Cook: A Little Bit Surprised By Amazing Support Friday, 15th Oct 2021 11:00 Manager Paul Cook admits he’s been a little surprised by the numbers in which Town fans have travelled to away games since he took charge at Portman Road in March. The Blues will be backed at the Abbey Stadium in Cambridge tomorrow by a sell-out 2,500 away following with big travelling armies having made trips to Town’s previous games on the road, including the long and disappointing trek to Accrington. “Possibly a little bit,” Cook responded when asked whether those numbers had surprised him. “I think when we came in, because we’d been at Portsmouth, [former Blues winger, now first-team coach] Gary Roberts was speaking about the clubs and the way both parts of the country love their club desperately, the Portsmouth fans being the same. “He said to me, ‘Ipswich they’ll really shock you, you know Gaff, they really travel, they are great supporters’. “I feel our supporters have been amazing this year, I really do. People have said to me about a couple of boos at the end of a game, about travelling, but I think the support has been 90 per cent absolutely brilliant. “Travelling tomorrow with 2,500, our players are fully aware of it, don’t you worry about that. I don’t need to speak on here about a lot of stuff like that. Our supporters know what it means to me, to the players and the staff, and we need to make sure that they feel that tomorrow in the game.” Unlike a lot of managers, Cook seems to be able to put himself in supporters’ shoes having followed Liverpool across the country, including to Portman Road, as a fan. “You try to because I don’t really believe in, and I won’t speak about other managers, but I see so many managers apologising for performances and stuff like that. I don’t believe in that,” he said. “I believe it’s our job to correct the performances. I believe when you travel away from home with your team, you’re going to get disappointments. That’s part of being a fan, that’s part of your journey as a fan. “But the reality is if you have too many of those disappointing days, the manager won’t keep apologising for performances, he won’t have a job. “So the reality is sort the job out and make the supporters proud. My big way [of seeing that happening] is the fans clap you off the pitch at the end of the game. “You don’t have to win football games sometimes to be clapped off, but you have to show a desire that shows those supporters that I really care and I’m going to cover every blade of grass today for you. “And that’s something that we didn’t do at Accrington. Forget the quality, forget the talent, that’s something that we’re going to be looking to do at away games and home games going forward.” He added: “There’s not an away ground in the country I haven’t been to watch Liverpool. So when people talk about supporting a team, I know exactly all of those journeys where every player is useless, the manager has got to go, and we’re going to change the world. “A few weeks later, we win away from home and we’re singing at the top of our voices. “So life as a supporter is tough, isn’t it? And if you look at supporting teams that have been in, shall we say regression, the reality is that it’s going to be tough. “But you support your club for longevity and our challenge is to bring those days back to Portman Road and to away grounds so our supporters can be proud of our club. “You can see by the numbers home and away our support hasn’t diminished. And our support, if we can get them going, will only grow and grow and grow, and it’s something that we want to do for everyone.”
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