[Gladfans]

I really think it's a sign of the clubs ambition if they keep the manager who took us down

With apparently most player departures beyond his control- who would want to take that on. I think he should be given a chance.

[Andrew R]

see that's the problem, same old **** and we're just a year older. I really think it's a sign of the clubs ambition if they keep the manager who took us down

It’s a fair point, Neil. Assuming things remain the same who do you think will want the job? We’re hardly an attractive prospect, and one assumes the budget will be drastically reduced yet again. Now, if the ownership situation changes then anything is possible. 

Perhaps the question to be asked is whether Cook would want another season in charge?

[Neil]

It's funny, unless you're in the know aren't we aways led to believe that every time there's a vacancy there's a dozen applicants and often some chancer whose done well on Football Manager. I wonder what the truth actually is?

[Andrew R]

I don’t we’ll ever know.

[Tigermatty 2.0]

It's funny, unless you're in the know aren't we aways led to believe that every time there's a vacancy there's a dozen applicants and often some chancer who’s done well on Football Manager. I wonder what the truth actually is?

The truth is that a lot of the applicants are people who have more coaching experience than managerial experience - people who’ve done coaching badges, coached at football league or equivalent academies but never actually cut their teeth in management. Out of the people who actually applied for the job in the summer I don’t think any of them were managers who were in a job already or who had any significant success on their CVs. If we advertised the job now I don’t think we’d get anyone with a better CV than Cook. That isn’t to say they might not become a great manager, but that’s the risk you take. 
Rowe was headhunted, Groves was headhunted, King was headhunted.

[Mr.Magoo]

Player recruitment is the key skill of any manager. Of our last few Kingy understood that the best. The question is there anyone who could recruit at the next level who'd want the job? Unfortunately young coaches probably don't have the contacts to get the best players in that we'll need. Ideally a well coached academy to scoop up any decent talent we can attract and a manager with a big black book of experienced players would be the solution. That's not necessarily an expensive route but it needs planning and a stable club. It feels like we've squandered the opportunity we had on the clubs return back home. Gloucester City In Stercore. I think we're stuck with that, unless AP can offload his share of the club.

[Tigermatty 2.0]

Yes Kingy recruited well - albeit he only really added three or four starting players to what we already had - but he also had the luxury of a huge budget to spend on hotels and expenses to bring those players to the area. There’s a misconception that this season’s budget is the same as last season’s because people don’t include
player travel and accommodation expenses, ongoing medical expenses for certain players etc. all of which helped to attract and retain players.

[Mr.Magoo]

Here's some blue sky thinking, although probably rubbish and with several flaws. What if we recruited and trained on the outskirts of London and bussed our team up on match days? I know we'd lose any local players but our potential pool of players would be huge. I'll put in my tin hat on.

[Tigermatty 2.0]

A lot of teams do that. Hereford switched training base to Birmingham this season.

[Neil]

Nothing wrong with that, Chesham did it with players from south Wales; Stranraer did it with players from Glasgow!

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King was headhunted.

I don't think that that was the case. Alex didn't know him and was recommended by Marc White at Dorking.