Quote Originally Posted by Bluebird23 View Post
No, they apparently contacted Eddie Howe first, and he predictably declined.

And there is no way he’s the best manager available to us. I have no doubt one or more of Pulis, Hughes, Jokanovic or Pearson may have shown interest.

These are managers with proven CV’s for a club with Premier League aspirations, as opposed to some bloke who’s won lower league titles.

I’m hardly enthralled by McCarthy’s appointment, but his achievements are far greater than Cook’s.
I happen to think that what Mick McCarthy did at Ipswich where he won absolutely nothing was as impressive as anything he managed at Wolves and Sunderland. Judging managers solely by the number of trophies they've amassed is simplistic and somewhat ignorant I feel, because it disregards things like the promotion Cook gained with Chesterfield (who dropped like a stone after he left) from League Two, the League One Play Off he took them to the following season and it's also worth saying that he won the FAI Cup twice and the Irish League Cup with Sligo Rovers while also finishing high enough in the league once to qualify for the UEFA Cup - he also gained kudos from me for refusing to "have anything to do" with reporters from the Irish Sun while at Sligo because of the way the Sun covered Hillsborough.

Paul Cook has been a manager for 671 matches covering six clubs and has lost less than a third of them with a loss rate of 31 per cent, compared to his win rate of 43 per cent. He kept Wigan up last season despite their initial twelve point deduction as well , so I think all of that makes for an impressive CV and I would have been very happy to have had him here as manager - I can also fully understand why he might find the offer of a six month contract demeaning.