OLDSKOOL
Fans' Favourite
Good point , that you think he miskicked it - quite possibly when you see it again .I think the players should be smart enough though to distinguish between simple passes with no real risk and simple passes with considerable risk. We mixed it up at the back which appears to be the consensus view of how we want to play.
Cook had a reasonably simple pass to CCV, in space, who if he felt was in trouble could have gone long. He also had a riskier ball to Smith, which was in danger of being intercepted that he choose (wisely IMO) not to play. The risk level of the ball to CCV was much different to Mepham passing to Lerma with a man breathing down his neck on the edge of the penalty area.
I can't be certain whether Cook was trying to play a 'clever' ball in to Pearson (which was a bad choice) which is what I thought happened live, or whether he just miskicked it (as his body position on striking the ball looks like he was trying to launch it). But having now watched it a dozen times I'm going for the miskick.
I'd actually be happier if he did just 'top' it, as it is just one of those things (and we benefitted from a lapse at Bristol City). Maybe Cook didn't think he could miskick it so badly and that he had a better chance of a targeted clearance than CCV who was back-pedalling, which could be a logical strand.
Having watched it a few times this morning, I'm now a lot less angry, as 97/100 that would have been airborne, hopefully to a channel. It's the stupid decision making that drives me mad rather then technical skill going AWOL at a crucial time. Cook also pulled off a superb block just before that too.
At the time I thought he simply hadn’t seen the PNE player lurking there - from his angle he was hidden ?