[Bucknobs]

Just been looking at the top of league 2 and thought wouldn't it be a great end to the L2 season if Accrington met Portsmouth at Wembley in the playoff final and Accrington won in extra time!

[brianclose]

Bucknobs, on 14 January 2016 - 09:51 AM, said:

Just been looking at the top of league 2 and thought wouldn't it be a great end to the L2 season if Accrington met Portsmouth at Wembley in the playoff final and Accrington won in extra time!

Unfortunately I cant see Pompey missing out on the top 3.

[Tha Knows...]

Bucknobs, on 14 January 2016 - 09:51 AM, said:

Just been looking at the top of league 2 and thought wouldn't it be a great end to the L2 season if Accrington met Portsmouth at Wembley in the playoff final and Accrington won in extra time!

If those were the 2 teams in the play off final then yes it would be great fun, but would like to think our days of playing Accrington are behind us...

[Tha Knows...]

brianclose, on 14 January 2016 - 09:52 AM, said:

Unfortunately I cant see Pompey missing out on the top 3.

With the wealth of talent Cook has been allowed to assemble at portsmouth he is under-achieving there, and not in a small way, imo. They are quite a way - 9 points - behind the top 2 half way through the season, though third spot is 4 points away. Like you, I think they will finish top 3 but if they don't finish top Cook really should have done better. Bennett, McNulty and Lavery are league one strikers, they should be walking it.

[The Rev.]

Spire-Power, on 14 January 2016 - 10:42 AM, said:

With the wealth of talent Cook has been allowed to assemble at portsmouth he is under-achieving there, and not in a small way, imo. They are quite a way - 9 points - behind the top 2 half way through the season, though third spot is 4 points away. Like you, I think they will finish top 3 but if they don't finish top Cook really should have done better. Bennett, McNulty and Lavery are league one strikers, they should be walking it.

Fuuny old game, eh?

[Spireite-Karl]

Spire-Power, on 14 January 2016 - 10:42 AM, said:

With the wealth of talent Cook has been allowed to assemble at portsmouth he is under-achieving there, and not in a small way, imo. They are quite a way - 9 points - behind the top 2 half way through the season, though third spot is 4 points away. Like you, I think they will finish top 3 but if they don't finish top Cook really should have done better. Bennett, McNulty and Lavery are league one strikers, they should be walking it.

I think you'll find Lavery isn't there anymore

[SpireiteFitzy]

Bucknobs, on 14 January 2016 - 09:51 AM, said:

Just been looking at the top of league 2 and thought wouldn't it be a great end to the L2 season if Accrington met Portsmouth at Wembley in the playoff final and Accrington won in extra time!

Why would it be great? PC did a lot for this club and left it in a substantially better condition than the shambles he inherited when he got here regardless of any off field misdemeanours, I don't see why anyone would think it great that he suffers such misfortune in another job.

If he gets pompey promoted then good on him (but hopefully we can do the double on them next season)

[Nitrous Oxide]

Spireite-Karl, on 14 January 2016 - 07:12 PM, said:

I think you'll find Lavery isn't there anymore

Ooh that's a rumour to start doing the rounds. 😜

[Mr Mercury]

SpireiteFitzy, on 14 January 2016 - 07:13 PM, said:

Why would it be great? PC did a lot for this club and left it in a substantially better condition than the shambles he inherited when he got here regardless of any off field misdemeanours, I don't see why anyone would think it great that he suffers such misfortune in another job.

If he gets pompey promoted then good on him (but hopefully we can do the double on them next season)

Because he's a two faced, slime ball, who'll do anything to be onside...I hope he gets nothing.other than a wet wipe to damp down his tootle.

[Valley Blues]

Mr Mercury, on 14 January 2016 - 11:25 PM, said:

Because he's a two faced, slime ball, who'll do anything to be onside...I hope he gets nothing.other than a wet wipe to damp down his tootle.

What we had under Paul Cook was fantastic. He left and became the devil. I was fortunate enough to meet Cook on two occasions and I can honestly say he was extremely polite, professional and a credit to both himself and CFC. There are stories banded about regarding his out of hours antics and they may be true, they may be false. I couldn't care less. I met the bloke and I cannot speak highly enough of him from my personal experiences. I don't like Pompey but I don't wish PC any harm whatsoever. My Son was introduced to CFC under Cook and what a time it was to begin your obsession with Chesterfield Football Club.

[Goku]

Mr Mercury, on 14 January 2016 - 11:25 PM, said:

Because he's a two faced, slime ball, who'll do anything to be onside...I hope he gets nothing.other than a wet wipe to damp down his tootle.

You should just live and let live. Why are you judging him on something he wanted to do? Who are you to judge? Have you spoken to Paul and asked him about why he left or are you merely assuming? Why do you keep having a go at him for leaving? What's shocked me most about your posts is that you can't just say "ok, he left to move to a bigger club on a better wage like most people would do - fair play". Maybe you need to get out more?

All the above paraphrased from your posts in the thread discussing religion.

[Bucknobs]

SpireiteFitzy, on 14 January 2016 - 07:13 PM, said:

Why would it be great? PC did a lot for this club and left it in a substantially better condition than the shambles he inherited when he got here regardless of any off field misdemeanours, I don't see why anyone would think it great that he suffers such misfortune in another job.

If he gets pompey promoted then good on him (but hopefully we can do the double on them next season)

Yeah your right Cookie did do a great job for us. I suppose I said and thought the above was because the way in which he left and the burst baloon atmosphere at the end of last season!
Anyway Accy fans must have felt the same when he came to us! But still if that scenario came around at the end of the season I think 99% of town fans will be hoping Accy stuff Portsmouth!

[Nitrous Oxide]

Bucknobs, on 15 January 2016 - 03:37 AM, said:

Yeah your right Cookie did do a great job for us. I suppose I said and thought the above was because the way in which he left and the burst baloon atmosphere at the end of last season!
Anyway Accy fans must have felt the same when he came to us! But still if that scenario came around at the end of the season I think 99% of town fans will be hoping Accy stuff Portsmouth!

I probably would because in neutral games like that I would tend to go for the underdog.

[Bankrobber]

Goku, on 14 January 2016 - 11:52 PM, said:

You should just live and let live. Why are you judging him on something he wanted to do? Who are you to judge? Have you spoken to Paul and asked him about why he left or are you merely assuming? Why do you keep having a go at him for leaving? What's shocked me most about your posts is that you can't just say "ok, he left to move to a bigger club on a better wage like most people would do - fair play". Maybe you need to get out more?

All the above paraphrased from your posts in the thread discussing religion.

Precisely.

It's been done to death on here but some of the bellyaching about Cook on here just smacks of a crying kid who's had their sweets taken away.

The bloke was great for this football club. Think about the Rushburys and the McMenemys, now Saunders and even those transitional years under Duncs, and remember what a fantastic two years we've just had.

[Mr Mercury]

Goku, on 14 January 2016 - 11:52 PM, said:

You should just live and let live. Why are you judging him on something he wanted to do? Who are you to judge? Have you spoken to Paul and asked him about why he left or are you merely assuming? Why do you keep having a go at him for leaving? What's shocked me most about your posts is that you can't just say "ok, he left to move to a bigger club on a better wage like most people would do - fair play". Maybe you need to get out more?

All the above paraphrased from your posts in the thread discussing religion.

Because on this subject I'm bitter and twisted.

[Search & Destroy]

Danny Wilson, he's one of our own.

[Spireite-Karl]

Search and Destroy, on 15 January 2016 - 07:53 AM, said:

Danny Wilson, he's one of our own.

And if he got offered the Sheffield Wednesday job again? or Man United's??
I for one can't fault Cook for what he chose to do (it can't have been easy for him) and wish him all the success in the world, as long as it doesn't come at our expense. He was the best thing to happen to town in my 30+ years of watching us and for that I'll always thank him and would definately buy him a pint (or ten).
So, a question for anybody that feels like Merc does... In the future (maybe near future who knows how things pan out in football) would you welcome Cookie back?

[JonB]

I think with Cook the way it all happened left a bit of a sour note. Folk can take managers moving upwards but with Cook he seemed that it was get out to whoever cos he had fallen out with folk after not getting his own way all whilst we were getting into and then during the play offs. He did come across somewhat as spitting the dummy at not getting his own way...no idea if thats the truth just the way it seemed. Also throw in the fact he has probably tapped up Roberts to go with him and probably a few others before going!

[Bluekent]

Nobody knows what really went on tho do they? What I do know is some town fans call him a snake but he apparently did exactly the same to Accrington yet those same town fans welcomed him with open arms. The fact Accrington fans called him a snake for preaching what he preached didn't bother anyone on here , in fact the general feeling was they need to get over it , he's doing what's best for his career.

This post has been edited by Bluekent: 15 January 2016 - 10:46 AM

[brianclose]

Bluekent, on 15 January 2016 - 10:40 AM, said:

Nobody knows what really went on tho do they? What I do know is some town fans call him a snake but he did exactly the same to Accrington yet those same town fans welcomed him with open arms. The fact Accrington fans called him a snake for preaching what he preached didn't bother anyone on here , in fact the general feeling was they need to get over it , he's doing what's best for his career.

Most managers with ambition will try to manoeuvre themselves to a position whereby they are liable to get poached by another club at the height of their powers. There's no loyalty any more - especially for managers, and why should there be when they are week-in week-out reminded of how trigger-happy chairman can be in dismissing them.

I believe that bar a few exceptions (Wenger/Ferguson) the pattern mostly follows that managers do relatively well at the start of a tenure (new manager syndrome), then if backed by the owners will probably do well for 12-18 months before stagnation/boredom/motivational deficiency sets in with the players. The trick is to get a better move before this natural plateauing out occurs.

Cookie knew the only way was down for us this season, and as an up and coming manager, who wouldn't have gone for the clean slate and no-limits budget at Pompey?