar 9 The goals for and against columns don't lie. They speak of a team which is reasonably good defensively, but creates too little and doesn't finish. Insofar as loanees are concerned, you have to ask what the point is. Take young Matheson, for example. He came in, played a couple of games, looked good, was then dropped inexplicably in favour of Chambers and now can't even warm the bench. If we wanted “cover” surely there was someone in our overlarge squad who could do that without going to the trouble and expense of a loan signing?

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