Philip Cocu

[MackworthRamIsGod]

Philip Cocu is fast becoming one of my favourite ever Derby managers, during the time I have followed them. Jim Smith is number 1 and it will take a lot to change that.

I cant think of another manager I've liked more than Cocu, he has had the kitchen sink of bad luck thrown at him and he has dealt with it with utter class.

I thought Frank was a gentleman and I honestly thought we had a classy manager in him, with all due respect to Frank, he could learn something from Cocu.

It always puzzled me why Rooney was so keen to work with our Phil, it's very clear why.

Cocu will manage at the highest level in England if he wishes and I have a feeling it will be with the Rams.

 

[GB SPORTS]

7 minutes ago, MackworthRamIsGod said:

Philip Cocu is fast becoming one of my favourite ever Derby managers, during the time I have followed them. Jim Smith is number 1 and it will take a lot to change that.

I cant think of another manager I've liked more than Cocu, he has had the kitchen sink of bad luck thrown at him and he has dealt with it with utter class.

I thought Frank was a gentleman and I honestly thought we had a classy manager in him, with all due respect to Frank, he could learn something from Cocu.

It always puzzled me why Rooney was so keen to work with our Phil, it's very clear why.

Cocu will manage at the highest level in England if he wishes and I have a feeling it will be with the Rams.

 

Must time for a sack Phil poll.?

[CBRammette]

Agreed.  I also liked that he looked as worried as I felt in the last few minutes

[Leicester Ram]

The way we’re playing it out from the back right now is amazing, seeing flashes of what he can achieve and it has the potential to be better than anything we’ve seen at Derby this millennium.

[LeedsCityRam]

4 minutes ago, MackworthRamIsGod said:

Philip Cocu is fast becoming one of my favourite ever Derby managers, during the time I have followed them. Jim Smith is number 1 and it will take a lot to change that.

I cant think of another manager I've liked more than Cocu, he has had the kitchen sink of bad luck thrown at him and he has dealt with it with utter class.

I thought Frank was a gentleman and I honestly thought we had a classy manager in him, with all due respect to Frank, he could learn something from Cocu.

It always puzzled me why Rooney was so keen to work with our Phil, it's very clear why.

Cocu will manage at the highest level in England if he wishes and I have a feeling it will be with the Rams.

 

Cocu is a class act. Humble, considered, intelligent & patient...everything you would want from someone in charge. He's dealt with everything in this crazy season with the upmost professionalism.

Ive highlighted your last paragraph as its clear Cocu relishes a project, not a short term turnaround job. More than any manager we've had, I feel he's most likely to leave a legacy & not have his head turned by a Prem club in need of a salvage job.

As Ive said elsewhere, the good fortune to have Cocu, Rooney & one of the most exciting Academies in Europe all at the same time feels like the stars aligning. Whatever happens this year, I believe Cocu will be with us for a while yet & that future will look very bright indeed.

[IslandExile]

I'm not one of those types that takes gleeful satisfaction from saying "I told you so"........but I did. ?

In fairness, there were a few of us but it seemed like a minority earlier in the season.

Anyhow water under the bridge. What Cocu has achieved this season, in the face of the series of upheavals, has been staggering and far exceeds even what I thought was possible.

COYR ? Come on Cocu ?

[Srg]

27 minutes ago, Leicester Ram said:

The way we’re playing it out from the back right now is amazing, seeing flashes of what he can achieve and it has the potential to be better than anything we’ve seen at Derby this millennium.

And we are doing it with players that weren’t even brought in specifically to do it

[Rampage]

Looking at the starting eleven tonight, only Waghorn cost any serious money. I would love to know how much that eleven cost.when we bring subs on somehow I think that it will be fine as Cocu had improved every player. There is little pressure in him in the sense that he knows that he is safe here and the improvement in players has been remarkable. Cocu...What a guy. COYR

[CamsChorizo]

Some early tough losses, and I (along with many others) was calling for his head. But what he has done despite missing training and friendlies in the States, the drink driving incident and losing our captain as a result, losing Wilson/Mount/Tomari from loans, to piece together this season and have the Rams peaking at the right time has been beyond impressive! If Rooney had been in Derby from the jump, they are top 3. 

[BramcoteRam84]

Yes the critics have gone very quiet and rightly so. I was worried at Christmas when let’s face it we were right on the verge of a relegation scrap, I feared Mel would end up being forced into a decision which would have set us back considerably, those wins against Charlton and Barnsley were huge and if we do get promoted this season you look back at those games as the turning point. We’d have been sucked into the bottom 3 if they had gone the wrong way. Cocu has also had flak for the team he put out at Forest in the cup. But Mel trusted in Cocu, his record and Cocu despite pressure to be short termist stuck to his principles and played the long game, for example the 3-0 forest defeat was a massive step for the likes of Louis Sibley about what is needed at this level. 
 

We are now seeing the performances that PSV fans promised we would and with the youngsters getting better and better, I haven’t been so excited about a team since Jim Smith.
 

It could happen this season, it might not but regardless - we are definitely on the up and further more it looks like we’re building something sustainable.

[Jayram]

The criticism levelled at him and the players during the first half of the season was justified - the performances at Brentford, Reading etc were abysmal and putting out a junior team for the Forest cup game was inexplicable. However, the arrival of Rooney has galvanised the club and its clear that the players now ‘get’ the way Cocu wants them to play. Considering the off the pitch chaos at the club this season I think he has done a remarkable job and regardless of what happens this season I look forward to seeing us progress next season.

[RiddingsRam]

Without a told you so scenario I've always thought Cocu is the man to take this club forward from youth development to the first team and the current good run of form is fantastic. 

One of the main reasons that proves Cocus intelligence is his ability to change an adapt during matches , we've seen so many managers who have plan a and if plan a doesn't work then ...... Chuck another striker on , Cocu just ooozes class and is so intelligent were lucky to have him . 

[Mazzaram]

What is more, I don't think there are many other managers out there with the resilience and quiet, steely determination, to be able to endure everything that has been thrown our way and continue with his plan. All hail!

[Topram]

No matter what happens from now till the end of the season it’s finally being shown why Cocu and his staff were brought here, we attack as a unit defend as a unit, players work hard for each other and he’s making them better and putting faith in the young lads, Max Bird last year on the ball you’d be worried this year his composure is second to none, great signs for next season 

[Rampage]

Cocu has got a bit of the Arsene Wenger thing about him. Highly intelligent and focussed. He looks primarily for the ability to learn in.players. some of our apparently average for Championship league look like they could play in the Premier League in a very well organised team. Sheffield United have done similar. All their players know what to do and what not to do. We are steadily ironing out stupid errors that have cost us points in the past. Each week it looks less likely that we need more players because of the developments that they have made. We are the in firm team in this league, why worry about the teams that we will face. Cocu said that we need to confirm that our game is good enough against these higher placed teams. We are playing as well as them, they just had a better first half of season than us. Brentford are highly rated but they win three games against three that we lost when Cocu was sorting us out. We are not underdogs we are competing on level and better form with them slthough too late for autos for us. COYR. These competitors will find that they are not up against the first half season Rams. George Evans played last evening like he is a regular but had not started since December sums it up for me. COYR

[Ziga Zaga10]

17 hours ago, LeedsCityRam said:

Cocu is a class act. Humble, considered, intelligent & patient...everything you would want from someone in charge. He's dealt with everything in this crazy season with the upmost professionalism.

Ive highlighted your last paragraph as its clear Cocu relishes a project, not a short term turnaround job. More than any manager we've had, I feel he's most likely to leave a legacy & not have his head turned by a Prem club in need of a salvage job.

As Ive said elsewhere, the good fortune to have Cocu, Rooney & one of the most exciting Academies in Europe all at the same time feels like the stars aligning. Whatever happens this year, I believe Cocu will be with us for a while yet & that future will look very bright indeed.

I would also add highly respected to those plaudits..?

[Andicis]

Whilst I'm clearly a supporter of Cocu now, I was a big critic of him for the first half of the season, and I think my criticisms of the time were valid. We were awful in a lot of the games in the first half of the season, he should have played a different team than he did vs Forest in the cup, let's not rewrite history here. At times he didn't look like he had a plan. 

So I don't blame myself or others for having early doubts around Cocu, they were all justified at the time. Happily it turned out well.

[DavesaRam]

I saw a Youtube of the 31 goals he scored for Barcelona, followd by his 10 for Holland. Wow! What a classy player - he mastered the Bryson skill of being able to run through from midfield and be in the right place to score, with tap-ins, cannon balls and headers - very classy. I wonder if he is looking to either bring in or develop a player in that style for us?

[BondJovi]

I still maintain his Forest cup selection was brilliant. Not so much for many fans, but for the players. Give the youngsters a taste of first team football, see what they can do but also make it clear if they are good enough and ready they will be picked. Must have been a huge boost for a lot of those players, the players who are our future.

For someone like Sibley it sure didn't do any harm.

I understand why that selection annoyed so many, but we are clearly seeing the rewards of a manager who thinks long term.

[DCFC27]

5 hours ago, Andicis said:

Whilst I'm clearly a supporter of Cocu now, I was a big critic of him for the first half of the season, and I think my criticisms of the time were valid. We were awful in a lot of the games in the first half of the season, he should have played a different team than he did vs Forest in the cup, let's not rewrite history here. At times he didn't look like he had a plan. 

So I don't blame myself or others for having early doubts around Cocu, they were all justified at the time. Happily it turned out well.

Some people just couldn’t see it at the time. So many games where we lost and the score was terrible, but I remember almost every week saying ‘we played better than them’ ‘small mistakes are costing us’ ‘I don’t know how we’re 3-0 down here’

Now we’re comfortable playing that way with players that can play the system we have turned it around. 

The signs have been there all season we were playing well prior to Christmas it’s just hard to see when we were getting patchy results. Especially away.