9:30am Sunday 21st March 2010
By Marc Iles
TAMIR Cohen is at a loss to explain exactly why his fortunes have turned on their head at the Reebok this season.
In less than 12 months, the Israel international has transformed from a seemingly-unwanted fringe player struggling with injuries under Gary Megson’s tutelage into a vital cog in Owen Coyle’s midfield.
And as he heads to Goodison Park this afternoon very much part of the first team furniture — with his lucky Israeli shekel tucked firmly down his sock — the 26-year-old reckons he is proof positive that any of the peripheral squad players at Wanderers can still enjoy a bright future at the club.
“Any game that I didn’t play or I wasn’t selected, I would go home and be so angry, I didn’t know what to do with myself,” he said.
“And I’ll be honest, I don’t know where it all changed for me.
“Gary Megson did not pick me for the first two games of this season but I kept myself in a good condition to make sure when I got my chance I could do it.
“For my luck, and thanks to God up in the sky, I got the opportunity to score against Liverpool, then got a second, and then a third.
“I was the top scorer in the team for a couple of weeks and had never done that before.
“For any player who isn’t playing at the moment, or even those who only get a game once in a while like I did, I think I am a good example of how things change.
“I went from not playing in the team to being the top scorer in the team for a while.”
Cohen was restricted to just four appearances last season because of a thigh injury and admits his time on the sidelines made him feel less a part of the first team squad.
Several other players have also reported feeling marginalised when they found themselves out of Megson’s selection plans — although Cohen reckons Coyle’s more inclusive approach has made for a better environment around Euxton.
“It has happened with me and that’s why I can understand it,” he said. “The mood in training and on the pitch is so much better than it was before.
“Any player who isn’t in the squad will be a bit angry but the manager has brought everyone back into training, and done it at a higher level.
“Even if you are not playing you feel part of it, and that’s very, very important.
“Everyone is now giving 100 per cent. I can tell you now, I have never seen the players so happy to train and play.
“We train with a smile, and with happiness, because the players are feeling comfortable in what they are doing.”
The goals that cemented Cohen’s place in the first team under Megson at the start of the season have since dried up, and the player snapped up from Maccabi Netanya for just £37,500 a little over two years ago admits it’s time he rediscovered his scoring touch.
“I still wear my lucky Israeli shekel in every game,” he said. “I need it to start working now, because I haven’t scored for a while.
“Last Saturday against Wigan I was playing like a striker, trying to get one, but it didn’t work out for me.
“I wanted to take the penalty, which I won, but Davo is the skipper and he took the ball. What can you do?”
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