Most liked posts in thread: Andy Cook

It is. It's huge. But I can't escape that thought that we have probably no more than 8-10 current players who'd have any role to play in a promotion squad. Broadly:

POC, Ridehalgh, Watt, Cooke, Vernam Cook, Gillead, Sutton, Hornby.

And at least 2-3 of those should be squad players.

One of the things I hope Hughes gets us back to is quality over quantity. This idea that Adams had of 'you need the numbers' is a nonsense. Under Parkinson, and even under McCall in 2016, you knew our starting 11, when everyone was fit. Then you had 5 or 6 reliable players who could each cover 2-3 positions. Get us back to that. A core of 16-18 players, with a handful for younger lads padding things out.

 

Can't agree about Gillead and I'm wavering a bit with Cookes output but there's no one else I'd like to add. We probably do need to keep a few we might not want to though as we've simply too many spaces to fill.

Maybe versatile players such Foulds depending on wages or perhaps FCD or Staunton might be able to plug a few gaps.

 

Rubbish .. the food doesn't stay on the plate long enough.

 

Agree, we need to do better. I am more than hopeful that Hughes being a striker will have seen that already. Let’s all be honest Cook isn’t mobile enough….I’ve been saying it a long time.We might be L2 and I don’t expect a Drogba like figure but even mediocre L2 teams have shown us time and time again , a mobile centre forward has put the shits up our central defenders, whoever they may be or have been, ALL season. If we can see it then it must be blatant for Hughes as he was largely of that mould himself?

 

I though he didn’t have a bad game Saturday and was more effective for sure!

 

Because he's got the athletic attributes and can run with a ball but his deciding making and execution is far too often woeful.

That said, defensively he's very weak too so ......... perhaps a right wing back at a stretch?

 

Im full of optimism Dave, but we do need that a decent clear out first. It was probably Gilly best game for us tbh?

 

Interesting that he probably had his best game on Saturday and Mark Hughes played him on the left.

 

He played on the left.

 

Agreed, Rod.

We have the finances and resources in place, so long as fans stick with the club for next season

 

No 1 fault line for me USG. Paudie is a liability, and will only get slower and worse. So back up maybe, but first choice in the back two is asking for more of the same. Non of that includes his temperament which adds to the issue.

 

I am pretty familiar with his record Rod , so the No 1 question on my lips would be why hasn’t he improved this season? Honestly he’s gone backwards, which could be because of his lousy partners , however that says to me he should have stepped up. I can’t honestly see how he has, irrespective of his age? Funny how we see things differently but his 3 attempted passes in our box which landed at the feet of one of their players in the 90 mins last Saturday has me seriously worried about his lack of progress.

 

The only players I'd keep are Ridehalgh, Foulds and Hendrie, and even then I'd look for upgrades. I'd also keep Walker if he'd stay. It's not just the fact that they've repeatedly shown they've no stomach for the fight, they've also been part of a side with a losing mentality, some for more than a season. We really do need to get rid of as many as we can, contracts permitting.

 

Agree totally Dubois. Foulds and Hendrie and possibly Ridehalgh too are the best of what we've got along with for me, Sutton and Watt. But I would get rid of them all. They're ok - but we need far better than ok. I would go for a TOTAL clear out. Day One, start again.

 

I've no idea what your post is supposed to mean?

Either Gillead is a world beater and we've all got terrible judgement or Mark Hughes is a terrible manager?

It's a bit of a knee jerk response don't you think considering the team was more than likely picked by Trueman or at least very much influenced by Truemans last team selection.

Unless of course Hughes knew that Gillead had only played left wing back once before in his whole career but decided, without seeing him play that he'd found his specialist position.

Probably not though.

 

The war in Ukraine? Rupp may or indeed need to move some of his investments.

 

Hughie who?

Good reply. So in summary, we have enough to compete but through a combination of poor management, planning and holding our nerve, we have failed to challenge at the right end of the table?