Starting to lose patience with him to be honest. I honestly thought he would sort things out and get us out of this division but I have serious doubts now. Yes he has improved us but that wasn't exactly hard to do and i think most of us would have achieved that, given the financial clout we now have. His stubbornness will be his downfall, he refuses to change his formation and adapt to different situations, this is just madness in my opinion, i don't get it and i think it is piss poor management! There are times we are crying out for a second striker and yet he flatly refuses to ever change to a 442. His substitutions are never inspired or game changing and i really do think he is tactically inept. What is it with us and stubborn blood managers??? I hope i am wrong but I just can't see Cook taking us out of this division, we are far too one dimensional and for this reason i have lost the faith!!
As for the players, the defence is starting to look a bit more solid, Nsiala scares the **** out of me and is always a catastrophe waiting to happen. He is ok but I would prefer someone new in January to play alongside, the excellent, Edmundson. Midfield... Morsy is a very good, solid defensive midfielder and without him I think we would be nearer the bottom of the table. Evans is not the man to partner Morsy imo, would prefer to see Fraser in that position. As for the attacking players, it's all wrong, Celina and Edwards are luxury players imo and you can't have them in this division, not if you want to get out of it! Edwards has ability but sadly the final product is woeful and i think Celina has been a big letdown. Both would be better deployed as impact subs! As ptc has stated, the balance is all wrong and I'm not sure we have the right players to play the formation Cook insists on. I would deffo prefer 352 or 442 and think it suits the players we have at our disposal. Bonne needs a strike partner, either Chaplin or the pig, because he is far too isolated at the moment. I don't know what the answer is to be honest but something has to change or we ain't getting out of this division any time soon. I think a managerial change is the only way things will change but guess we just have to wait and see.
I agree with the observations of the team but think we are early in our journey with Paul Cook. Given the fact we have a completely new team with 19 new players a) it is always going to take time to come together and b) given how quick the turn around we were never going to get it 100% right in 1 transfer window. We definitely have quality but do we have the right blend/balance I'm not sure. Given how we started the season our form since the first five games has been very very good but performances have been inconsistent and as you and I have said the balance of the front 4 doesn't look quite right and yet he continues to keep the same formation. But Cook does have a great managerial record and this is his blueprint for success, maybe he's not the best tactically but he has strengths in other areas. In my head as a minimum this season I said as long as we are in touching distance of the playoffs around Xmas and finish in and around the playoffs looking like we're building something at the end of the Season I'd be happy. We were never going to be a well oiled machine after a few months, there will always be bumps in the road. In terms of league position though despite the huge changes we're in the same position as we were last season with a lot weaker squad and at our lowest ebb, so no improvement at all but we know there's alot more grey to it than that.
Interestingly Spanish I think our strong defence is hamstringing us in attack. The centre backs just want rid of the ball. That’s one thing we miss from Woolfy being out of the side. In the striking positions, I just don’t think there are the options. Bonne and Chaplin are the only pairing that would make any sense. I expect us to focus on strikers in January. Then there’s the wingers who have got loads of potential but need to be a bit more direct and hit crosses earlier and better. and we need to recruit a ‘keeper. I don’t agree with some of Cook’s decision making, on the whole I think we’re on the right track, but we probably need another two transfer windows to finish assembling the team.
I would have taken staying in the division because honestly with Evans and Lambert we were sleep walking into League 2.
I get what you guys are saying but I just don't think that Cook is flexible enough, there are times when it is blatantly obvious that we need a formation change but Cook flatly refuses to do it. You have to have flexibility and i think it's poor management to not look at changing things sometimes!
To be fair, I know Lambert got a lot of stick but given how things were behind the scenes and the injuries we had it was amazing we pretended we were in the promotion race for so long....under Cook we've never been in it
I agree that he should be given time and i wasn't calling for his head, not just yet BUT I'm saying i can't see him changing and i think it will be his downfall. Sides know exactly what formation etc we will be playing, we never throw in a curve ball
He's the Jurgen Klopp of League one. Same formation all the time players just interchange but the players can come in and do it but it took time to implement. Plus it's about his personality and building a team spirit. Speaking of Liverpool I think sometimes we'd be better playing 433.
You can only be flexible if you’ve got options though. Given that it’s about substitutions and injuries and everything else and not just picking two players, what would you do up front?
I think you can keep all the same players in all the same positions and just switch the emphasis from being cautious to taking some calculated risks.
Well Yorkie, i would give this a go for a few games..... Walton Donacien Nsiala Edmundson Coulson Burns Morsy Fraser Celina Bonne/pig Chaplin May not work but tbh i would say what we are doing atm is clearly not working well
Apart from Pig being a waste of space I don’t disagree with you. The problem is that those two can’t sustain 90 minutes twice a week every week. Maybe you have to play Celina as a third ST option.
But is the Pig a waste of space, we keep trying him up top alone, not every striker is suited to that. Let's see him with a partner, i always like a bigun/smallun combo, i think it could work but won't get the chance to see it whilst Cook is calling the shots
True, or a run in the side might help him. Maybe he’s rusty but I don’t think it’s the two up thing. He can’t keep himself onside and he can’t finish, for whatever reason.
I’ve spoken before about my concerns regarding Cook’s tactical set-up, his in-game decisions (which are typically too late), and a frequency for him to be tactically out-thought by opposition managers. While performances and results have generally improved over the last month or so, I stand by my opinion that he could really do with a couple of more experienced coaches. I don’t think the departure of his previous, long-term assistant over at Wigan can be overlooked either. As a big advocate of Paul Cook initially, I think it’s unfair to sack him at this stage of the season and I’d be inclined to give him the season. But despite the upheaval in personnel, there is absolutely no reason why this club shouldn’t be competing in the top six come May. If we finish mid-table with the quality of riches available to us (not to mention the inevitable January purchases) then I fear we could lose the good footballers we have back to Championship teams. I think Chaplin needs to play more. I’d be inclined to give Pigott a league start as Bonne is in a rough patch. I’d also like to see Burgess in for Nsiala. Keep Donacien and Coulson at full back and maybe look at partnering Morsy with somebody else, such as Harper.
I agree with Spanish, and while one or two new signings come January might help, we have nearly 20 new players. It comes down to management, tactics, subs, and as most agree, a change of friggin formation. If nowt improves over next few games, heads might roll in the New Year, one head. A very stubborn head.
why do you think this team sheet will be a winning combination? Is the main aim to ditch Edward’s, use Fraser in midfield (I’ve been wanting that for ages) and put two up top by selecting Piggot alongside bonne? it’s close to cooks preferred choice too Only he likes his wingers to play more advanced up the pitch than deeper in your suggested set up. It’s generally accepted that 442 is over come by well set up teams in a 433 as per Liverpool’s high press system or 4231. so I completely disagree with 442 and some 90’s approach of getting the ball to wingers to hurl the ball ‘in the mixer’ but I completely agree with your team sheet but in a 433 or 4231. Failing that a 343 would be perfect for our players IMO. If we accept cook will stuck to 4321 (which teams can make work to devastating effect) I’d be happy with your team sheet in a 4231 so Piggot played behind and in support of Bonne so he can help the midfield when we’re defending and be the second striker in the box when we’re attacking. We hit crosses to a single striker at the moment and he’s drowned out when we play a 3 man defence. I’d put Chaplin on the left wing and ask him to protect his left back in a defensive shape and Come inside to attack rather than always whacking crosses in every time as he’s excellent in that role. I’d sell Edward’s ASAP. I got a lot of flack on Twitter when everyone was raving about him and I said all I could see was fancy feet but no assists and no goals. How they’ve changed their tune now!! I’d love Fraser to partner Morsy in midfield and join the attack as a 10 when Piggot goes ahead as the second striker. I agree we need more than one window to get this right and changing manager now is short sighted. Its the stubborn use of a system of play that doesn’t suit this particular set of players that bothers me most. We’re so lacking in any variety of attacking patterns.
So I’m assuming not long ball so do you mean a high press system with that formation? Who would u put in that midfield? I’d think Morsy carrol and Fraser would be a balanced combo in the hendo, thiago fabhino mould.
