When he was at Old Trafford Terry Cooke was generally acknowledged to be David Beckham’s number-one deputy. Whatever his qualities though, Cooke was never going to challenge Beckham and DB’s creativity and free-kick skills. He obviously moved to City via Wrexham and when he arrived at Maine Road he had an instant and positive effect. He is viewed as the man who changed City’s ‘98-9 season for the better. This may be true, but it’s also an incontestable fact that when push came to shove, and City got into the play-offs, Cooke froze and got substituted in two big games. He also fluffed several easy crosses in the Wembley game against Gillingham. This season he’s been left out of the side on a regular basis.

Against average Division 2 defences Cooke was excellent - quick, tricky and clever. He wears the No.11 shirt and he’s played on both the left and the right for City. And what do the fans sing? "TERRY, TERRY, TERRY COOKE”. I like Cooke but I suppose I’m a bit concerned that he didn’t do the business in City’s big games. This disturbs me because in the cut and thrust of Division One he’s going to meet a lot of much better players than he did in Division 2. This all sounds a bit harsh. To balance things up, I must say that in the months after he signed for City Cooke was excellent and a crucial factor in the team’s rise into the play-off zone. In fact I’d say that, together with Nicky Weaver, Cooke was City’s most consistent performer in the second half of last season. RP

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