Or; Clarke will have a list of targets and every other club will offer them more money leaving us fighting for the dregs before finally putting the side together 5 days before the season is due to start hoping by some miracle it gels.
Fancy a £50 wager @SamsaraSaddler? 
On you go. Mind you don’t hit the door with ya fat arse on the way out.
Couldn’t agree more with this. It’s irrelevant that we’ve had “better players leave”, none of them from a team relegated to league two with no goals coming from anywhere else in the squad.
We’ve so far signed yet another DM and a defender and sold our only source of goals. Colour me unimpressed.
El Nombre for once I agree with you!
I would also take that bet.
Age and possible potential.
Lazy scouting if you ask me.
How do you define an adequate replacement? Adequate name in paper?
We could sign Harry Kane but what if he only scores 15 goals? (Very extreme but you get my point, hopefully)
By my reckoning, we’ve managed to keep a single source of 15-20 goals ticking over consistently for 7 good years now. Grigg went, Westcarr stepped up, Smith signed Bradshaw, Whitney signed Oztumer, and Keates signed Cook, each of whom effectively replaced their predecessor in terms of goal return.
What has limited us, with the exceptions of Grigg’s breakthrough, and Bradshaw’s second seasons, has been the lack of goals supplemented from elsewhere. When we won L2, our two highest scorers (Butler & Keates), got 10-12 apiece.
One thing I find impressive about those players getting over 15 goals is the fact in the past 15 years, we haven’t had a single player who has had double figures in a season for assists. Luke Leahy and Chris Palmer the ones coming the closest with 9 in a season.
Last person to do so was Paul Merson back in 04, where he had 23 assists.
Individual players scoring goals has always been ok for us, but creating clear cut chances not as much, So if Cook/the rest of our team could have a player who can consistently assist goals, like a fully fit Matt Jarvis, we’d be much better off.
Absolutely. Part of the reason I’m not as despondent about Cook’s departure as might be otherwise reasonable, is how much more invigorated Gordon looked in his role as the lone focal point of our attack.
Looking back on Gordon’s goals last season, there were more than a couple of cracking, instinctive finishes in there. If someone were to say that he may well be a Tom Bradshaw who hasn’t yet found his Romaine Sawyers, it certainly wouldn’t be the craziest thing I’d hear or read today. It’s worth considering that Bradshaw was far from prolific under a couple of Shrewsbury managers, but once he was put in a footballing side, he was immediately off to the races.
A few people have made a point of this. Since our near miss promotion push when we had Grigg, Brandy and Paterson as an attacking 3, we’ve eventually lost our top scorer (Bradshaw and Oztumer stayed for 2 seasons) and they have been replaced. Not like for like, but the goals have been replaced and I’m sure we’ll do so again.
A ‘proven’ scorer probably won’t be signed, due to the cost, but season after season with a whole host of teams players step up and have very good seasons. Who would have thought Bradshaw and Oztumer would have had the type of goal scoring seasons they went on to have. Also look at people like JCH at Bristol Rovers. His goals single handedly kept them in League 1 last season and not many thought he would have scored that amount when signed.
Losing Cook (goals scored) is a blow yes, but wait until we see who is signed first before thinking we’ll be relegated again.
Not fussed at all that he’s gone. I expected it, but for 150k and to a team in our league who will more than likely be a promotion rival? I just think what offer did they originally come in with and how much did we negotiate? I doubt they really came in with much less than 150k?
As for those blaming our fans at Accrington for him leaving, get a grip. I notice it’s mostly those who weren’t even there. They didn’t see that it was fans criticising a woeful performance, with Cook then reacting to that which caused everything.
Could tell he didn’t want to be here anyway, he was here for Keates. As soon as he went he pretty much downed tools too like the rest of them. Good riddance.
I’ll happily take that bet…
Cook will score goals in League 2. But I think it’s testament to his ability, that after getting 18 in League 1 last season for a relegated team, the best he had been able to get is a move to Mansfield.
Which IMO says it all.
We have sold our highest goalscorer. Its a big deal. But we lived with him and will live without.
We need to have faith in Clarke. If we start the disrest before the seasons even began we are in for a world of trouble.
Like others have said its not just the 20 goals where we have a problem.
We have NO creativity. NISHTA. NEIN.
Leahy was the closest we had and he’s gone.
Nobody who looks as if they can make something happen.
That to me, is more of a priority.
Please have faith in the coach. Stuff bonser. But let’s not make the situation we are in any worse by hitting panic buttons and causing drama etc before the season even starts.
Time will tell.
Massive shrug from me. 
More to the club than one fat, moaning bastard.
It will be interesting to see how the fans react when Cook plays against us,and how Cook reacts if he scores against us.
Think the fans will give him plenty of stick and if he scores he’ll antagonize us.
He’ll give it the big man act like he did in most matches last season. He really peed off the opposition fans for no good reason - we don’t like it when opposing players do it to us. I won’t miss that unnecessary hard man act.
Therein lies the big question that we’ve all neglected up to now- do we reckon he’ll moan and remonstrate at Matt Preston, they way he would at Dobson & Kinsella?