Heavy home defeat to Oldham Athletic 'not a shock', says Paul Cook
‘Massively disappointed’ Paul Cook says Chesterfield’s heavy home loss to Oldham Athletic was ‘not a shock’ and that this team is the ‘most difficult’ he has had to manage because of their inconsistency.
The Spireites once again failed to back up a great win at Notts County on Saturday, losing 3-0 at home to Oldham Athletic in a game they were totally dominated and well-beaten.
Successive wins have been rare this season and it is one of the reasons why they have a fight on their hands to finish in the play-offs and are not challenging for the top three.
Cook told the DT: “Our fans are fully entitled to be agitated and angry. Even I think for them, at some point they will probably think, it is not a shock. That is how I feel. It is not a shock, that is the biggest worry for me. I have managed a lot of teams and these are by far the most difficult group I have ever managed because one minute they are ‘there’ and one minute they are ‘there.’ My teams have always been consistent with a style but this team is consistently inconsistent and that is a real problem. I am massively disappointed.
“I have just said to the players I am not speaking to them tonight, I said I will see you first thing in the morning. There is still so much to play for in the season but yet we can go from Saturday to tonight. We can go from a 3-0 win against Colchester to Shrewsbury (3-2 defeat). And they have done it all season haven’t they so it is on me. One hundred per cent it is on me. But the season is not over, there is a lot to play for and it is my job to sort it out.”
Cook made three changes to the side which beat Notts County 3-2 at the weekend, replacing two of the back four, with Dylan Duffy coming in for the injured Tom Pearce at left-back and Kyle McFadzean dropping to the bench for Chey Dunkley. Both Duffy and Dunkley had difficult moments for Oldham’s first two goals and were taken off at half-time.
When questioned about his team selection, Cook said: “You toy about it. Obviously Tom Pearce was out injured and if I did play Malik then the reality is Malik is a ‘stay at home’ left-back. He is a centre-half and Dobs needs someone on the outside just to open that width for Dobs. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. You pick the team because you think it is right. I will always stand on my decisions.”
A double from Kane Drummond, and another from Mike Fondop, both former Spireites, sealed a deserved victory for the Latics, who have play-off hopes of their own. Chesterfield gave away poor goals, could not keep possession, failed to create much and lacked energy.
“We didn’t have any answers,” Cook said. “We didn’t have any outlets. We lacked physically at the top end of the pitch. The players struggled for confidence on the pitch and that is not a good vibe from us. Well done to Oldham but wow, we were a million miles off it.
“I think you have got to say well done to Oldham, who were thoroughly the better team on the pitch. Oldham were excellent from start to finish. They came with a very aggressive style to press us all over the pitch. A great night for Oldham but one of the poorest ones I have had since I have come back.”
A late winner for Grimsby Town meant Chesterfield dropped out of the play-offs ahead of Saturday’s trip to Accrington Stanley.