Cook's blunder unfortunate but perspective needed

Executive Chairman Garry Cook's latest verbal ricket seems to have offended some supporters more than others; a few outraged to the point of sounding like their heads are about to explode, others deeming it unfortunate, a few really not that mithred. I personally think there has been an overreaction to the incident, though at the same time think that Garry needs to start taking a bit more care when faced with an audience, be it of fans, cameramen, or when speaking to the elements of the press that we haven't come to have fractured relations with over the past few months.

I consider Cook to be a vital asset to Manchester City. I can only speak from personal experience, but as things stand i feel closer to the club i love than at any point previously. Of course, having the resources we do now it will always be easier to invest in key areas, and by all accounts he has a young and vibrant team working under him behind the scenes, but i think he's identified ways to lessen barriers between us fans and the club itself, and for the first time in a long while we appear to have some say in those decisions that effect us most.

Ultimately, what happens on the pitch is most important, but as supporters things like the vastly improved kits, the internal rebranding of the concourses at Eastlands, regular fans forums, a new ticket office and re-designed shop, the more visible presence of ex-pro's at games, an all-singing website, enthusiastic media and marketing departments, the improvements at Carrington and Mike Summerbee's new role at the club would have to be considered positive moves. These are all things that Cook has overseen.

For all he's done at the club then, and there's much more than just those listed above; lucrative new sponsorship deals for instance, i think we can forgive him the odd case of verbal diarrhea. Not that i'm implying fans shouldn't be annoyed, but we as humans are prone to error, and whilst someone whose job is to forward the reputation of a multi-million pound business (and that's what football clubs are nowadays) might be expected to make less than most, these things will still occasionally happen.

The first person i felt for on hearing the news was Uwe himself, a modern icon of the club certainly deserves to not find himself in such a situation, and we hope that future player inductions into the Hall of Fame run smoother. Those fans at the OSC knees-up, too, some of whom will be the most loyal amongst our ranks, are correct to be let down at the club looking so unprofessional. At the same time, boos continuing through Uwe's speech and people getting overly animated can't have helped.

In a way, the most inappropriate of slips has probably grown into a bigger talking point than it needed to be amongst fans by Cook's reaction, or more so lack of one. On realising his faux-pas he could have quite easily corrected himself and apologised whilst trying to keep his sense of humour about the incident. By not doing it sounds like he's only annoyed those in attendance further.

Talk of the slip having any impact on Garry's role at the club, however, strikes me as being extremely silly. People point to his previous cases of foot-in-mouth, the only one of which i'd personally consider even remotely offensive being those regards ex-owner and exiled former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra. Others include accusing footballing superpower AC Milan of 'bottling it' over the Kaka bid, early criticisms of the Premier League format, and comments to supporters at a recent barbecue. All of which, and others, could at worst be considered naive.

Over the last few months, and after some lashings in the dailies, most notoriously from the Guardian's Marina Hyde, Cook had seemed to be doing an excellent job of keeping a relatively low profile, certainly as far as the national media go. The managerial gobbledygook had quelled, and recently he's even attracted praise from some of the same hacks who'd slated him previously. Given that, it's disappointing he should put his foot in it once more, but no more than that.

Saying all this, people are right in suggesting that those who hold or have held similar positions at clubs we hope to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with in the future wouldn't, or at least haven't, made similar errors. It's pretty unthinkable that David Gill would ever drop clangers as such, and the same could likely have been said for Rick Parry when at Liverpool, or David Dein, formerly of Arsenal.

Cook, and anyone who acts as part of the face of the club, has a responsibility to make it look as professional as possible, especially when we're trying to grow so rapidly both on the pitch and off it, here and abroad, so with that in mind he might want to watch his tongue a bit in the future. What i am absolutely sure about, however, is that the club is making huge strides forward under him, and whilst he might not be the most suited to the public speaking side of things, i'd rather him be here than elsewhere.