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Could He Be The Very Best Paul Of All?

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Having listened to his first official interview, manager Paul cook impressed me immensely. He portrayed humility and vision in equal measure. Yes, we all know what most of our supporters think of this appointment, and having heard him speak, I am inclined to agree. I like the fact that he gave credit where credit was due. If Ipswich Town ticked all the boxes for him, then he ticked all the boxes for me! I loved his honesty throughout and his appreciation of what has gone before.

What was perhaps most refreshing of all was his desire to tell it how it was. No thrills. No big promises. He understands that there are no quick-fixes. We have no divine right to go up, but he will do his damndest to ensure that we are in with a chance.

His attitude is refreshing on so many different fronts – not least, his understanding of the pressures of modern-day management. “As a manager, one of the things you appreciate when you’re out of work is how many managers there are looking for jobs. I did turn down jobs for whatever reason and whatever division, purely because I had my mindset on something I wanted to do. At the time, I wanted to stay in the Championship, I really did, and that’s something I was capable of.  But the Ipswich job coming around and then speaking to Marcus, it’s clear and obvious Ipswich don’t want to be in League One and I don’t particularly want to be in League One either! We have a great opportunity to help each other now,” Cook explained. The lifelong self-confessed Liverpool fan is also aware of what supporters mean to football. “We love Saturday afternoons, going for a pint and then going to the games. I’m going to do my best to bring those good times back for Ipswich Town fans.”

This guy is a breath of fresh air and he has what most scousers have and that is a great sense of humour! He is of the view that it is a bit of a novelty coming into a club that has gone five games undefeated and beaten three sides near the top of the table. “Paul Lambert had just got the club on a couple of wins on the bounce and they followed that up with Tuesday. So Paul’s time at the club should certainly be remembered by everyone and wish Paul well because that’s football. Certainly for Ipswich Town fans, as we speak now, we are seventh in League One. That’s not our place in the pyramid. My job is to make sure that I put us back to a place that we are all satisfied with.”

He knows some of the other Paul’s who have managed Ipswich. He knows Paul Jewell very well and is good mates with the fellow scouser. He knows Paul Hurst too and is vaguely familiar with Paul Lambert. He is very friendly with Mick McCarthy and speaks to him almost every day. This is a man who courts football relationships, and he could turn out to be the very best Paul of all!

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2 comments

  • Dean Welham says:

    Hi Frank I really hope we have at last employed the right Paul as our manager. Like you I was very impressed by Paul Cooks first interview and I will be very surprised if the players don’t respond to his passion & enthusiasm. He is obviously a very good manager and I hope it’s the start of Better things for our wonderful club. I really believe we finally have the right man in charge and the club will start to head in the right direction..All fans need to unite as one and get behind the club including Evans if he stays. I like many fans have been critical of Evans but believe he does genuinely want what’s best for the club and although he has made mistakes deserves our respect. I was impressed by his recent open letter to fans which made it clear to me he still wants to succeed and would only sell if it was in the clubs interest. I hope he has learnt valuable lessons during the Lambert era and taken on board the fans concerns about the strategy and structure of the club including how he communicates to us .. which has to improve. At least we now have a proven manager so onwards and upwards.

  • Frank Weston says:

    I could not agree more Dean. I am in agreement with all the points you have made, and I am becoming increasingly optimistic that under this Paul, we may well have turned a corner.

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