Will Grigg to Sunderland | Page 6 | Vital Football

Will Grigg to Sunderland

Nixon said the 200k figure was in add ons, the actual up front bid was lower.

The thing with Cook saying about wanting Grigg to be in the side - he has direct control of that so what is he talking about? The comments about 'I'm waiting for him to get back in' is so strange as there is no reason to wait - if he ratres him as so important he could've played him every week rather than leave him on the bench as a late or unused sub in so many games. That sounds like the Macca comments when he said something like 'anyone who thinks i don't want to play him is being naive' tbh - the words just don't match the actions.
 
king_dezeeuw06 said:
Nixon said the 200k figure was in add ons, the actual up front bid was lower.

The thing with Cook saying about wanting Grigg to be in the side - he has direct control of that so what is he talking about? The comments about 'I'm waiting for him to get back in' is so strange as there is no reason to wait - if he ratres him as so important he could've played him every week rather than leave him on the bench as a late or unused sub in so many games. That sounds like the Macca comments when he said something like 'anyone who thinks i don't want to play him is being naive' tbh - the words just don't match the actions.
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Basically, if you listen to Cook's interview or read the reports he seems to be very honest and up front. He's basically saying he's chosen not to play Grigg as much since Massey, Jacobs and Powell have been because (reading between the lines here) he's gone more direct and doesn't think he would be suited to that style.

I'm paraphrasing here but he seems to be accepting that without our first choice line up we aren't good enough to compete which is a very brutal and honest assessment. I know he signed those 'second string' players, so should shoulder part of the blame for that, but I'm presuming he didn't anticipate having to throw them all in together.

Plus, when we are a club with one of the lowest budgets in the league with a first team who are about mid-table championship level you can't expect the second string players we recruit to necessarily be of championship level. We're not going to have two players of the same ability competing for every spot. However. a lot of people don't seem to get that.
 
The sad fact is though that we have not tried to compete without our supposed best players. We basically gave up and said we can’t play football with a couple of injuries so let’s play ultra defensive and hope for a lucky break. If we had stuck to our philosophy that was so successful at the start of the season we could have had much more success.

I also don’t buy into these injuries being so destructive - it’s Jacobs and Massey, not Messi and Ronaldo. Massey was poor last season however we’ll he started this and whilst I love Jacobs he had blown hot and cold in the first few weeks. We had replacements we could have used in the squad but instead changed things entirely and the result was this poor run.
 
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TS_Latics said:
The sad fact is though that we have not tried to compete without our supposed best players. We basically gave up and said we can’t play football with a couple of injuries so let’s play ultra defensive and hope for a lucky break. If we had stuck to our philosophy that was so successful at the start of the season we could have had much more success.

I also don’t buy into these injuries being so destructive - it’s Jacobs and Massey, not Messi and Ronaldo. Messi was poor last season however we’ll he started this and whilst I love Jacobs he had blown hot and cold in the first few weeks. We had replacements we could have used in the squad but instead changed things entirely and the result was this poor run.
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Good post TS. Fully agree.

I also agree with the interpretation of Roy that we basically gave up trying to play due to injuries. Absolutely bizarre and defeatist approach from Cook but hopefully it sounds like he might be about to switch back away from the Joyce tactics.
 
TS_Latics said:
The sad fact is though that we have not tried to compete without our supposed best players. We basically gave up and said we can’t play football with a couple of injuries so let’s play ultra defensive and hope for a lucky break. If we had stuck to our philosophy that was so successful at the start of the season we could have had much more success.

I also don’t buy into these injuries being so destructive - it’s Jacobs and Massey, not Messi and Ronaldo. Messi was poor last season however we’ll he started this and whilst I love Jacobs he had blown hot and cold in the first few weeks. We had replacements we could have used in the squad but instead changed things entirely and the result was this poor run.
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Cook should be sacked for making that statement alone.
 
loudmouthblue said:
Cook should be sacked for making that statement alone.
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Good point because he is admitting the players he has recruited are too poor to play the way he would like to play. The piss poor way he has had them playing has failed the club and fans so has been pointless.
Eleven days into the window and none of his dross as been offloaded yet.
 
I think it’s more the point of not playing his best players when available is the reason he could be slated. You pick your best 11 regardless, don’t say can’t play my best striker because a winger from Leyton orient YES Leyton orient and Jacobs aren’t available! Also stick to the style you bring as a manager and back yourself! Interesting team selection tomorrow
 
moonay said:
You couldn't make this up:

- do poorly playing the same way all the time...... Slate the Manager.
- do poorly playing in a makeshift Plan B style..... Slate the Manager.

Ah well. I'm sure he'll get both barrels tomorrow whatever the style unless we trounce Villa.
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A plan B style is needed when plan A is not working. We weren't doing too bad with plan A so how come we changed to the plan B and stuck with it and went in free fall down the league? Did Cook not have faith that his super signings couldn't play in his preferred style?
 
jeffs right said:
A plan B style is needed when plan A is not working. We weren't doing too bad with plan A so how come we changed to the plan B and stuck with it and went in free fall down the league? Did Cook not have faith that his super signings couldn't play in his preferred style?
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Is that not fairly obvious?

I guess that to play Plan A, you need a certain style of player. Our first XI is full of them. However, our backups are maybe only of League 1 standard. Therefore, given the number of "second string" players we've been forced to field, a Plan B style was deemed a more likely option to get a few points. The Manager got it wrong. He should have stuck to his Plan A.........just like Bob did..... who then got criticised for not employing a Plan B.

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Boycey17 said:
I think it’s more the point of not playing his best players when available is the reason he could be slated. You pick your best 11 regardless, don’t say can’t play my best striker because a winger from Leyton orient YES Leyton orient and Jacobs aren’t available! Also stick to the style you bring as a manager and back yourself! Interesting team selection tomorrow
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I have a theory on this, based on nothing other than my own attempt at making sense of it, and is likely a million miles off the truth.

I recall Martinez discussing McManaman's lack of confidence, both on and off the field. Think it was around the time of the Huddersfield game. Whichever camp you're in about Roberto, I think everyone would agree that he was a creative thinker and a very intelligent football man who could bring the best out of individuals. Caldwell mentioned the letters he had players write before the cup final and a wall filled with latics legends, to name just 2 stories. He also mentioned he had a special way to deal with Callum. Fast forward a few years and McManaman's confidence is hardly likely to have grown during his rather stalled career.

I'll leave Mcmanaman out of the rest of the theory because it's unfair to make this about him as I know nothing about the man.

Now Cook isn't the same level as Martinez in his ways of psychological strengthening. Thats no critisicm as he is far from alone in that club. The fact he has stated he see certain players as big parts of our success gives reason to believe he wants to get them in the team but doesnt think the time is right. So if leaving players out for now is better for their wellbeing and that of the squad, then that's what he needs to do until we have improved certain aspects within the club that will allow us to get the best out of everyone. It also makes him a bloody good bloke and a top leader to take the flack whilst maintaing discretion.

As I said at the start, this is based on no knowledge or suggestion from anywhere other than my own (often misguided), observations, and I would suggest taking anything I say as nonsense. However, it does bring to reason that even if Cook is a stubborn old bugger, he would need to be pretty dam sadistic to admittedly leave out his preferred players, purely to wind up our own fans. There are many sides to any story and we will only ever hear what we need to know. Maybe football, as with life, is not so simple
 
Effectively he's written off a 1/4 of the season, despite having players like mcmanaman available. Plan a, b, c, d or e that's pretty defeatist really and unacceptable. Not entirely sure what his comments today do to the confidence of those he elected not to mention either.
 
To be honest. McDonald excepted, and to a much lesser degree, Cal Mac too, they've all had their chance to shine. Unfortunately, not many took the opportunity.
 
Was it plan C against Reading at home? Panick, shit myself and settle for a point against one of the poorest teams to come to the DW this season?
His naivety has been his downfall and if it wasn’t for that things could be a lot different!
 
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