[Devongone]

Whatever negotiations and agreements Mr Cook reached before the play-offs had very little to do with losing. We were playing against a better team. We played rush-goalies. Several of our team knew their future at Chesterfield was almost certainly limited. Those who were going to stay could guess that too!

The real problem is the short-termism that rules football and almost forces managers to behave as Mr Cook did.

A chancer on his way up the ladder? He went to a well-supported crumbling former giant whose bankroll had become more than dubious and which was sacking everyone who tried to manage it. Prospects? Hmmmmmm.

Makes you wonder what he imagined was down the road for him at Chesterfield doesn't it?

Did we really have any long-term plan of what to do with good players coming to the end of contracts? Had we head-hunted replacements, or were we the equivalent of a crap firm which thinks it can replace a strategic employee with a cheap ad' in the local rag? Ryan told us he wanted to move back to Lancashire a year before he left. Morsy, we knew he was saleable and that he'd be worth nothing come summer. Did we line up a tribute Ryan or a Morsy clone? Why not? Because the future for so many people in football is lurking just round the corner and it's quite likely to be a seal-cull.

What would we have done if Mr Cook had won us the play-offs?