Andy Cook and his future at City (with Poll)

i would love to see them share the pitch - couple of absolute beasts up front would scare defences!

 

I'd like to see Humphrys played off the left where it's pretty clear he's most effective. Perhaps there'd be some rotation between the front 3 as we've done strong options but Cook up top with Humphrys and Sarcevic behind would be great to see.

 

I'm not. I'm making a wider point about using goals to judge the value of a striker to the team. I'd be very interested to see Humphrys upfront alongside Cook. Unfortunately you'd have to swap Cook for another player who might be contributing more to the success of the side but that assessment can be made when he returns based on how we are performing at the time. It'd be a mistake though to think that a returning Cook will add 20 goals to the team. Yes, he might score 20 but it may come at a cost where the net outcome is that the team score less overall.

 

Pointon, Kav, Cook, Sarc, Swan, Humph, and RFB bombing forward will give defender full time occupation and nerves, it’s down to who GA thinks is on the boil on the day

 

There seems to be a lot of guesswork that Cook is going to be anywhere fit (and more importantly match fit) anytime soon.

His injury was very serious and he’s mid 30’s

Both are equally relevant when discussing his return.

 

But our form at the time of his return is relative to whether he starts or not.
If we are going through a shit run and struggling to score goals then he probably goes straight in to the starting line up.
Likewise if we are winning games he can’t expect to start games.

I just don’t see how the poll works if our form at the time of his fully fit return is unknown.

 

All fair, Im only contributing to dispel the myth that we were better without him. Goals per game, points per game were only slightly higher - but so many other factors to consider which have been explained time and time again but don't seem to be considered.

The crux is Cook got injured and we were marginally better....nothing to do with 5 or 6 of the first team changing in January and beyond!!!

 

I love Cooky, but sadly I think the injury will put pay to his time with us by the end of his contract next summer. I don't think some are grasping just how bad these injuries often are, even on younger players. Age, injury and the step up in level will probably mean we are looking for a new number 9 in the summer if we are wanting to progress, we may even need one by January.

I hope he can prove me wrong, he has defied the odds plenty of times while with us, but I just don't see it happening.

 

I agree entirely.

I’ve stated before that lots of the goals scored when Cook was injured could quite easily have been scored with him in the team.

Pattison running from the halfway line to score doesn’t change with Cook in the team.
Kav nodding in from a long throw at Swindon could easily have been scored by Cook.

The form and fitness of Sarc and Pattison can’t be underestimated when our good form after Xmas is discussed.

 

While Cook may be the wrong side of 30 in football terms, he is only 34 in real age! His body will heel absolutely fine, he is still a young man all things considered. He seems to be making very positive progress in his recovery.

That said, yeh he is going to have to earn a new contract and it is going to be tough to do that IMO. Smallwood had a great season, captained us to promotion, hardly missed a game but he was gone.

Cooky will get his chances this coming season but will he take them? The injury doesn't worry me, its more about the step up in class. There will be no sentiment next summer and Cooky I imagine is quite expensive....

 

Why would it though? That's not been proven, @Sergio Pinto III provided the stats above disapproving that theory in the short term but your whole point seems to revolve around Cook definitely reducing the amount of goals in the team as fact.

The team has also changed so much that any stats from last year are largely irrelevant anyway to be fair so I suppose it's just a case of wait and see.

 

Reality is Cook is 35 soon, has 10 months left on his contract and holds no real transfer value. This may sound cold but if the injury is a problem then its an Andy Cook problem and wont be ours after June 2026.