Bitter rival managers are usually few and far between. Whilst lots gets said during a season, when the finale has been reached it’s usually accepted that the winners receive some form of praise.
After securing promotion to League One, rival managers would surely have had some positive things to say about Lincoln. Michael Duff did ahead of the game at the weekend and Steven Pressley has confessed his side face a huge challenge. The respect given to ones peers after winning something is surely expected.
Not with Mark Cooper.
This site and Mark Cooper are not friends, but after our sixth straight victory over him earlier in the season, I tried to see the nice side of him. He wasn’t too bitter and paid credit to us begrudgingly, but in front of his own supporters last night he was in no mood to be congratulatory to the promoted Imps.
There’s been a quote doing the rounds this morning that has got a lot of attention. He was asked who would ‘win’ Game of Thrones, the popular TV show back for an eighth and final series this week.
Sat next to what looked like one of the White Walkers, he replied; “Probably the Cowley brothers.”
Would you like some fries with that salt mate?
That alone wouldn’t have been enough for an article, not as it’s done the rounds so often already, but having listened to the rest of the forum, another piece of anti-Lincoln rhetoric had me spitting my Frosted Shreddies down the front of my Rumjacks T-Shirt. He was talking about hard work and referenced Danny’s recent article that four of our players have run over a million metres this season.
“I saw in an article that Lincoln had four players that have run over a million metres. We’ve got five.”
There you go. Mark Cooper, a man who simply has to have the final word. Got four players who’ve run a million metres? We’ve got five. Your chairman got a personal fortune of £40m? His will have £41m. Your manhood six inches? His is six and a quarter.
Finished in the top three, secured League One football and ultimately won more trophies in three years than Cooper has in his entire career as both a player and a manager? Well, you haven’t done it the right way.
I suppose the only saving grace is knowing that of the five players who have run one million metres for Forest Green this season, all of them probably racked up a large portion of that by travelling between the dressing rooms as Cooper asked ‘who’s with me and who isn’t?’ time and again.
I won’t miss Mark Cooper. Not one bit. Mind you, at least we get to colour in three of our mythical stars now, with three trophies in as many years. They’ve still got two grey ones and another celebrating a play-off win……
Was it derogatory? Could easily be seen as begrudging recognition. Either way, who cares.
I took it that way as well
That’s how I read it too Tim. He is almost accepting that right now the Cowleys can do no wrong and as the old saying goes if he dropped into a bag of poo he would come out smelling of roses.
Alan Partridge : I’ve probably got more friends than you have got cows.
Peter Baxendale-Thomas :This is ridiculous.
AP : How many cows have you got?
PB : I’ve got a hundred cows.
AP : I’ve got a hundred and four friends…..