Garry Cook Speaks.

[BobKowalski]

I see Jo has been hung out to dry. This will be a big boost to his confidence. Next time he is on the pitch Hughes and Cook will join in with the fans in booing him. Way to go with nurturing a talent in his first season. Starting to dislike Cook more than I dislike Hughes. Pompous cock.

As it appears Cook had little knowledge or little involvement of the sale of the club from Frank to the Newboys but had a fair bit to do with appointing Hughes he hasn't exactly set the world alight so far.

Makes me think how he would fare if he had the kind of budget that AM worked under.

As ludicrous as it sounds he may have to rely on some cheap scrappers bought in the January window to keep him in the same job next season.

Maybe. To be honest or maybe its just me this morning but I am peed off with endless talk about Hughes and his management skills or lack of them, players forming cliques (well two to be precise which ain't much of a clique), Hughes less than inspiring talks to the media or the fact 'he is the boss', Cook mouthing off or playing with the bottom three so how about we just win some f**king games. Don't really care who plays, how we play or what formation we play just win a bloody game or two starting with WBA who are not a physical side, have no strikers to speak of and are there for the taking. And if we do as I expect win the bloody thing lets just move on to the next game and do the same. Quietly and effieciently with no talk of 'now on course to finish top 6' or other bleeding bollocks.

 

[Dubai Blue]

Maybe. To be honest or maybe its just me this morning but I am peed off with endless talk about Hughes and his management skills or lack of them, players forming cliques (well two to be precise which ain't much of a clique), Hughes less than inspiring talks to the media or the fact 'he is the boss', Cook mouthing off or playing with the bottom three so how about we just win some f**king games. Don't really care who plays, how we play or what formation we play just win a bloody game or two starting with WBA who are not a physical side, have no strikers to speak of and are there for the taking. And if we do as I expect win the bloody thing lets just move on to the next game and do the same. Quietly and effieciently with no talk of 'now on course to finish top 6' or other bleeding bollocks.

Amen to that Robert.

 

[Anonymous]

As it appears Cook had little knowledge or little involvement of the sale of the club from Frank to the Newboys but had a fair bit to do with appointing Hughes he hasn't exactly set the world alight so far.

Makes me think how he would fare if he had the kind of budget that AM worked under.

As ludicrous as it sounds he may have to rely on some cheap scrappers bought in the January window to keep him in the same job next season.

Maybe. To be honest or maybe its just me this morning but I am peed off with endless talk about Hughes and his management skills or lack of them, players forming cliques (well two to be precise which ain't much of a clique), Hughes less than inspiring talks to the media or the fact 'he is the boss', Cook mouthing off or playing with the bottom three so how about we just win some f**king games. Don't really care who plays, how we play or what formation we play just win a bloody game or two starting with WBA who are not a physical side, have no strikers to speak of and are there for the taking. And if we do as I expect win the bloody thing lets just move on to the next game and do the same. Quietly and effieciently with no talk of 'now on course to finish top 6' or other bleeding bollocks.

What a lot of us have been saying for a while now...

However, to be fair, it was only yesterday that I read on bluemoon that Cook was hiding and needed to come out and say something...now that he has, people are ripping him for it...

Too many people involved with our club are on a hiding to nothing when it comes to the supporters...

 

[mcfcmatt]

Also on Skysports news now

Manchester City executive chairman Garry Cook has told Sky Sports that the club are fully behind manager Mark Hughes.

Speaking exclusively to Sky Sports News, City boss Cook insisted that he and the club's owners - Abu Dhabi United Group - are backing Hughes to deliver at Eastlands.

Despite smashing the British transfer record to sign Robinho, City's season has not gone as many predicted and they currently sit just above the relegation zone.

But Cook insists City are not ready to change their manager.

"Mark is a very, very talented manager and we are pleased to have him at this football club," he told Sky Sports News.

"He has a lot of experience in the game and he knows exactly what needs to be done, and he knows what success looks that and we look forward to that success.

"He keeps very calm, very collected and a lesson to all of us and I think one thing we talk about is that you can't get into a panic and make decisions that will affect you long term."
Big fees?

Cook admits the club are looking to bolster their squad when the transfer window opens in January, but he insists they will not be paying inflated prices.

"We have a great squad of players. The speculation is far greater than our plans, he has indemnified where we can add to the squad, and we have a clear process," he said.

"The speculation is the bit that challenges us, because we have been attached to over 50 players - most of which is speculation and we have to be very mindful of how the owners want to run the football club and my responsibility is to them and to the fans as well, the last thing we are going to do is overspend and waste valuable resources."

Cook even says the club would walk away from any deal they do not think is right.

"We have a every clear plan and we quite prepared not to bring any players in if we feel the situation is not right, we are quite willing to walk away if we feel the club is being taken advantage of," he said.

"The speculation about what we are supposedly willing to pay a club or player is not helping the situation, but we know what it takes to bring the right characters to the club and we will continue to do that.

"It is about getting the right characters to the club, about building for the future it is about adding depth to the squad."

He also insists the club's new owners are looking to invest heavily in the club as a whole and not just on transfers.

"We have gone through a tremendous amount of change and they have been incredibly valuable, not just by looking at the pitch but they are building throughout the club and room for improvement across investment, in people and infrastructure," he continued.

"We know what the future plan looks like, we know what we have to do and things have not gone for us in certain areas, but we are maintaining our positive attitude and it is everyone else that gets us to try and change it, this is a big football club, with tremendous support and the future looks fantastic and everyone at the club feels the same way."

 

[mat]

I interpret the articles as saying Leslie better keep his job because if he doesn't I lose mine too.

 

[Paulmcfc2703]

I interpret the articles as saying Leslie better keep his job because if he doesn't I lose mine too.

well said

 

[mcfcmatt]

And from OS

Executive Chairman outlines changing times for City
16/12/2008 06:01


Manchester City Executive Chairman, Garry Cook, has again outlined the vision for the Club under Chairman and owner Sheikh Mansour along with Manager Mark Hughes.

Despite the immediate pressure of producing results in the game's current climate, Cook remains fully aware and calm about City life of late, as do the Club’s board.

“Well I, like everybody, was heartbroken after the Everton game and Mark nearly broke his foot! The Board get concerned about everybody’s demeanour in order to make sure that we stay on track and keep moving forward,” Garry told us.

“They’ve been around business a very long time and make big, big business decision. There are twists and turns in the business world and twists and turns in football.

“Fans see those twists and turns but what we don’t want to do is change our direction and change what we’re trying to get done over the long term based on a couple of results.”

And of the fans, Garry added: “They have every right to show their feelings, they pay good money and they don’t deserve what they’re getting.

“If they don’t get what they want then they have a right to make their feelings known. At the same time the fans also have to know that this Club is going through radical change. We didn’t flick a switch and think everything was going to be fine.

“We’ve got infrastructure investments going on, we’re changing people, and there’s change all over the Club. More importantly the culture of the Club we are trying to deep root the future and the building of the future doesn’t happen overnight.

“A few results from the last few games have not gone in our favour and what you don’t want to do in situations like that is panic.

“We’re looking forward to a better second half of the year and he’s working hard to correct some of the challenges that we’ve got.”

“Mark’s got some challenges in some of the playing areas, he doesn’t have a very deep squad and he talks about that.”

As talk turned to the Manager and his future at the Club, Cook quickly played down any suggestions about Mark Hughes leaving the Club in the near future.

He declared: “We don’t even get to think in that way and nor should we. It was clearly stated by Sheikh Mansour and Khaldoon Al Mubarak that the team they have in place they are comfortable with. We move ahead with that in mind.

“We again don’t presume that anything’s going to go wrong. We’ll deal with what results happen over the next four, five months as we get into the second half of the season. Mark is an experienced guy and an experienced manager. He knows what success looks like and that he has a role to play in delivering that success.”

Leon Collins

 

[kippax_lad]

well done garry cook for comeing out and speaking sense. It would only damage us in the short and long term to lose our manager, anyone who thinks otherwise is just a standard fruit cake. Nobody could come in and turn this situation around just like that, they would need time just like huhes needs, and if were not willing to give hughes time then that means noone would gte the time, and we will be forever sacking managers and being a joke club. Hughes and his team WILL get it right, together with cook and the new owners. We are in good hands, only people causing the problems at the moment are these negative fans calling for the managers head AGAIN.

 

[mancity1]

well done garry cook for comeing out and speaking sense. It would only damage us in the short and long term to lose our manager, anyone who thinks otherwise is just a standard fruit cake. Nobody could come in and turn this situation around just like that, they would need time just like huhes needs, and if were not willing to give hughes time then that means noone would gte the time, and we will be forever sacking managers and being a joke club. Hughes and his team WILL get it right, together with cook and the new owners. We are in good hands, only people causing the problems at the moment are these negative fans calling for the managers head AGAIN.

Spurs owners and decision makers thought they were cactus with Ramos in charge for the whole of this season and Harry has waved his majic again it seems and although its not quite half way I would be willing to wager Spurs will finish the season with a fair few more points than we will.

Whether we are in good hands with Hughes and Cook well I will guess we will let the results over the next few games do the talking.

As Moomba said recently if we get very little from our next three games blind freddy could tell you we are in serious trouble.

Hughes keeps taking about our lack of quality in general and that Janiary will be our chance to address those problems but to me I would rather he focus on what he has and get far more out of waht he has now that expect January to come to his rescue so to speak and you never know if players are priced out of our valuation and Cook is true to his word we may well have to rely on what we currently have to get us through to May.

 

[moomba]

A few things fairly obvious with this latest round of PR.

The owners arent ones for the kneejerk reaction, shouldnt surprise anyone really

They owners aren't falling for this "we are doing as well as we could be given the circumstances" nonsense that seems to be spouted on a regular basis on here.

The owners won't back Hughes forever, and if results continue to be poor they won't waste any time making a change. The way it should be.

Not particularly happy about the comments on Jo, it seems that there are a few at the club that never wanted him and were never prepared to give him a chance.