Andy Cook

Absolutely Dave
We need 2 up top (as with our promotion sides of the past) wouldn't have harmed at all yesterday to pair them up last 20 mins Cook IS carrying far more weight than he was at the start of the season which is not good, Oliver has shown nothing so far so Cook has no competition got a feeling of DeJa Vu with this
MH needs to shake things up L2 is all about getting the ball in the box not advocating"hoof ball" to the forward(s) to pounce we ain't doing that because Cook on his own is lost and becoming frustrated watching the sideways/back passing from our defence loosely termed "playing it out from the back", tactics are to blame as much as any dip in form Cook may be going through Its FA Cup this weekend time to try a new system where Cook/another (not Angol)are twinned as a strike force and get the ball quickly up to them you don't concede when the ball is in the opposite penalty area, time to make our opponent's worry about us for a change

 

Surely all the players we have, have been let go...what strange comment

 

He must be some player Andy Cook. Playing in a system that does not suit him at all and still managed to score 13 goals by the end of October.
He should have done better with the early chance yesterday, but other than that the service to him was dreadful and has been for quite a few games. We can all see he needs help up top, especially at home where teams come to frustrate.
Mr Hughes seems to be unable to change things up and appears to want to play football for football's sake.
You have to earn the right to play fancy football , by winning the battle first. we need to stamp our mark on teams from the off.

 

You've missed your way in life @Fordy117 you should have been a stand up comedian, I'll use one of your usual comments with regards this post is total sh!te.

 

Ok, think Hanson.

Think about how a team works

 

Your correct mate Cooks carrying the full weight of our team on his shoulders with regards our scoring.

 

I'll put my tin hat on now but much of what Fordy says about Cook is absolutely correct. But let's just consider how we've gone about building our team for this season. Hughes wants to play 4231 and when he arrives he sees Cook isn't up to playing the lone striker role. So he plays Angol there, fairly successfully. Then over the summer he tells Cook to lose weight to become more mobile. To his credit Cook does but meanwhile our recruitment looks for forwards to play our system. And who do we get? Oliver and Harratt, neither of whom can play the role required and the former given a three year contract. Astonishing. And, surprise surprise, neither have had other than fleeting appearances. We have a mediocre start, Cook comes on at Barrow and scores. Then he goes on to score a lot more and we're flying. But we're not really because it's early season and teams are still settling down. Defensive partnerships were still being put together and they soon cottoned on to the fact that if they mark Cook tightly he's ineffective so they have done and the goals have dried up. Cook is brilliant at taking chances put on a plate for him but that's it. He is virtually immobile and creates nothing for himself. In our system it's crucial that the front man moves around to pull defenders out of position and create space for others to exploit but this isn't happening and, in turn, it makes it easier to negate our wide players. And so the goals have disappeared. It's no good saying that others should be contributing. If you have a static front man the chances just won't be there. Our only alternative is Angol but he seems so obsessed with protecting his hamstring he's half the player he could be. I'd play him instead of Cook anyway and tell him if he doesn't really give it a go his career's finished so what has he got to lose. Replacing Cook with Oliver is pointless. He and Harratt will only be effective in a different system, which again begs the question, why on earth did we sign them?
Sorry for the long post. Just needed to get it off my chest. And I never even got onto our midfield.

 

Can people get off Cooks back please.

His team mates are and should be more than capable of scoring goals.

There's an attitude adjustment needed from our squad and the manager.

 

Sorry but you're wrong. The others aren't scoring because Cook is virtually immobile.

 

The whole squad are at fault because they won't get forward when they should. Mark Hughes should realise that's not happening. He's not.

 

Unfortunately, it seems there's an awful lot that Mark Hughes doesn't see.

 

Worryingly

 

Very fair and reasoned post. Our end of season form last year was built around the mobile attack of Vernam, Walker and Perriera with Angol taking the lone striker spot. And to be fair it clicked. Come this season, i don't think Hughes expected Andy Cook to hit that rich vein of form and quite rightly the lad has been lauded for his start to the season. We all know his limitations but those goals speak for themselves. Is he really suited to the 4-2-3-1 that Hughes so dearly favours? Well, thats up for debate. Its a very specific role but one not many strikers excel in. Its clear we haven't really clicked as an attacking unit despite Cooks goals but how Hughes changes this is a conundrum. Do we risk dropping him and his goal threat for a player who has hamstrings made of biscuits or a striker who i'm not sure what formation he fits. Even yesterday Hughes did change personnel but stuck with the same formation,Banks having a good impact while Oliver didn't really do much.

 

Which is 100% more important that we sort out over the Cook dilemma.

 

Great post @Dubois . Feel the same as everything you have written here and agree with @Fordy117 points. I did state I think Oliver may get more time with some of returning wide payer options (eg Banks) but your overall conclusion feels very viable.

 

Noticed that Wright got in Cooks way central in the box cramping his space a few times

 

I get the feeling that the general concensus is that there is no responsibility whatsoever on Cook's shoulders to contribute to attacks. His sole responsibility is to put the ball in the back of the net. Is that the idea? I'm sorry but that doesn't wash for me. It's becoming clear that without a target man contributing to bringing others into play then goals will become an issue. If scoring 1 in every 2 is seen as good enough to absolve him from having to contribute anything else then fair enough but it's going to be hard to create chances when that responsibility is not on the shoulders of your main striker.

 

The way Sparkie wants us to play doesn't require a target man he's quite clearly said we will not go long and building our attacks from the back is the way we will play as long as I'm at the club..
With regards Cook until recently there was no crticism with regards the job he's picked to do or the way we plays, its the likes of Wright, Pereira, Chapman, Walker etc to provide the assist/chances for the striker, Cook will go through lean spells just as every striker does is 1 goal in 4 games really a lean spell, you quote above "If scoring 1 in every 2 is seen as good enough to absolve him from having to contribute anything else then fair enough but it's going to be hard to create chances when that responsibility is not on the shoulders of your main striker".
If we have a striker who can score a goal every two games I'd suggest our problem isn't him, that would be a great return over a season from Andy Cook, 23 goals this season (most teams would be delighted if their main striker scored 23 in a season) I'd say they'd done their job, we need to look elswhere with regards our lack of goals from other players.
An example being the 1998/99 season where our main striker returned 25 goals with Beagrie scoring 15, Robbie Blake scoring 17, we scored 82 goals that season in the league with others chipping in.

 

The 1 goal in 4 isn't the issue, its the manner in which he plays when he isn't scoring is what the issue is, we may as well play with 10 men, he’s just absolutely terrible.

Even when a striker isn't scoring the opposition feels their presence they still cause havoc in the box, cook just never does that.. he is soooo immobile, seems like he has just piled the pounds on again.