Liverpool FC Forum

didnt see this anywhere else, from today's irish independent, might please and interest a few.

Scouser Cook gives Sun red card as he plots Sligo revival


FOOTBALL managers seldom take long to fall out with journalists but few make a point of refusing to speak to a newspaper before they even take the job.


New Sligo Rovers boss Paul Cook must have set some sort of record when he refused to do any interviews with The Irish Sun before it had even written about him.

The 40-year-old Scouser insists it is nothing personal against the journalists in question, but a matter of principle. As a died-in-the-wool Liverpool supporter, Cook simply can't contemplate co-operating with any arm of The Sun.

Most Liverpool fans would not even eat their chips from The Sun due to its coverage of the Hillsborough tragedy in 1989 and Cook will not be deviating from that principle.

"I've been a Liverpool fan all my life and have watched them play many times over the years," he explained. "I knew people who died at Hillsborough and the comments that newspaper made at the time of the tragedy makes it impossible for me to have anything to do with it.

"I'm not trying to be a smart- and it is nothing personal with the people who write for the paper in Ireland now, but in my life I'll always side with Liverpool fans."

Search

Cook was a surprise appointment to the Sligo hotseat after the club's protracted search to find a successor to Rob McDonald, who departed the Showgrounds on the eve of the opening game of the season.

His only managerial stint so far would not offer an enormous endorsement of his qualities as he was sacked by English Conference side Southport earlier this season.

"I've no issue with the fact that I was sacked due to the results we had, but I do have an issue with the things I was promised when I took the job that failed to materialise," he said.

"In hindsight taking the Southport job was the worst decision I've made in football.

"I had been player-coach for three years at Accrington Stanley and that culminated with us winning the Conference and earning our League place last year.

"The manager there gave me the freedom to do things as I saw fit there and we had a successful time. However, I'm a great believer that if you want to be a manager then you have to go out on your own eventually and that's why I went to Southport when the opportunity was presented to me."

Excited

Cook has not taken long to make his mark at the Showgrounds, with an emphatic 4-1 home win over Cork City last Saturday providing the Bit O'Red fans with plenty to get excited about.

After a playing career spanning more than 700 top-class matches, Cook has been around the block long enough not to get carried away by one good result.

"I may be new to Irish football and I know that Cork are one of the best teams here but I know enough about the game to know that we caught them on a good day for us and a bad one for them," he said.

"I've seen Cork, Bohemians, Longford, Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick's Athletic in the three weeks I've been in the job so I'm starting to find out more about the standard.

"Having played in all four divisions in England, as well as non-league football, I'm still working out what level the game here is at.

"I've been impressed with many things I've seen since I came to Sligo and I think it's a lovely part of the world to be in.

"I've signed for two and a half years and I want to produce a team that is competitive.

"If we're producing positive results, then people will come through the turnstiles.

"Hard work is the first requirement. You may not be the most talented player in the world but, if you are prepared to work for your team, you can be an asset. That's what I want my team to be about."