Steve Cook ~ ready to step up?

[whitelion]

I've only seen him in the SSCF on Saturday but picked him out as Man of the Match and notice that Gus Poyet thought the same even though it went to Yasser Kasim.

Haven't seen Dunk or Hall play but Cook looked very assured and comfortable on the ball ~ even though the opposition was not of Championship level, can he step up?

 

[whitelion]

**correction**
Hall may have been in the side Saturday but didn't stand out.

 

[Marshy]

No - not yet

 

[Ninja Elephant]

When then, Marshy? If he's not ready now, he won't get another chance. El-Abd and Elphick are both out, as it stands he has a chance of getting himself in the picture if he can prove he is good enough. If he's not, then does he still need to be here? I'm not sure he's good enough.

 

[Sitch]

The times I've seen him feature he done his job and didn't put a foot wrong, I think he needs to gain a bit more experience and maybe go out on loan to a League 2 club.

 

[Sitch]

When then, Marshy? If he's not ready now, he won't get another chance. El-Abd and Elphick are both out, as it stands he has a chance of getting himself in the picture if he can prove he is good enough. If he's not, then does he still need to be here? I'm not sure he's good enough.

Steve Cooks a right back is he not? It'd be a risk playing him at centre back if he's not use to it, especially at a higher level, I'd love to have seen how Jake Wright would have done because he was very promising IMO.

 

[Marshy]

When then, Marshy? If he's not ready now, he won't get another chance. El-Abd and Elphick are both out, as it stands he has a chance of getting himself in the picture if he can prove he is good enough. If he's not, then does he still need to be here? I'm not sure he's good enough.

Id love him to get a full season on loan in L2 or something, Ive only seen him play at Burgess Hill and he was good.

But to ask him to step up to Championship standard without a first team start is a Very Very big ask.
And for Gus to shove him in would be very very brave indeed, Billy Sharp could put him back a year in his development in an hours football.
Dunk surely is way ahead of him in the pecking order, but a new Central Defender before the season starts is a must for me.

 

[BUTTERBALL]

I'd like to see him given a go now. He caught the eye in that substitute appearance against Man City a few years ago and from what I saw on Saturday, he is definetely ready to take a step up.

 

[whitelion]

The times I've seen him feature he done his job and didn't put a foot wrong, I think he needs to gain a bit more experience and maybe go out on loan to a League 2 club.

He played eight games for Mansfield last year though they were BSP admittedly.

 

[Notters]

I thought Hall looked even better in the Horsham game.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

I agree with both Sitch and Marshy, he needs to be sent out on loan to a football league club to have any chance of making the grade, but I don't see him being good enough to play for us. Even with the experience of playing on loan, I think we'll always have Lewis Dunk who is better and others ahead of him. I've nothing against Cook, I thought he would be the next youth teamer to break into the first team a few years ago but it's not happened because our standards are a lot higher now.

 

[Seagull27]

He's mainly a CB, but can play at RB. At the age of 20, you'd assume that this coming season would be make-or-break in terms of a first team squad place for Brighton. I imagine we'll start to see him on the bench a bit more, but if he doesn't make the grade then I could see him being offloaded to a League 2/League 1 team. It's a difficult time for the youngsters, as not only do they have to make the step up to the first team, but also progress that bit further to keep up with how our first team has improved.

 

[gjh1971]

Cook didnt look out of place at the Man City game either

 

[Spiros]

I thought Cook looked composed and did everything asked of him but the opposition didn't really put him under any pressure. FWIW I agreed with the MOM choice of Kasim as he practically ran the match without really breaking sweat. I'd like to see him against better players.

 

[empire]

seen him play plenty of times,doubt he is ready yet,but will provide good cover in a few years time as he gets older and wiser

 

[HastingsSeagull]

We have lots of players who may be ready to step in at L1 level but not start. We just got promoted though so I feel a L2 starting job on loan would do them a world of good and probably more so than a bench job in L1. No on Brighton first team though unless things get really desperate with injuries.

 

[Biscuit]

Dunk is miles better and will be a quality CB one day. He's better than Elphick already.

 

[Sir Norman Gull]

I thought Hall impressed on Saturday with Cook close behind. Am I the only one that didn't think Kasim had a great game and was surprised at him being picked as MoM?

 

[Jimbo.GRFC]

I've only seen him in the SSCF on Saturday but picked him out as Man of the Match and notice that Gus Poyet thought the same even though it went to Yasser Kasim.

Haven't seen Dunk or Hall play but Cook looked very assured and comfortable on the ball ~ even though the opposition was not of Championship level, can he step up?

Yes definitely, no disrespect to Eastbourne but he stood out as far as I'm concerned. A lot of the set-up play started through him and boy can he play. His passing was exemplary, seemed to win every ball that came near him, either in the air or on the ground. Gets his goal as well, all round performance suggested to me that he should have been man of the match, though not taking anything away from Yasser Kasim. That was pretty much the thoughts of those around us. I think we potentially have a great centre half in the making.

On a final note, you could clearly see that Gus has stamped his style of football into that squad which bodes well for the future

 

[Lord Bamber]

Only seen him a few times, he caught the eye coming on against Man City a few years back so heck why not. Gus knows what he is doing.