[bluepooch]

To Paul Cook ,an excellent manager who deserves to manage at championship level at least and I'm sure that will come one day.

[spireitematt]

Think what might have been if he had the backing for another season in L1 with us.

[Devongone]

I'm glad he made it, even promotion looked unlikely at one stage, & winning it relied very much on the failings of others. He's a good manager who knows his football. Liked him as a player too. Don't know whether I'd trust him though, considering how he left both us and Accrington ..... though I realise in our case there was an element of seeing which way the wind was blowing.

[spireitematt]

I'm glad he made it, even promotion looked unlikely at one stage, & winning it relied very much on the failings of others. He's a good manager who knows his football. Liked him as a player too. Don't know whether I'd trust him though, considering how he left both us and Accrington ..... though I realise in our case there was an element of seeing which way the wind was blowing.

I would have him back as manager. He built a really good team and we played attractive, entertaining football.

[spireitematt]

He talks about Chesterfield around 2:45.

[bluepooch]

Makes you want to cry doesn't it

[Devongone]

And my answer would be he was right about what was coming BUT he didn't have to leave in such a way that it became known he was going before the play-offs, so that his team's performance in those play-offs was so far below the standards he'd set that it left a lot of supporters with a sour taste in their mouths. I always expected Preston to be better than us but we had no need to end a good period in our history being totally outclassed. I thought it did everyone concerned a disservice and I wish someone would ask Paul Cook if he regrets letting that match go ..... because that's how it looked to me.

[spireitematt]

And my answer would be he was right about what was coming BUT he didn't have to leave in such a way that it became known he was going before the play-offs, so that his team's performance in those play-offs was so far below the standards he'd set that it left a lot of supporters with a sour taste in their mouths. I always expected Preston to be better than us but we had no need to end a good period in our history being totally outclassed. I thought it did everyone concerned a disservice and I wish someone would ask Paul Cook if he regrets letting that match go ..... because that's how it looked to me.

Portsmouth came in for him because there season was over but ours was still going on what with the playoffs. That's football though all teams are going to look out for themselves first.

The first match at home to Preston we lost 1-0 and if I remember correctly Tommy got injured so we had to bring in an emergency loan keeper for the 2nd leg and we got ripped apart by Preston. The question is did the team know he was leaving before the 2nd leg? Even if we had beaten Preston over 2 legs we still could have lost in the final to Swindon. If we had gone up Cook would have stayed.

I remember a lot of fans said after the 2nd leg that we didn't want to go up as we couldn't afford it or something.

[Devongone]

Cookie could've told Portsmouth not to come near until after the Play-Offs. Them's the rules! That would have been the correct thing to do. Specially if he really cared about Chesterfield.

Of course the team knew what was happening. They'd have had to be blind, deaf and dumb not to. AND if Cookie could see which way the wind was going to blow at Chesterfield so would the experienced players.

Truth is we were below standard in the first game and deservedly lost to a better side. Tommy got injured, we signed a joke goalie who hadn't played a proper game for over a season ...... the rumours were rife everywhere Cookie had already gone. We lost by three and Preston could easily have made it more, especially as our keeper was letting 'em in from halfway. We were way below poor. How long did it take Cookie to pack his bags?

Do you really think Cookie would have stayed had the players rallied remarkably, knocked out Preston and won the Final? That team was being broken up. The club behind it didn't want the Championship part of DA's five-year plan. Rebuild a side for the Championship on dwindling resources, having watched a few players leave, OR go to a club in a big city with strong support that can get 17,000 to watch in Division Two? As Bob Dylan sang, you don't need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind's blowing. I don't blame Cookie for going, only for allowing the manner of it to make his departure so dismal and contribute to what is happening to us now.

If it was "a wrench" for him leaving Chesterfield, look what it's been for us. When we've finally stopped falling we'll know how much more it was than a wrench.

[bluepooch]

To be fair he really didn't need to mention us especially when his mind would have been on what was happening at that moment but the fact that he did shows how much it meant to him.