So this week has seen a surprise (well for some) that Steve Cotterill has emerged favourite to the newly vacant Nottingham Forest job, this was after former England manager Steve McClaren resigned.
Now I want to point out I'm not a anti-Cotterill person, I will support him as manager, I feel only his tactics let him down from time to time, I mean standing off players only invites danger!
But hearing he has been picked for the Forest job comes as no surprise to me to be honest, I mean what is not to like about a man who made a team of 16/17 players last season with no money to buy anyone, contract issues, possibility of your job going because the club is liquidated for two months. He has to be commended by all Pompey fans for that, I mean in that time he sold Marc Wilson to Stoke and got Kitson and Lawrence in plus cash which was fantastic, then Halford, De Laet, Jonathan Hogg, Ibrahima 'I can't kick a ball straight' Sonko, all on loan. He nurtured players and developed them into good players such as Joel Ward getting bulkier and stronger, sorting out Ben Haim after his poor West Ham loan this season. I mean his man management skills are pretty good and he does get some good performances out of players who some fans thought were only dead and buried.
Cotterill also handled the Richard Hughes and Michael Brown saga well, as to be fair it was out of his control as well as the boards, decisions made well before they even took to office! Despite loosing two important players he still stood strong and pushed forward to which we went on a 6 match winning streak without conceeding a goal! Which was fantastic to listen to while I was at university last year!
One downside is that he is reluctant to use youth players if he is a bit tight for players, I mean we could of filled the bench with youth players such as Magri, Ritchie and Ciftci for a good part of the season but eventually they were not needed, Ritchie packed off to Swindon and is thriving there! (Hope we have some form of sell on clause on that).
I'm not too sure what to say on the scouting front though, he has brought in a mix of players which haven't really had a chance to shine in a game yet. Erik Huseklepp, Jason Pearce, Greg Halford, Steven Henderson and Luke Varney are the best signings so far, showing they have the passion to push the club forward. Huseklepp is the pick of the bunch, I feel we haven't been able to see his talents yet, maybe it's because he's new to the squad and will need time to get familiar to the English game, but his footwork and pace will be good for the team!
So I finish by saying IF Cotterill goes to Forest I wish him all the best, he is a good manager with a good respect for his players and would rather take the flak then his players, and that is good loyalty. But his tactics are somewhat suspect, might be the players not warming to the tactics....who knows.
But time will tell whether his proposed move to Nottingham pays off, and if it does will the Anti-Cotterill brigade start ruing their hatred towards him?
To whom would replace him? I've had a brief discussion with friends about it and names like Alan Curbishley, Lawrie Sanchez and a fanciful Martin O'Neil are all but a few of the names suggested!
