Well done Paul Cook. | Page 3 | Vital Football

Well done Paul Cook.

KDZ, you keep mentioning our long ball game, in my opinion this is purely a result of our injuries. The movement up front and in midfield is not there as it was at the beginning of the season. The loss of Jacobs and Massey is being felt in this area, both of them come short to collect the ball and carry it forward and no one has taken on this roll over the last few weeks. The result of this is that the defenders are looking for the pass but when no one is making those runs they are left with no option other than to hit it long. This will change when we get those players back. It will also take pressure off Nick Powell who is having to take a lot of hits when trying to keep us going forward without the support he received from those two. I think Byrne is improving in this role but unfortunately neither Roberts or Naismith are capable of doing the job. The run up to Christmas will be crucial if we are to remain in this division and the return of Massey, Jacobs, Grigg and Dunkley will be key to our survival, as long as they can replicate their early season form on return.
 
TRUE BELIEVER said:
To put everything into perspective, and I forget who made the comment yesterday, how would Liverpool fare against Man City or Chelsea without Mane, Salah and Firmino up front and with Van Dijk missing from the back along with their midfield being depleted. Not well I would suggest. Then look at the players we have missing, no wonder Cook is struggling.
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Liverpool are a top PL side, so should fair better with players missing, it would would be more like Wolves (a newly promoted team) playing Chelsea or Man City with 6 of their best players missing.
 
Even though Liverpool are a top side the analogy is still valid. There is no doubt they would struggle as would any team with five regular first team players out and another suspended.
 
Jonnysking said:
Liverpool are a top PL side, so should fair better with players missing, it would would be more like Wolves (a newly promoted team) playing Chelsea or Man City with 6 of their best players missing.
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That's nearer to it Jonny and just highlights how poor our recruitment process has been since last January much of it out of Cooks hands with that elongated transfer of the club into new hands. This last twelve months must have been so unsettling for everyone at the club so it isn't surprising that the majority of players Cook has brought in are simply not good enough or up to this level. Basically he has had to make do with what he could get rather than improve the squad for an higher level.
 
TRUE BELIEVER said:
Even though Liverpool are a top side the analogy is still valid. There is no doubt they would struggle as would any team with five regular first team players out and another suspended.
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I am not doubting your analogy TB, I was just trying to make out that we shouldn't expect to be able to compete with the likes of WBA, Leeds etc even at full strength at the moment.
 
TRUE BELIEVER said:
KDZ, you keep mentioning our long ball game, in my opinion this is purely a result of our injuries. The movement up front and in midfield is not there as it was at the beginning of the season. The loss of Jacobs and Massey is being felt in this area, both of them come short to collect the ball and carry it forward and no one has taken on this roll over the last few weeks. The result of this is that the defenders are looking for the pass but when no one is making those runs they are left with no option other than to hit it long. This will change when we get those players back. It will also take pressure off Nick Powell who is having to take a lot of hits when trying to keep us going forward without the support he received from those two. I think Byrne is improving in this role but unfortunately neither Roberts or Naismith are capable of doing the job. The run up to Christmas will be crucial if we are to remain in this division and the return of Massey, Jacobs, Grigg and Dunkley will be key to our survival, as long as they can replicate their early season form on return.
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The long ball is being played by players who weren't doing it at the start of the season and havent been all been out injured. We had also slipped into long ball before Grigg and Jacobs got injured and Massey was the only 1st teamer out and it was not working then. I understand the point you are making but we used to effectively go from keeper to defence, to def mid, to attack mid to the striker now we are going keeper route one to striker. If we were just missing the movement in the front 4 the play would be as it was until the final third with the def mid struggling to find a runner but we aren't even getting that far before we launch it.

The long ball issue predates the injury issue - it certainly doesn't help not having everyone fit but lets be honest Massey was in top form but hasnt always been so good and Jacobs and Grigg weren't really ripping up trees at the time they went - it isnt like we are missing proven championship players. I think if they were all fit we'd have still lost most of those games if we played like we have.

We used to have a defensive higher line, with very aggressive full backs, aggressively commiting men to the counter, higher tempo and Morsy and Evans dropping back to pick up the ball from the keeper and defence and play out from the back. That was what i feel was bringing us the success rather than the quality of players - it was a system that produced a sum greater than its parts. We've completely stopped doing all of that leaving us with no way to play out from the back and forcing us into long ball that we are ill equipped to play. I feel that is a drastically bigger part of our downfall than injuries have been.
 
king_dezeeuw06 said:
The long ball is being played by players who weren't doing it at the start of the season and havent been all been out injured. We had also slipped into long ball before Grigg and Jacobs got injured and Massey was the only 1st teamer out and it was not working then. I understand the point you are making but we used to effectively go from keeper to defence, to def mid, to attack mid to the striker now we are going keeper route one to striker. If we were just missing the movement in the front 4 the play would be as it was until the final third with the def mid struggling to find a runner but we aren't even getting that far before we launch it.

The long ball issue predates the injury issue - it certainly doesn't help not having everyone fit but lets be honest Massey was in top form but hasnt always been so good and Jacobs and Grigg weren't really ripping up trees at the time they went - it isnt like we are missing proven championship players. I think if they were all fit we'd have still lost most of those games if we played like we have.

We used to have a defensive higher line, with very aggressive full backs, aggressively commiting men to the counter, higher tempo and Morsy and Evans dropping back to pick up the ball from the keeper and defence and play out from the back. That was what i feel was bringing us the success rather than the quality of players - it was a system that produced a sum greater than its parts. We've completely stopped doing all of that leaving us with no way to play out from the back and forcing us into long ball that we are ill equipped to play. I feel that is a drastically bigger part of our downfall than injuries have been.
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I understand what you are saying but still think that injuries are playing a big part in it. In my opinion it has depleted us of the players that were confident of playing the system from the season before and the players coming in are not as adept. I am also of the opinion that the opposition has also plenty to do with it, early on we were an unknown quantity and had the element of surprise in our favour leaving some managers scratching their heads about how to set up against us. Now we are being pressed earlier and as you say our defensive mids are not able to get free to play the ball so it is going back to the back four or keeper who just punt it forward. I agree with you that it is something that needs to be sorted and I am sure that the coaching staff have it on their radar. I also think that Walton needs to look for the short ball more often as he seems to have lost faith in the ability of our defence to play the ball out and just seems to keep waving them forward. Hopefully all this is something that can be worked on over the next two weeks and we can come good for the run up to Christmas as we all keep saying.
 
TRUE BELIEVER said:
I understand what you are saying but still think that injuries are playing a big part in it. In my opinion it has depleted us of the players that were confident of playing the system from the season before and the players coming in are not as adept. I am also of the opinion that the opposition has also plenty to do with it, early on we were an unknown quantity and had the element of surprise in our favour leaving some managers scratching their heads about how to set up against us. Now we are being pressed earlier and as you say our defensive mids are not able to get free to play the ball so it is going back to the back four or keeper who just punt it forward. I agree with you that it is something that needs to be sorted and I am sure that the coaching staff have it on their radar. I also think that Walton needs to look for the short ball more often as he seems to have lost faith in the ability of our defence to play the ball out and just seems to keep waving them forward. Hopefully all this is something that can be worked on over the next two weeks and we can come good for the run up to Christmas as we all keep saying.
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I'm not disagreeing that the injuries and better opposition (all of the top 5 in last 8) have played a significant part but i think there has been a deliberate tactical switch that has caused the most damage.

I think we basically started the season playing with no fear playing almost recklessly attacking football. It was very exciting but was ultra high risk and i think Cook understandably wanted to tighten things up but in the aim to find a more efficient balance we became too afraid of taking risks with attacking and posession and became more defensive minded. I think we planned to sacrifice a little attack to solidify us at the back but we miscalculated and lost our balance all together.

Fortune favours the brave in football and we had that in abundance earlier in the season. As we became more cautious we've lost our confidence and it's going to be harder to revert back but it's what we have to do. I dont think easier fixtures and a fully squad are enough to right the ship - we need to rediscover that bravery to play attacking football again. We dont have to go as all out attack as we were but we certainly need to be massively more aggressive than we have been. We've gone from Keegan style Newcastle to Warren Joyce there is probably a happy medium between to two extremes.
 
Absolutely ridiculous people calling for Cook to go. Be careful what you wish for. Remember Warren Joyce, remember Malky Mackay, remember Owen Coyle?

We have a talented manager who’s genuinely passionate about the club. We’ve been promoted and he’s finding his feet in a new division for him as well as some of the players.

What can Cook do about our first choice attacking foursome being injured? And don’t label this as ‘excuses’ - it’s a genuine explanation for why we’re in a rough patch.

We will not win every match this season. We will play badly at times. It’s a difficult division and we’re at the bottom end in terms of budget. We’re still punching above our weight and most of that is thanks to excellent management.

Having said all this, I hope Cook tries to change something in midfield because I think that’s where we’re going wrong. It’s so slow and lethargic. Evans is just an ok footballer (no better than power) and Gibson looks like he should be playing at soccer aid as a fat ex-pro. Morsy needs to get back to the levels he can be at too. We need more energy in there, id even suggest Reece James moving in to centre midfield with Bryne going back to RB.

But please let’s not get on the managers back because we want to blame someone and we’re not imaginative or reasonable enough to consider the actual reasons for the slump. Let’s not be like other thick football fans who want to “SACK THE F***ING MANAGER” as soon as they get upset after a match. Cook is the right man for the job and he’ll turn it around again.
 
Seems Nixon has been stirring the pot again by (reading between the lines) Unsworth could replace Cook. Total bollocks in my view but given the change in ownership I wouldn't be falling off my chair in surprise. Hopefully we get some quick results to put any growing speculation to bed.
 
Nixon does get some things right, but he gets a lot wrong. People just pick up on the bits he gets right and assume what he says is gospel. But there have been a lot of our recent transfers that have gone unreported by not just him, but any of the rumour mongers. I get the feeling he's just doing agents work for them.
 
Gets far more right than he does wrong and importantly he gets the big stuff right. He broke the takeover last year, he broke that we wanted Paul Cook even before the local media in Portsmouth did. Based on his previous scoops anything he says should be treated seriously.
 
I’ll be surprised if we part company with PC. Pep Guardiola wouldn’t do any better at the moment with the injuries to key player Paul Cook has to contend with. To suggest Unsworth could replace him is laughable.
 
It's a results (and performance) business so we'd be naivee to think if this style of football, level of performance and results continue over the next 5-10 games and see us free fall into the relegation places that Cook wouldn't be in huge trouble.

We aren't there yet and hopefully wont be. But if we did decide to move Cook on down the like Unsworth would not be one of the names i'd be pleased to see in the frame. As others have said it feels like Warren Joyce part 2.

I don't want to speculate on other names as hopefully Cook will get us back on track soon. But I'm absolutely certain we could get someone better than Unsworth.
 
king_dezeeuw06 said:
It's a results (and performance) business so we'd be naivee to think if this style of football, level of performance and results continue over the next 5-10 games and see us free fall into the relegation places that Cook wouldn't be in huge trouble.

We aren't there yet and hopefully wont be. But if we did decide to move Cook on down the like Unsworth would not be one of the names i'd be pleased to see in the frame. As others have said it feels like Warren Joyce part 2.

I don't want to speculate on other names as hopefully Cook will get us back on track soon. But I'm absolutely certain we could get someone better than Unsworth.
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Can I just clarify something - we are lucky to have Paul Cook, not the other way around.

I know you’re not getting on his back and I appreciate that if we lose the next 5 games you’ll have concerns. But the very fact that the name linked with potentially replacing Paul Cook is David Unsworth should tell you everything you need to know about where we’re at as a club. We are SO lucky to have Cooky and, if we lose him or are stupid enough to one day get rid of him, then how many awful managers are we going to go through this time before we find the next good one?

I was at Middlesbrough last weekend and it was awful. But you need to look at the actual reasons for why. At the moment Cook is the glue holding us together while the contract situations, injuries and potential lack of funds are causing us big issues.

It’s not always the managers fault is what I’m trying to say. In fact I believe it’s solely down to the manager that we’re not battling with Bolton at the bottom.
 
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