WHERE WOULD AFCB BE WITHOUT STEVE COOK?

By Tales From The South End - October, 4th 2014

The centre-back’s withdrawal against Cardiff City got us thinking, ‘What we would we do without him?’

He has been a rock at the heart of the Cherries defence.

Our first thought was who would replace him in the centre of defence. The obvious candidate is Elliot Ward, but he is not a viable option at his precise moment in time.

The young pretender is Billy Cargill, but at 19 he is still learning his trade, one for the future, maybe the very near future.

WHO COULD PARTNER TOMMY ELPHICK?

Could Ian Harte, Charlie Daniels, Adam Smith or even Simon Francis fill the role? Unlikely, but if needed would they be a better option than Cargill? We think an inexperienced player playing in his favoured position is as good as an experienced player playing out of position.

Whatever the solution, there in none better than playing Steve Cook in Steve Cook’s position. Does this mean that Eddie Howe needs another central defender? The answer is not a simple yes or no. If you could attract someone of Cook’s calibre, surely they would want to be playing regularly.

STEVE COOK — GOAL MACHINE

Its a stretch of the imagination to call Steve Cook a goal machine, but to go along with his many defensive MOTM performances, he can score a goal, important goals. Remember Barnsley away, Ipswich away and more recently Rotherham at home
Will Steve Cook ever score a better goal than this one against Ipswich last season

Cook is undoubtedly a key member of the squad and whenever he is not playing AFC Bournemouth are a team that are not at their very best. Lets just hope that he follows in the footsteps of his more mature defensive colleague Simon Francis and leave the injuries to others. We need him.