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Up next, the Wombles!

Discussion in 'Ipswich Town' started by Spanish, Apr 13, 2021.

  1. Buckyohare

    Buckyohare Well-Known Member

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    I think it’s a unique situation for a manager coming to us recently. Everyone before has had to work with a same core set of players so you can’t slag them off and u have to stick up for them. Cook has new owners backing him and a clean slate fir wholesale changes coming up so he can call a spade a spade. But doing so breaks any hope of the players playing for you...

    I imagine he’s desperately trying different players in different systems to see who is any good before he plans who to retain with a view to next season. as he’s always been a 4231 man I expect he’ll bring in players for that to work.

    a word of warning though; I did some digging on his last teams and he does have stats that show his teams can play a lot of long balls in that formation so the quality of our footy might be more ‘pragmatic’ if effective once he gets going. For all his promotion successes Ive not seen him lauded for a progressive or exciting style of play...

    based on our form, we are now worse than we’ve ever been. That’s worrying as there was a playoff to aim for which seems remote with a team unable to pass or get a shot off.

    I’ll nail my colours to the bast here. Cook is, fir me, a great appointment for us given our circumstances. But I’m not wedded to him and I don’t see him as the man to keep us in the PL if/when we get there. I’m not sure he’ll be able to mastermind a promotion campaign from the Championship. I think he’ll do well for us in the immediate future but A la Nigel Adkins I just don’t see him doing tactical battle with Pep etc. By then we’ll need someone else.

    fir now he’s as good as it gets and next season is the acid test for him and our owners. We’ll soon see what kind of investment they can offer and to be fair PC can’t do much without it. But he wouldn’t alienate players now if he thought he’d be stuck with them bext season.

    Us and PC are a union for the short to medium term and I hope he can just get us out of this horrible division.
     
    #41
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  2. itfcptc

    itfcptc Well-Known Member

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    But given when he took over we were in with a good chance of the playoffs he could've waited until the end of the Season. Its nice to hear an honest appraisal but don't chuck the players under the bus when you need to lift them up to get results immediately. For a large part of the past couple of years people have said we've got a good squad they just need better coaching/ a better tactical approach and now we have a good coach those same players are now not good enough to wear the shirt. Yes it's good that we have new owners and will have a big turn around over over summer but with such a big turn around of players it isn't going to be easy, so why not do everything in our power now to scrape into the playoffs and win them to get out of this division?

    And if PC manages to get us into the PL I for one would not be thinking about who else we should get in to manage the team, I'd be giving him a nice big contract and I hope our new owners think the same and value loyalty. For all the faults ME had in this day and age he did stick with managers longer than most and that's something I'd like to see continue.

    And if PC is just a short term appointment, I'd say he's doing pretty well at screwing it up.

    The manager is the most important person at a club but they need an environment to flourish and a good structure behind them, unfortunately that had been lacking and that isn't going to change over night either. We saw that with Magilton, who'd done pretty well as a rookie until ME came in, he had money but the structure ME brought in was disastrous (I'm even starting to feel slightly less anger towards the dark lord), he was given money but we didn't get any better. PC needs to be backed financially but also with a structure that will get the best out of him and his team in the long term.
     
    #42
    Last edited: Apr 14, 2021
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  3. YorkieLancsHampyLondoner

    YorkieLancsHampyLondoner Well-Known Member

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    Both Paul Cook and Paul Hurst have been willing to go through some pain to actually change things. Paul Lambert lived in some kind of fantasy world, talked a hell of a lot of bullshit and it got us absolutely nowhere. Cook is more likely to get results by putting a rocket up their arses than by pretending there have been positives from the last couple of games. Not that it matters, the play offs have gone.
     
    #43
  4. Redruth

    Redruth Well-Known Member

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    that's the spirit hampy <cheers>
     
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  5. Nuggets

    Nuggets Well-Known Member

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    Despite being the consensus choice for our new manager, I don't think Paul Cook can be beyond criticism here. He has fielded 23 different players and appears to have used every formation under the sun, all in an understandable - yet desperate - attempt to stumble across a winning formula. The creeping concern is that we've been 'sold another Lambert', in that Cook's prior successes (and there have been many of them) was achieved through a delicate balance between himself and his assistant, Leam Richardson (whose Wigan side beat Sunderland last night and are out of the relegation zone). Gary Roberts is a rookie coach and my concern is that Cook's desperate attempts to communicate his philosophy is being largely ignored - or not understood - by an uncaring group of players planning their future away. From a player perspective, the starting eleven and formation is constantly changing, how can you therefore build chemistry on the pitch? They're being thrown into different line-ups and formations every matchday, evidently struggling to formulate attacking patterns, and are then getting called out in the post-match press conferences. Half of the squad don't even know if they'll be here come summer, why should they bust a gut? I guess the main riposte to that is that most of these players have been playing alongside one another for a few years now, and they're being well-paid to do it - so surely they can string together some passes and have a shot on goal against teams like Rochdale?

    Following Cook's appointment and the takeover news dominating the local headlines, I honestly believe that most of the players here do not care about this club and have downed tools anticipating a squad overhaul. They struggled with a double training session early in Cook's time here and a lack of stamina across 90 minutes has been a big concern for this squad for a few years now. They are mentally weak - look at how they've reacted to the recent developments. Rather than fight for their place next season, they mostly seem resigned to accepting whatever happens. A culture of complacency and comfort has been ingrained in this squad for far too many years. They are ponderous, injury-prone, and - maybe a little unfairly - are not too bright. Their gormless finger-in-ears celebrations early this season were widely viewed as a response to negative comments from supporters. A reflection of the entitled, insular mindset of this squad. Damn it, they're just unlikable. We do not have a set piece specialist - or seemingly somebody capable of beating the first man from a corner or wide free kick.

    So, what's the answer? Surely, a hard reset is required? If the players don't want to be here, or they are not prepared to graft in training, why should we be paying their vastly inflated wages? My heat-of-the-moment reaction last night was that most of those players who played should not wear the Town shirt again. We're fortunate in that we've been bought out by a group of investors who sound like they know what they're doing. This mindset of treading water and being complacent will not wash with the new owners. What a refreshing change.

    I think it's far to say that this season is a write-off. I don't even think I'll be watching the remaining six matches. What's the point? Play offs are surely beyond us now. We're in relegation form. We'll limp to a mid-table finish (again) and then hopefully most of these players won't be here next season. The club has got a massive challenge getting supporters to renew or purchase season tickets for next season. The new ownership is massive help, imagine the season ticket renewal figures if this was another Evans transfer window. Most of the out-of-contract players would probably be retained! A clear-out of the deadwood (and there appears to be more deadwood after every match) and some notable investment in several first team starters is the first step to getting fans back on board.
     
    #45
  6. itfcptc

    itfcptc Well-Known Member

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    Well so far it hasn't worked for any of them. The problem with both Hurst and Cook being willing to go through pain to change things is Hurst basically got us relegated because the players were lost and Cook has lost what was a reasonable chance of us getting in the playoffs. Ultimately they haven't picked their moments well.

    The problem is from what I have seen Cook hasn't put a rocket up their arses (and if he has it hasn't worked), last night he mentioned he doesn't trust his players, to me that's probably one of the worst things he could say... I don't even think Hurst said that, Lambert constantly spoke about the players needing some help which in my eyes was the right thing to do (I didn't like the rest of the BS around we performed well etc.)
     
    #46
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  7. itfcptc

    itfcptc Well-Known Member

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    P.S if Evans would have stayed I'm pretty sure Cook would've cracked earlier than Lambert did.

    At least with Hurst and Lambert they aimed their frustrations generally at the right person (Evans) but that's why they got sacked.
     
    #47

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