Man City: Ex-chief executive Garry Cook felt he 'embarrassed

[john68]

Bit silly that Mate.

I wasn't deriding the input of Cook. On the whole he has overseen us from the bad times to the good. He has overseen a massive change of mentality and structure throughout the club and helped maximise the commercial opportunities afforded to us by the team's progress on the pitch.

His gaffes were made to appear a lot worse by the publicity given to them by a vindictive media. I am quite sure that other CEOs drop bollox that are not publicised.

As I said, I would be happy to have him back.

[Rag_hater]

Bit silly that Mate.

I wasn't deriding the input of Cook. On the whole he has overseen us from the bad times to the good. He has overseen a massive change of mentality and structure throughout the club and helped maximise the commercial opportunities afforded to us by the team's progress on the pitch.

His gaffes were made to appear a lot worse by the publicity given to them by a vindictive media. I am quite sure that other CEOs drop bollox that are not publicised.

As I said, I would be happy to have him back.

The sort of money our Sheikh has it doesn't take a rocket scientist to oversee what Cook did.
And Cook ain't no rocket scientist.

[john68]

Bit silly that Mate.

I wasn't deriding the input of Cook. On the whole he has overseen us from the bad times to the good. He has overseen a massive change of mentality and structure throughout the club and helped maximise the commercial opportunities afforded to us by the team's progress on the pitch.

His gaffes were made to appear a lot worse by the publicity given to them by a vindictive media. I am quite sure that other CEOs drop bollox that are not publicised.

As I said, I would be happy to have him back.

The sort of money our Sheikh has it doesn't take a rocket scientist to oversee what Cook did.
And Cook ain't no rocket scientist.

Can you be specific in your condemnation. It is easy to chuck out vague and insulting generalisations.

[Beefymcfc]

Bit silly that Mate.

I wasn't deriding the input of Cook. On the whole he has overseen us from the bad times to the good. He has overseen a massive change of mentality and structure throughout the club and helped maximise the commercial opportunities afforded to us by the team's progress on the pitch.

His gaffes were made to appear a lot worse by the publicity given to them by a vindictive media. I am quite sure that other CEOs drop bollox that are not publicised.

As I said, I would be happy to have him back.

The sort of money our Sheikh has it doesn't take a rocket scientist to oversee what Cook did.
And Cook ain't no rocket scientist.

Can you be specific in your condemnation. It is easy to chuck out vague and insulting generalisations.

Unless it's at you ;-)

Ragger's hasn't got a clue, everything he bases an opinion on comes from the Sun, Mail or Mirror, very occassionally the Sport and Star. If he tells us what Cook has done wrong rather as CEO and a forward thinking operator then I might take him serious, until then I'll just see his opinion on this as ignorant.

Peace-Out, mo-fo!

[mcfc1632]

John - I accept all those points and of course commercial progress was dependent also on the on-pitch success. That said results are results and a 65% increase in annual revenue in such a short space of time it highly significant – especially given that these figures do not reflect the Etihad deal or the money likely next year from CL progress – or even the limited CL money this year. The deals still had to be concluded and our way out of other deals negotiated – this is not a simple issue of a couple of calls and a signing ceremony.

It is easy to pass over the efforts made by assuming that it is easy to do these things with the money available etc – but that is also a simplistic approach that could be even more readily made to detract from the manager’s achievements – yet the fans do not do this.

My real concern on the Cook front is the way people alight onto the issue of gaffes to judge him by – when that is really a much cheaper shot than could be aimed at Mancini only being successful because of the players available – I just think that (IMO) it is a shallow cop-out

For me Khaldoon, Cook and Mancini formed a management team that covered all the bases – I am sure that Khaldoon was disappointed to lose Cook (again only IMO).

Across the board in these recent years the club is touched by a 'vitalism' that is totally new to CITY and way beyond most clubs – and yes, I think that a lot of this is owed to Cook. Charismatic and energetic leaders infect others in the team.

It is a feeling that is now all-pervasive and is seen in everything that is CITY and not just the commercial contracts - it comes from the energy and commitment that individuals have brought - something that you do see in big companies that outstrip their competitors

I want to be careful of eulogising, but almost everything at CITY has become ‘brand-leading’ and first-class. Of course having access to boundless money helps, but that needs to be harnessed to energy and determination.

I will not try and go in-depth, but just from a fan’s POV off the top of my head:

1/ The players – yes I know that people will knock him for calling ACM bottlers – but they were and he stood up for our reputation – for which he should be praised not belittled. The main point is that now such a deal would be taken as ‘normal’ – indeed Kaka would probably beg to come to CITY – but back then he was doing the difficult deals which take a lot of effort – and whilst the manager(s) will in the main identify the targets he(with his staff) still got those deals done.

2/ The Stadium and ‘matchday experience’ – something else that gets derided but for me I now arrive a couple of hours before kick-off and leave an hour or so after the match because of the improved facilities – and whist the CITY square experience is an idea seen elsewhere – it was done 1st class at CITY. (you notice that the scum are now copying the CITY Square model)

3/ The MCC relationship I think owes a lot to the effort Cook put into it. I just hope that this does not stall now – but this is an area that has gone quiet.

4/ Sponsorships – already mentioned but the activity does seem to have significantly reduced – and I cannot help feeling that if he was still here our champions status would be pushing many more deals. There is clearly much more opportunity (e.g. the scum DHL deal) – FFPR means we need to sustain the momentum that had been established.

5/ The pre-season tours – these are incredibly well-planned events and have seen CITY involved in prestigious events even before we were winners of anything. Away from the football matches – the effort that has gone into establishing the CITY brand of ‘in the community’ with the new football pitches donated etc – this has done wonders for our image – but this all takes a lot of effort.

6/ Improvements to Carrington and new offices at the stadium – all take CITY to 1st class and all these projects take a lot of management focus

Anyway - I am one that clearly sees a lot of benefit from the Cook stewardship and I do not mean to sound high-handed when I comment that a focus on the gaffes is just shallow.

As I am clearly biased I would suggest that the words of Gary James on the subject of Cook’s departure have some bearing. I am sure you will know that he is seen as a key narrator of things about CITY past, present and future. He said on another forum:

“.....I didn't listen to the BBC interview because, to be frank, I've already met, interviewed and chatted with Cook on lots of occasions. Some were at particularly low points along the journey others at fairly significant positive moments.

My view of Cook is quite clear.... without his vision back in 2008 the Club would not have developed. Cook managed to clear out some of City's negativity and helped establish the vision that became the 'project'.

Many of his 'non-City supporting' critics highlighted his gaffes way out of proportion because they knew he was extremely good for MCFC. One very senior MCFC official once said to me at the height of the negativity towards Cook that they would 'rather have Cook warts and all, than someone who ducked every issue and hid from the media'. He was also described as a City warrior.

Cook is a passionate Blue now”

[Rag_hater]

John - I accept all those points and of course commercial progress was dependent also on the on-pitch success. That said results are results and a 65% increase in annual revenue in such a short space of time it highly significant – especially given that these figures do not reflect the Etihad deal or the money likely next year from CL progress – or even the limited CL money this year. The deals still had to be concluded and our way out of other deals negotiated – this is not a simple issue of a couple of calls and a signing ceremony.

It is easy to pass over the efforts made by assuming that it is easy to do these things with the money available etc – but that is also a simplistic approach that could be even more readily made to detract from the manager’s achievements – yet the fans do not do this.

My real concern on the Cook front is the way people alight onto the issue of gaffes to judge him by – when that is really a much cheaper shot than could be aimed at Mancini only being successful because of the players available – I just think that (IMO) it is a shallow cop-out

For me Khaldoon, Cook and Mancini formed a management team that covered all the bases – I am sure that Khaldoon was disappointed to lose Cook (again only IMO).

Across the board in these recent years the club is touched by a 'vitalism' that is totally new to CITY and way beyond most clubs – and yes, I think that a lot of this is owed to Cook. Charismatic and energetic leaders infect others in the team.

It is a feeling that is now all-pervasive and is seen in everything that is CITY and not just the commercial contracts - it comes from the energy and commitment that individuals have brought - something that you do see in big companies that outstrip their competitors

I want to be careful of eulogising, but almost everything at CITY has become ‘brand-leading’ and first-class. Of course having access to boundless money helps, but that needs to be harnessed to energy and determination.

I will not try and go in-depth, but just from a fan’s POV off the top of my head:

1/ The players – yes I know that people will knock him for calling ACM bottlers – but they were and he stood up for our reputation – for which he should be praised not belittled. The main point is that now such a deal would be taken as ‘normal’ – indeed Kaka would probably beg to come to CITY – but back then he was doing the difficult deals which take a lot of effort – and whilst the manager(s) will in the main identify the targets he(with his staff) still got those deals done.

2/ The Stadium and ‘matchday experience’ – something else that gets derided but for me I now arrive a couple of hours before kick-off and leave an hour or so after the match because of the improved facilities – and whist the CITY square experience is an idea seen elsewhere – it was done 1st class at CITY. (you notice that the scum are now copying the CITY Square model)

3/ The MCC relationship I think owes a lot to the effort Cook put into it. I just hope that this does not stall now – but this is an area that has gone quiet.

4/ Sponsorships – already mentioned but the activity does seem to have significantly reduced – and I cannot help feeling that if he was still here our champions status would be pushing many more deals. There is clearly much more opportunity (e.g. the scum DHL deal) – FFPR means we need to sustain the momentum that had been established.

5/ The pre-season tours – these are incredibly well-planned events and have seen CITY involved in prestigious events even before we were winners of anything. Away from the football matches – the effort that has gone into establishing the CITY brand of ‘in the community’ with the new football pitches donated etc – this has done wonders for our image – but this all takes a lot of effort.

6/ Improvements to Carrington and new offices at the stadium – all take CITY to 1st class and all these projects take a lot of management focus

Anyway - I am one that clearly sees a lot of benefit from the Cook stewardship and I do not mean to sound high-handed when I comment that a focus on the gaffes is just shallow.

As I am clearly biased I would suggest that the words of Gary James on the subject of Cook’s departure have some bearing. I am sure you will know that he is seen as a key narrator of things about CITY past, present and future. He said on another forum:

“.....I didn't listen to the BBC interview because, to be frank, I've already met, interviewed and chatted with Cook on lots of occasions. Some were at particularly low points along the journey others at fairly significant positive moments.

My view of Cook is quite clear.... without his vision back in 2008 the Club would not have developed. Cook managed to clear out some of City's negativity and helped establish the vision that became the 'project'.

Many of his 'non-City supporting' critics highlighted his gaffes way out of proportion because they knew he was extremely good for MCFC. One very senior MCFC official once said to me at the height of the negativity towards Cook that they would 'rather have Cook warts and all, than someone who ducked every issue and hid from the media'. He was also described as a City warrior.

Cook is a passionate Blue now”

Could not give a fuck about his gaffes, for me just show how average he was. Also am not impressed by the fact he was able to spend other people money in a way that was to be expected.Just cos he bought the "lads" a few beers he aint no hero to me.

[mcfc1632]

Wow - where did that come from - how can you quote my post and talk about buying beers? - I made no mention of anything like that?

[Beefymcfc]

Wow - where did that come from - how can you quote my post and talk about buying beers? - I made no mention of anything like that?

Ahhh, that's it, he's feeling left out.

[Rag_hater]

Wow - where did that come from - how can you quote my post and talk about buying beers? - I made no mention of anything like that?

Ahhh, that's it, he's feeling left out.

Sorry to be so transparent,but its a bit difficult for a mere mortal like myself to argue a point with a smart, judicious,sagacious legend like yourself.

[Dameerto]

He was invited to the last game of the season, that should tell you how he was thought of by the people who matter (and luckily the club's future is in their hands). Yes other people could do his job but as the long wait for a replacement should tell you, not that many of them could be expected to do it so well.

[Swales4ever]

He was invited to the last game of the season, that should tell you how he was thought of by the people who matter (and luckily the club's future is in their hands). Yes other people could do his job but as the long wait for a replacement should tell you, not that many of them could be expected to do it so well.

have to say it... I rate this Damaerto bloke the more I keep reading him.

I was just trying to extricate my limited grasp to turn in an inarticulate english the very same concept.
It'd have taken 10 lines to me and result would have been funnier, tho.

cheers, Sir.

[Pretty Boy Lee]

have to say it... I rate this Damaerto bloke the more I keep reading him.

I was just trying to extricate my limited grasp to turn in an inarticulate english the very same concept.
It'd have taken 10 lines to me and result would have been funnier, tho.

cheers, Sir.

I actually don't know what you just said.

You seem sound enough, but it's odd that your posts ate becoming harder to understand not easier as time goes on.

[Swales4ever]

have to say it... I rate this Damaerto bloke the more I keep reading him.

I was just trying to extricate my limited grasp to turn in an inarticulate english the very same concept.
It'd have taken 10 lines to me and result would have been funnier, tho.

cheers, Sir.

I actually don't know what you just said.

You seem sound enough, but it's odd that your posts ate becoming harder to understand not easier as time goes on.

mmhh... let me try and help you, mate, if I may....
if your hard understanding is particularly referred to the post above, that was deemed to be a slightly humorous attempt to praise a comment I do very much agree with, issued by a poster, whose posts I have already enjoyed and respected in the past.

On the contrary, if Your problem on getting me is more generalized, widespread.... I'd may consider to apply for a lobotomy, 'cause I'd really love to keep on comunicate with You.

cheers

[Pretty Boy Lee]

mmhh... let me try and help you, mate, if I may....
if your hard understanding is particularly referred to the post above, that was deemed to be a slightly humorous attempt to praise a comment I do very much agree with, issued by a poster, whose posts I have already enjoyed and respected in the past.

On the contrary, if Your problem on getting me is more generalized, widespread.... I'd may consider to apply for a lobotomy, 'cause I'd really love to keep on comunicate with You.

cheers

Hahahaha I'm not sure if you're joking how or insulting me, but either way it's funny so carry on.

[Chinners]

hmmm

[Rag_hater]

He was invited to the last game of the season, that should tell you how he was thought of by the people who matter (and luckily the club's future is in their hands). Yes other people could do his job but as the long wait for a replacement should tell you, not that many of them could be expected to do it so well.

Tells me he was a waste of money who does not need replacing.Was he the only fucker invited to the last game?Means fuckall.A trained monkey could do what Cook(the ledge) did.

[ant london]

A trained monkey could do what Cook(the ledge) did.

And from what perspective do you make that statement RH....have you got any experience of this field? Of operating at a senior level within any major business?

You didn't like Cook, fair enough but I don't think you have the slightest grasp as to what it takes to do that role or why he was so good at it.

[Ted Hughes]

A trained monkey could do what Cook(the ledge) did.

And from what perspective do you make that statement RH....have you got any experience of this field? Of operating at a senior level within any major business?

You didn't like Cook, fair enough but I don't think you have the slightest grasp as to what it takes to do that role or why he was so good at it.

He could well have experience of that. It depends what medication the nurse gives him.

Sometimes he has experience of being emperor of France..

[Beefymcfc]

Wow - where did that come from - how can you quote my post and talk about buying beers? - I made no mention of anything like that?

Ahhh, that's it, he's feeling left out.

Sorry to be so transparent,but its a bit difficult for a mere mortal like myself to argue a point with a smart, judicious,sagacious legend like yourself.

I'll get you a pint mate, next time you're over. We can even debate what those things mean, an education for me, you'll make me proud.

[Rag_hater]

A trained monkey could do what Cook(the ledge) did.

And from what perspective do you make that statement RH....have you got any experience of this field? Of operating at a senior level within any major business?

You didn't like Cook, fair enough but I don't think you have the slightest grasp as to what it takes to do that role or why he was so good at it.

He could well have experience of that. It depends what medication the nurse gives him.

Sometimes he has experience of being emperor of France..

Made me laff that thanks.
I think Cook was an intimidating monkey.He made sure that deals and pitch books get done – he interpreted what the MDs and Directors wanted, and ensured that whatever popped out of your analyst’s cubicle resembles it.The analysts probably deserve the credit