An open letter to Garry Cook......

[judleberry]

I have been a City fan since I was too young to talk, back when I wore my City babygrow with pride and I agree with your letter.

At the end of the day though it is up to the owners. If it was up to me I would have given him a chance to build up the defence in the transfer window and then see how it went. He did seem to be making progress with the win against Chelsea and the win against Sunderland but there is also the loss to Spurs to think about. Our defence does seem very fragile at the moment which is obvious from how teams like Fulham and Sunderland managed to get level with us despite us being two goals ahead. I was in the pub on Wednesday watching the match, obviously everyone was disappointed and annoyed but I honestly heard no "Hughes out" chants or discussions, the first thing I heard when the whistle blew was a chant of Blue Moon.

I think Hughes was making progress and if he was still here for January I could have seen him building up the defence. I liked how Hughes never got too involved in the rants between managers too, he had the odd word but he never really embarrassed us the way Bacon Face embarrasses the rags with his outbursts. I thought it was harsh the way in which he was sacked and was quite annoyed by it and I really do hope he has the best of luck in the future, I really thought he was doing okay and slowly but surely building a good squad and I think he did us proud.

That being said I disagree with the comments I have been hearing of "I'm ashamed to be a blue" and so on. I will never be ashamed that I am a blue and I don't think fans should say that, maybe what they mean to say is I am ashamed of our owners or or owner's actions. I think the best thing we can do now is thank Hughes, wish him the best of luck and get behind our team. I just really hope none of our squad is effected by this after hearing about certain players being outraged and annoyed by the decision.

Top post mate, echos my sentiments entirely.

 

[Russtiff]

I cannot agree more with trhe sentiment of your letter.
I have been a City fan since the late 60's and I am ashamed by the way Hughes was replaced.
I was sceptical when Hughes arrived, but he partially won me over. especially in his dealings and comments to Ferguson before and after the derby match.
I along with many fans was not happy with some of the things happening on the pitch and I would have given him until the end of the season.
However the new owners have invested heavily and they wanted a quick return and they could not see that happening with Hughes in charge.
So they decided to sack him - I don't have a problem with that.
What followed is the problem. Hughes has always acted with great dignity and should have been afforded the same when the decision to replace him was made. Having his replacement sat in the stand watching his last match without his knowledge is deeply disrespectful.
The finger was pointed at Cooke for his mishandling of the Kaka affair. Perhaps those rumours of his bungling were true after all.
I hope Cooke and the others involved in this dispicable act hang their heads in shame. I also hope that when their time comes, as it no doubt will, they are treated similarily.
Good luck Mark in all that you do and please accept my apologies on behalf of all true City fans for the way you were treated. Have Christmas off, spend lots of you pay off on a good holiday and come back and prove Cooke wrong.
Finally good luck to Mancini, Top 4 would be great.
Looking forward to a big win on Saturday.
Onwards we go.
Russell Tiffany

 

[shlooney]

Dear Mr Cook,
I am writing to express my feelings further to the events of yesterday as a loyal seasoncard holder and Manchester City supporter for over 40 years.
It is my personal view that Mark Hughes was making good and steady progress for our club following the breathtaking and overwhelming support we have received from our new owners.
However, if the consencus of the profesional people who own and run our club is that Roberto Mancini can develop the club more effectively than Mr.Hughes then I for one am more than willing to support and back that judgement.
What rankles with me, and I suspect a great many City fans, is the terrible and disrespectful manner in which the club have handled this decision.
Since the takeover we have been villified extremely unfairly in almost every quarter of the media, overnight we went from 'loveable little City with the great fans' to a club determined to 'ruin football' with delusions of grandeur above it's station.
As supporters we have been slowly but surely coming to terms with this and learning to live with daily dross written about our beloved club. Throughout all of this time Mark Hughes handled himself with incredible dignity and fought our corner in an admirable, determined manner clearly with the clubs best interests at heart.
Unfortunately Mr Cook I cannot say the same for you.
To be issuing statements relating to Mr Hughes' future whilst a game is in progress and to clearly have been in discussions with his successor well in advance of his demise is utterly despicable and has heaped damage on our club's reputation, giving the gutter press yet more ammunition.
Additionally by handling matters in this way you have massively increased the pressure on Mr. Mancini to succeed whilst doubtless alienating the vast majority of our squad from him.
For someone with your obvious integrity and experience in business I am staggered and quite frankly appalled at the way you have handled this matter and feel strongly that you owe Mr. Hughes and indeed all of us supporters a full and frank explanation of the events.

Yours Sincerely,

Michael Billings, seasoncard holder block 228.

Totally agree. Good on you

 

[john@staustell]

The info this morning (SKY live so may be bollox) was that Sheik Mansoor made the decision with chairman Klaldoon Al Mubarrak in Abu Dhabi. The latter flew to England asap to tell Les face to face asap, which was just after the match.

Cookie seems in the middle on this one, but you can bet he'll come out fighting at 5 o'clock!

Open letter to Sheik Mansoor?

 

[johnny crossan]

After a day or so's pause for reflection my view is the Club did nothing wrong.
Setting aside the question of whether it was right to replace Hughes with Mancini (which I actually support but no matter) there is realistically no kind way of changing a manager.
Once the decision had been made that he and his team were failing to deliver the mechanism for firing them was always going to be messy. Our Chairman flew in to tell him face to face he was sacked and Garry Cook couldn't really do or say anything until that meeting took place. Hence he took himself off.
Of course Hughes knew, and had done for some time, that the axe was poised - the pretence that he didn't is purely for compensation purposes.
So, in short, Come On Blues & Come On Mancini.

 

[dave bacuzzi]

Crap letter, don't care what you think. You're an embarrassment.
Get a grip and welcome the new Messiah!

 

[lloydie]

Crap letter, don't care what you think. You're an embarrassment.
Get a grip and welcome the new Messiah!

oh, the ironing!

 

[avoidconfusion]

Top top letter.

I do not mind the fact that Hughes was sacked, but the way it was done was absolutely disgraceful.

 

[Marvin]

What is it you find disgraceful about the way it was done?

The fact that the replacement had already been made?

I'd say that was acting in the best interests of MCFC wouldn't you?

 

[Daz_Blue]

Maybe we should send an open letter to the Sheikh telling him to stick his billions and sell the club back to Wardle ?