Cook Signs

Luton Town striker/midfielder 2 year deal!

https://twitter.com/officialgtfc/status/1010161299211333633

Seems to have a good pedigree. Youngster at premier league level.
Scored 8 in 66 at league one Walsall before 3 in 45 for Luton.
Been played as a midfielder but wonder if he's seen by Jolley as a midfielder or striker.

Sent off against us in their game here! Dont really know much about him other than that! Snuck under the radar that one!!

Their fans seem to think he’s shite, though he must have something about him if the manager likes him.

Quoted from davmariner

though he must have something about him if the manager likes him.

Would we apply that to Nathan Clarke or any of Slade's guys though?

”

Strikers
“Jordan Cook was fantastic for 82 minutes against Scunthorpe and was then brought on for the rest of the game”, “Ouch.” Hatters have been withering in the criticism of the 27-year-old former Walsall man. “He may as well pack his bags and go”, “The bloke is a waste of a wage and a squad number.”

“Cook is average. He wins a lot of freekicks but his overall play is too slow, lacks a cutting edge”, “He goes to ground too easily and takes too much thinking time. Counter-attacks wither at his feet”, “It’s almost like there is an exclusion zone around him, he is running a lot but having no effect on play.”

big contrast with the manager's thoughts. maybe he just didn't fit in with the style of play?

Quoted from Stew0_0

Seems to have a good pedigree. Youngster at premier league level.
Scored 8 in 66 at league one Walsall before 3 in 45 for Luton.
Been played as a midfielder but wonder if he's seen by Jolley as a midfielder or striker.

That’s not much of a scoring record either from midfield or as striker. Jolley must have a position in mind but I can’t see him being our main striker. At the very least he would have to rapidly improve his stats a lot to justify being selected up front. Happy to reserve judgement for now but we did see an awful lot of non-striking strikers last year.

Quoted from Kris2

Would we apply that to Nathan Clarke or any of Slade's guys though?

Difference is, is that the Luton manager actually has something about him and has actually won a promotion... unlike Slade.

Quoted from davmariner

Difference is, is that the Luton manager actually has something about him and has actually won a promotion... unlike Slade.

and to be absolutely fair and accurate, unlike Jolley

According to that article he never gained any continuity due to be played in multiple positions i think he will be our no.10

Wonder what formation we're going to play. I don't think that he'll be our out and out number 9, I'd be concerned if he was given his scoring record. And if we play 4-2-3-1 like we did towards the end of the season I wonder where him and Whitehouse will both fit in as they'll be vying for the advanced midfielder position. Still, probably a better position to be in than we were last season.

I wouldn’t read too much into the comments, just look at lincoln with Jon Nolan and recently Whitehouse. Till he signed for us he was quality and overnight became a useful squad player.

Welcome aboard, work hard and you’ll fit in.

Not really overwhelmed by this one, only played 10 times in Luton’s promotion season, but on the other hand he’s played in the Premier League albeit 7 years ago, saw Championship action with Charlton and has played over 100 games for Walsall and Luton so he must have something about him. I’d be shocked if he’s played as a forward but we’ll see.

How many other underwhelming signings have gone on to do the bizz in recent years ?

LJL, Alex Rodman, Jon Nolan to name but a few

And how many overwhelming signings went on to do poor?

Christian Jolley, Richard Brodie... list goes on

In MJ we trust

Welcome Jordan !

Stats don’t read for interesting measures but let’s give him a chance to prove his worth. Welcome to the club!

Would have thought we would not be giving 2 year deals to anyone who wasn't a decent player proven in a certain position on the field.

Sounds like a big gamble to me

Hope he's not another Kelly.

2 year deal probably because of the policy about moving to the area.

Apparently he's a busy type of player with plenty of energy.  He might be tge attacking midfielder we've been asking for although agree stats arent great but I'll wait until his 2nd year as not all players settle in their first year.  Like Summers etc.

Hope it’s not a panic buy but good luck to the lad anyway.

How could it be a panic buy? It's the 22nd of June!

He says on the ifollow interview that MJ has brought him in as a forward not a midfielder

Welcome Jordan.

From what his former manager says he's a footballing type player, I look forward to that.

My recollection of his performance at BP was that he was extremely lucky to have been sent off for his first tackle for which he got the first yellow and he was pretty stupid to then commit a similar offence shortly after.

Have some confidence in MJ but on paper not with this particular signing but to repeat my comments on other signings games are not played on paper so will judge him on his playing performances not his stats or other fans comments. Scott Brown was supposed to best midfielder in Conference but not for town and like many other members of that team is in League 1 so players perform at different times, for different teams and managers for different reasons, it’s a funny old game Saint!

I have always thought Cook was a decent player to be fair always looked dangerous for Luton was glad he got sent off back in January.

I think this lad will do well in a central number 10 the lads also a Northerner aswell maybe he couldn't settle down south.

Good signing by Jolley.

Connell - Amond, scorers out of the blue having poor records previously, so give the guy a chance to settle in and we will see where he plays and how he contributes !!

Welcome - don't worry, most will judge on performance and 100% effort on the pitch !

He said in his interview that he is very fast and not many out jump him so Matt Tees mark 2 ?

So he’s a cross between Michael Reddy And Lump? We’ve had a few of those in the past, though with Lump’s pace!

I get the sneaky impression he'll have the same if not similar roll as Hooper, start out wide when we are defending but cut inside on the attack and catch the defense out of position.

.
Scott brown wasn't exactly loved here, but guess what ? He was a mainstay for the div 2 champions
Any away back to cook.nathan Jones who's an excellent coach and good judge of players thinks he was the most talented player in what, I think most of us agree, was a supremely talented Luton team.
However never got a settled position and didn't ever shine.my ltfc season ticket holder mate says that if we can bring out the talent jones believed he had, then we could have a real gem on our hands

Quoted from Gainsbro_Mariner

Not really overwhelmed by this one, only played 10 times in Luton’s promotion season, but on the other hand he’s played in the Premier League albeit 7 years ago, saw Championship action with Charlton and has played over 100 games for Walsall and Luton so he must have something about him. I’d be shocked if he’s played as a forward but we’ll see.

How many other underwhelming signings have gone on to do the bizz in recent years ?

He's played in the Premier League and Championship, with 88 games in League 1 and then played for the team that were in my opinion the best in League 2 last season and you're underwhelmed?

Anyone else remembering Alan Connell?Certain parallels

Quoted from forza ivano

Anyone else remembering Alan Connelly? Certain parallels

Never heard of him

Quoted from Abdul19

Never heard of him

You're too quick Abdul! Couldn't edit it in time

Nathan Jones "There isn't a better footballer at the club"

That's enough for me!

It's very clear that MJ us building a squad full of energy to play to his ethos of pressing high and not giving the opposition a moments peace on the ball!

Dembele certainly didn't fit into that category of player - he blows and becomes ineffectual after 60 minutes!

Welcome to the revolution Jordan.

#UTM

Good signing much better than those he replaces regardless of if he play up front or attacking mid.

Well done Town - an upgrade!  

I reckon an upgrade too - my Luton supporting mate rates him as a good footballer, but reckons he needs to improve his decision making/address needless yellow or red cards. His view not mine.
Under MJ he could be a treasure.

From the Fishy news site

https://thefishy.co.uk/story.php?id=8503373:

Luton fan "Keith", was less than enthusiastic about his team's former player. He told the Fishy: "Cook was a complete waste of space for us. Why on earth have you signed him? He isn't a striker. He's a midfielder who goes missing. Our manager Jones said he was the most skilful player on the training pitch but we never, never saw that in a match. Jones gave him every chance and he failed every time. It hasn't hit our message board (http://members.boardhost.com/lutonoutlaws) yet, but watch for their comments.

"Best of luck for next season. You look as though you are amassing a good squad bar Cook. Manager looks good too. You deserve it after last season. Shame we won't see you with us in League One the season after next (as we'll be in the Championship)."

In his short time as manager of the club, Jolley has shown he has the knack of getting the best out of players.

Look at how Woolford and Hooper's form turned around!

I think Jones falls into the same category. There's clearly a talented player in there and obviously Jolley backs himself to get it out of him.

I'll back that. Jolley's done enough to earn my trust.

Just wondered how the move came about. Wouldn't be surprised to hear that mj and Jones know each other from the coaching circuit .doesnt seem to be any connection between cook and anyone in the gtfc set up

[img]https://img.etsystatic.com/il/9ff8bf/729596429/il_570xN.729596429_oxsw.jpg?version=0[/img]

Don't you think it's better to wait and see regarding these new signings, heaping praise on them before kicking a ball is plain daft.

Quoted from GrimRob

From the Fishy news site

https://thefishy.co.uk/story.php?id=8503373:

Luton fan "Keith", was less than enthusiastic about his team's former player. He told the Fishy: "Cook was a complete waste of space for us. Why on earth have you signed him? He isn't a striker. He's a midfielder who goes missing. Our manager Jones said he was the most skilful player on the training pitch but we never, never saw that in a match. Jones gave him every chance and he failed every time. It hasn't hit our message board (http://members.boardhost.com/lutonoutlaws) yet, but watch for their comments.

"Best of luck for next season. You look as though you are amassing a good squad bar Cook. Manager looks good too. You deserve it after last season. Shame we won't see you with us in League One the season after next (as we'll be in the Championship)."

Rather than taking as gospel, something that 'Keith' says, how about a quote from his former manager:-

Luton manager Nathan Jones said: “People have to realise is Jordan came here as a striker or a number ten, and to be fair, because of how good a footballer he is and how good an athlete he is, we played him pretty much through the diamond.

“How he was in training, I can assure you there’s not a better footballer at our club and he added to everything, as the way we train, the way we develop, we need a good environment, Jordan added to that.

“Yes, he could have shown more in terms of when he did get his chance in the position, but to be fair to him, we had ones who we preferred in the striking positions, so then we always found a position for Jordan and he never found any continuity and that at times wasn’t his fault.”

What I like most about this signing and all other signings so far is we are getting business done early ready for pre season. I don’t know much about any of the signings made but I never do, I will reserve my judgement until they’ve played a number of games in a Town shirt. I just feel the last few seasons we’ve been scratching around right at the end of the summer trying to fill the gaps within the squad. So looking forward to the season kicking off!

Seems to me that the manager is looking for certain players to slot into his mindset of a young strong minded team rather than going for the obvious.
Time will be the judge, to me it's a refreshing approach

Not for one moment getting carried away here, but remember how Buckley used to sign players that no one had heard of, cast offs from other clubs, because he knew they could play a certain role in a certain way, and could form part of a cohesive unit?

That.

Quoted from 123614

Rather than taking as gospel, something that 'Keith' says, how about a quote from his former manager:-

Luton manager Nathan Jones said: “People have to realise is Jordan came here as a striker or a number ten, and to be fair, because of how good a footballer he is and how good an athlete he is, we played him pretty much through the diamond.

“How he was in training, I can assure you there’s not a better footballer at our club and he added to everything, as the way we train, the way we develop, we need a good environment, Jordan added to that.

“Yes, he could have shown more in terms of when he did get his chance in the position, but to be fair to him, we had ones who we preferred in the striking positions, so then we always found a position for Jordan and he never found any continuity and that at times wasn’t his fault.”

You don't usually get a former manager coming on and saying I'm sorry but I signed a excrement player.

Quoted from cannylad68

Don't you think it's better to wait and see regarding these new signings, heaping praise on them before kicking a ball is plain daft.

I fully agree, that's why I rarely come on and post comments such has he's a great signing or he is a fantastic manager.

Let's wait and see how we do.

I wonder whether he might spend some of the budget on Jason gilchrist who he had at burnley and who has been scoring goals for fun with fcum and southport.plus either Simeon Jackson or a forward of similar experience and ability

just listened to his interview and got the impression that he's very rarely been played in his preferred position, which must be very frustrating. sounds like mj is going to give him a chance to play up front, which is why he decided to come.presumably that means we will be needing a big old lump for him to play off. someone like The Shop maybe?

Quoted from chaos33

I reckon an upgrade too - my Luton supporting mate rates him as a good footballer, but reckons he needs to improve his decision making/address needless yellow or red cards. His view not mine.
Under MJ he could be a treasure.

With strikers who like to get yellow and red cards and midfielders who "Like to get stuck in" i sense we wont see many games where we finish games with 11 players