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Phillip Cocu


Bob The Badger

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After seeing @SaintRam mention it again I finally watched the Phillip Cocu interview on RamsTV and I think every Derby supporter should.

I came away really heartened.

Other than with Nigel Clough, this club has had very little stability in a generation.

Each manager has had to scramble to achieve immediate success or be under the cosh.

A lot of this was Mel’s fault, but I’m not going to criticize him because I think as an owner he has really matured, learned from his mistakes and is now one of the best.

Cocu seems utterly relaxed and focussed on the long-term prosperity of the club by nurturing the youngsters and creating an inclusive feel.

Some of his team selections have concerned me - especially when he has made sweeping changes - but now I’m not really worried.

Whereas I think every manager wants to win every game, I think he’s using this season to get acclimated to the Championship and a playoff spot would just be a bonus.

I don’t think either her nor Mel expected anything from this season. And even though that’s frustrating for us fans, it’s the right approach.

Yes, teams do turn it around quickly on occasions with a new manager, but many of the great managers needed time to build the squad and shape the club.

Clough, Shankly and Ferguson are about as great as you can get and all needed time.

Of course, there are many exceptions of managers who acquired success almost immediately.

However, most either inherited a good side, had lots of money to spend, or both.

None of us have a clue as to how Cocu will turn out, but I’m a lot less concerned than I was when the players trudged off after the Fulham debacle.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see us do a Norwich next season.

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Just now, RoyMac5 said:

Why did he feel that we had to change to deal with way QPR (on an awful run) played? To me Cocu’s worst ‘failing’ is his lack of positivity... 

Might have something to do with the fact that Shinnie, Bennett and Bielik have all gotten injured this week, along with us getting absolutely smashed at Fulham.

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Just now, lrm14 said:

Might have something to do with the fact that Shinnie, Bennett and Bielik have all gotten injured this week, along with us getting absolutely smashed at Fulham.

No. The decision was made before Bielik was injured.

Still why change our set up for QPR?

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2 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

No. The decision was made before Bielik was injured.

Still why change our set up for QPR?

Yes. You're completely dismissing the fact we were compltely dismantled this week by Fulham and we're missing Shinnie and Bennett, who almost certainly would have started today if fit. Besides he only changed the system for a short period in the first half and then reverted back to the 4-2-3-1 we played against Preston.

Our options at RW are terrible or injured and he clearly wanted to give Bogle a try there while giving Wisdom a run out. Why is that such a big deal?

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2 minutes ago, lrm14 said:

Yes. You're completely dismissing the fact we were compltely dismantled this week by Fulham and we're missing Shinnie and Bennett, who almost certainly would have started today if fit. Besides he only changed the system for a short period in the first half and then reverted back to the 4-2-3-1 we played against Preston.

Our options at RW are terrible or injured and he clearly wanted to give Bogle a try there while giving Wisdom a run out. Why is that such a big deal?

We weren’t dismantled by Fulham. We gifted them all three goals. 
Cocu said the formation was to deal with the way QPR might set up (they didn’t!) - why not set up the best for us???

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1 minute ago, RoyMac5 said:

We weren’t dismantled by Fulham. We gifted them all three goals. 
Cocu said the formation was to deal with the way QPR might set up (they didn’t!) - why not set up the best for us???

Weren't we? I guess we were watching different games then.

Probably because our squad is absolutely cack and our best isn't good enough to beat everyone in this division consistently, good coaches adapt. Did you have a problem last week against Preston when we adjusted how we played to overloading the left wing to expose Darnell Fisher at RB?

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29 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

Why did he feel that we had to change to deal with way QPR (on an awful run) played? To me Cocu’s worst ‘failing’ is his lack of positivity... 

I think Bielik was a meant to be a major part of that formation. It’s not just his ability on the ball but he covers some ground too. That’s not really Evans game and we ended up far too deep most of the time 

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18 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

We weren’t dismantled by Fulham. We gifted them all three goals. 
Cocu said the formation was to deal with the way QPR might set up (they didn’t!) - why not set up the best for us???

We were battered  by Fulham, they took pity on us in the last 30 minutes. 

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19 minutes ago, lrm14 said:

 

Probably because our squad is absolutely cack and our best isn't good enough to beat everyone in this division consistently, good coaches adapt. Did you have a problem last week against Preston when we adjusted how we played to overloading the left wing to expose Darnell Fisher at RB?

QPR and Preston are not the same opposition at all. QPR must have been fearing another beating...

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I'd be interested in knowing the average running stats for this year against last. The policy of defending from the half way line and not pressing opposition is painful.

I know playing Davies is forced on him but asking him to play passing football is a poor managerial decision. 

Playing two up against Boro, winning and then not employing that team selection again is weird.

Ultimately he's been dealt a bad hand with players available to him. I think he should be doing better with this hand but he needs two transfer windows to develop his identity. 

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48 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

We weren’t dismantled by Fulham. We gifted them all three goals. 
Cocu said the formation was to deal with the way QPR might set up (they didn’t!) - why not set up the best for us???

I think it depends on how you define dismantled.

They dominated from start to finish and looked like they could step it up a gear at will.

They also made it look like they were a division above us in terms of quality.

Maybe that doesn't meet your definition and that 5 or 6 goals are needed.

It's on the cusp for me, but I certainly wouldn't argue with somebody saying that.

 

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9 minutes ago, Bob The Badger said:

I think it depends on how you define dismantled.

They dominated from start to finish and looked like they could step it up a gear at will.

They also made it look like they were a division above us in terms of quality.

Maybe that doesn't meet your definition and that 5 or 6 goals are needed.

It's on the cusp for me, but I certainly wouldn't argue with somebody saying that.

 

We started really well, should have scored. Gifted them a goal and lost confidence. But still we defended relatively well and had some attacking momentum - thought Holmes looked lively. Then we gave them another and that really made a comeback difficult. 

Watching them against Swansea they did similar, took advantage of poor defending against the run of play. Not saying they aren’t a good team, but I don’t think we were dismantled by them.

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Very poor today, and Roymac5 does make some very good points, I think this obsession with Mel having to use our academy in a few  years time is well off. Mel employed Cocu to develop our younger players which takes time, also Mel keep going on about we need to play a certain way is also way off, this is a hard division to get out off, and relaying on young players to get us out is a tough call. And u play to your strengths Sheffield United being a good example of this, just think who ever we had as manager would find this a tough job, give Cocu 3 more Windows to get his players in. But would not be surprised if Mel gave him this season only, then promoted Rooney to manage us, fits in with Mels idea of promoting our club, but for me we need to develop the club a little bit, and give someone time, no more short term fixes much Mel seems to like, and it's up to the manager to decide which players are ready and what our style should be not Mels, or the boo boys, who know very little about the game. 

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