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...He gets the ball, etc.

I don't imagine for one moment that I will be alone in saluting Andy Cooke following his departure to Stoke City. So far, some of the things I have seen written about Andy have been a bit begrudging for a player who has shown exceptional loyalty to the club over what has been one of the most traumatic periods in the club's history. His two goals against Plymouth were just the tip of the iceberg, but for me it cannot be emphasised too often the difficulty of producing the goods when the pressure is really on. Those goals were the equivalent of two black ball World Snooker Championship Final Dennis Taylor jobs in one game, and they were an heroic contribution to the history of the club. There are many who bemoan Cooke's lack of goals, but for my money 51 goals from 135 league starts is not a bad return, given that a lot of those goals were scored in a struggling/average team. One only has to look where Plymouth are now to realise what might have been without Cooke's unflagging enthusiasm, selflessness, and above all, courage.

Ironically, Andy found it more difficult to score in a successful side. Nevertheless he was selected above the likes of Ian Wright last season, so this gives an indication that his function in the successful promotion team was not to play as an out and out striker; this was plainly the job of Payton or Wright. Last season saw Cooke make some massive improvements to his all-round game, and he played a full part in the promotion push. For me, his season was perhaps best encapsulated by his header against the Cambridge crossbar (which nearly shattered the frame) only for the ball to bounce down to Payton, waiting at my granny-could-have-scored-that-one distance, to nudge the ball in. The difference between the two players being that Payton has accumulated the experience to find those granny positions, and if the ball is put in the net, it can't bounce back. Payton would also appear to have a virtually indestructible self belief, to the extent that he trusts himself more to score than perhaps one of his colleagues in a better position, who was more often than not Andy Cooke. I suspect that the converse was true, and on occasions perhaps Andy was overawed by Payton and Wright. The outcome is that one of our favourite sons is on his way to a club that has had about five managers in the last four seasons, and is under achieving in a lower Division. Faced with a crowd high on a mixture of expectation and the disillusionment associated with a Board dumb enough to sack Megson, he ought to feel right at home.

On recent performances I felt Andy was good enough to play in Div One. Clearly Rudge at Stoke rates him, and he gave the world Robbie Earle. However, Andy has had the misfortune to be eclipsed by the sudden maturation of Branchy and the rapid transformation of Burnley into a potential top six side, seemingly with the objective of not hanging around too long in this Division. Initially, Andy was partnered by the tubby and fairly useless Phil Gray, but nonetheless he did notch goals against some of the Division's lower lights. At this stage of his career Cooke really needs to play regular first team football, or risk disappearing into the Pontin's twilight world and drifting into a form of Creaneyesque comfortable semi retirement, and becoming Andy Who?

Being pitched into a side that has just been lamped 8-0 at home and conceded three at home to Luton cannot be everyone's idea of a fun job. However, I am sure Andy will show his usual quota of guts and determination to make his mark. I note that Peter Thorne notched a hat trick for Stoke at an away venue, so it's working already. Cookey was a real team player and unfortunately for him his selflessness often worked to his own detriment.

All the Best Andy, thanks for all your efforts, including getting kicked, elbowed and battered black and blue on our behalf. To many of us, you will always be a true Claret, even though it turns out you are a Stoke fan.

UTC.

Igor Wowk
January 2001

Links - Firmo's view on Andy Cooke and John Pepper's tribute