Cooper Out

[Skinny Pete]

My time period was Feb until now - 37 points from a possible 93. Or relegation form in common parlance.

It isn't about comparing Power to Jed, it's about where we are now and what direction we are heading.

You may have hit the nail on the head regarding the Asian Cup. Nothing was the same after that.

[BruceChatwin]

I don't see how Power's model makes us any different from all the other teams who struggle to hold on to their best players at this level.

[Skinny Pete]

Whether it's true or not but most on here believe Power's model requires a subservient 'manager' to carry out his vision.

When other club's form hits the buffers the universal remedy is to change manager. Not many on here think a change would have much effect if he is just a Cooper clone.

[Posh Red]

My time period was Feb until now - 37 points from a possible 93. Or relegation form in common parlance

Wouldn't that equate to 55 points in 46 games. Surely that would be enough to stay up

[Posh Red]

I don't see how Power's model makes us any different from all the other teams who struggle to hold on to their best players at this level.

Best player yes, virtually the whole team not really

[Batch]

I don't see how Power's model makes us any different from all the other teams who struggle to hold on to their best players at this level.

All clubs sell.

But I'm struggling to remember too many times a manager has had to start his squad from scratch. PDC, but that was with financial backing so he got away with his cock ups.

Don't get me wrong, while its disappointing as a fan its the only way to balance the books.

[Oaksey Moonraker]

I don't see how Power's model makes us any different from all the other teams who struggle to hold on to their best players at this level.

Has Power not tweaked his model since he first arrived? The Spurs young cast offs were bought with lowish transfer fees and high sell on percentages. This year it seems to be free transfers from anywhere or non league hopefuls.

I also doubt the lowest budget rumours given he said the budget is based on 7100 average home gates. Assuming FFP half the clubs in this league would kill for 7k at home. Nor can they all have millionaire benefactors chucking a couple of million each season to compete.

[Kinky Tom]

Has Power not tweaked his model since he first arrived? The Spurs young cast offs were bought with lowish transfer fees and high sell on percentages. This year it seems to be free transfers from anywhere or non league hopefuls.

I'm sure it's more down to opportunity rather than tweaking.  Power has said money will be spent when players worth spending money on are available or realistic. 

We were lucky that season to get Byrne and Luongo and at the time almost everyone was aghast that we'd spent £100,000 on Nathan saying it was an utter waste of money, Smith popped up in Jan at another £100,000.  We also, that season, got Kasim (free) and Gladwin (non-league hopeful)... 

The following season we spent £200,000 on Obika and while we've not really spent on fees this season we have invested in wages in certain areas.

[BruceChatwin]

This is the team from last season's play-off final:

Foderingham

N. Thompson  Stephens  Turnbull

Byrne     Luongo     Kasim     Toffolo

Gladwin

Obika    Smith

(subs that day - Ricketts, L. Thompson, Andy Williams)

As like for like as possible, here's a team we could theoretically field from the current squad:

Vigouroux

N. Thompson  Williams  Turnbull

Ajose     L. Thompson   Kasim    Robert

Gladwin

Obika   Thomas

(closest relative subs to above - El Abd, Kevin Stewart, Hylton)

Hardly a big drop off in quality there, and 6 of the major players are still here (albeit 3 of them on loan), so not quite the tabula rasa some have made out. Our injury crisis at the moment is simply on an unprecedented scale, making it hard to judge both Cooper and the resources at his disposal.

[JayBox325]

This is the team from last season's play-off final:

Foderingham

N. Thompson  Stephens  Turnbull

Byrne     Luongo     Kasim     Toffolo

Gladwin

Obika    Smith

(subs that day - Ricketts, L. Thompson, Andy Williams)

As like for like as possible, here's a team we could theoretically field from the current squad:

Vigouroux

N. Thompson  Williams  Turnbull

Ajose     L. Thompson   Kasim    Robert

Gladwin

Obika   Thomas

(closest relative subs to above - El Abd, Kevin Stewart, Hylton)

Hardly a big drop off in quality there, and 6 of the major players are still here (albeit 3 of them on loan), so not quite the tabula rasa some have made out. Our injury crisis at the moment is simply on an unprecedented scale, making it hard to judge both Cooper and the resources at his disposal.

I like the idea of that team, but Ajose isn't great down the wing, he's much better making runs beyond the defenders and Robert is wasted on the wing, when he's playing well he's better in behind the front two.

[Oxfordhater]

Yes it looks ok on paper. Foderingham, Luongo and Byrne are gone though. Arguably the three best players last year. Normally when you lose one key player it can be telling, losing your three best has had more of an effect than we think. Be interesting to see if we would have picked a few more points up if Byrne was still here? Maybe he is the biggest loss of them all.

[Reg Smeeton]

Yes it looks ok on paper. Foderingham, Luongo and Byrne are gone though. Arguably the three best players last year. Normally when you lose one key player it can be telling, losing your three best has had more of an effect than we think. Be interesting to see if we would have picked a few more points up if Byrne was still here? Maybe he is the biggest loss of them all.

Indeed, most of out early season points had a Byrne input somewhere in the goals. We were told that Stewart was the Byrne replacement....but another that hasn't worked out.

[BruceChatwin]

I like the idea of that team, but Ajose isn't great down the wing, he's much better making runs beyond the defenders and Robert is wasted on the wing, when he's playing well he's better in behind the front two.

If we did play that formation, in the unlikely event we had the whole squad available, I'd probably put Brophy in for Ajose and switch positions of Gladwin and Robert.

Yes it looks ok on paper. Foderingham, Luongo and Byrne are gone though. Arguably the three best players last year. Normally when you lose one key player it can be telling, losing your three best has had more of an effect than we think. Be interesting to see if we would have picked a few more points up if Byrne was still here? Maybe he is the biggest loss of them all.

Foderingham, Luongo and Byrne were obviously big losses, though Luongo had almost no influence on the team after the Asian Cup, and Byrne's assists evaporated along with any defensive support. As a lot of people have pointed out, we were poor even when we had those players in the team at the end of last season.

And Kasim at the moment is a textbook example of how holding onto your bigger players doesn't necessarily work out for the best.

Indeed, most of out early season points had a Byrne input somewhere in the goals. We were told that Stewart was the Byrne replacement....but another that hasn't worked out.

I thought Byrne was pretty average after his opening day hat-trick. Robert had by far the biggest influence on the points we picked up early in the season.

[Skinny Pete]

He'd be playing now for sure.

I don't understand the homesick bit, though. He's had trials at both Barnsley and M'Boro so surely he'd know by those experiences if he could leave home and be happy.

[Jimmy Glass is an Alien]

I agree that the injuries we have, have not helped Cooper. I'm not too sure if as mentioned before, the speculation about his role in the summer has played some part and undermined his authority in the dressing room.

On a separate note, why have we so many players that claim to have a favoured specialist position of the 'number 10' role. Surely we can't play them all there, which makes me think some of the buys were either panic or not thought out properly.