Steve Cotterill - Long Term Manager?

[Bedminster Born And Red]

[Aizoon]

With the relief of finishing 12th, and laughing at the gas ,there are a few on here getting ahead of themselves. Most of the players that actually got us out of the mire will be going back to the parent clubs, out of contract or subject of sufficiently high bids that we will sell. That will leave us needing quality experienced players in key positions and, most likely a whole new strike force. The good news is that the younger players should be a lot tougher, both mentally and physically. I don't see that many players going in and out this summer, compared to the last two, but those that come in will be really important and have to be got right.

 

But none of this will matter until the 'suits' at the club get their act together and start running it as a top end professional club, and not a village cricket team.

 

I am hoping for a lot better next season, but expecting  much the same as we have just had.

 

Excellent analysis. As I've pointed out elsewhere, this is the worst season ever for Bristol football, at least since WWII. Describing ourselves as "better than the Gas" is like describing Blackthorn as "better than Strongbow".

[...]

......... or 'a badger is better than a hedgehog'?

 

 

You just CANNOT compare the two!!!

 

[Aizoon]

......... or 'a badger is better than a hedgehog'?

 

 

You just CANNOT compare the two!!!

 

 

Run! Run for the hills! That makes absolutely no sense...

[Ian M]

I know many fans on here hate SoD for the results he got us...but the one thing I do miss, is the connection he had with the fans and the way he was willing to talk football... I do really miss that...it was refreshing. If you are 'into' your football and it's finer points it was nice to hear and he gave up a lot of time to fans who wanted to listen.

I'm fed up with football manager talk. No disrespect to SC...99% of them talk the same way.

I just hope this manager gets us some stability and Championship football.

If we could have that for the next ten years, I'd put up with anything he says and snap his hand off.

If you get the opportunity to chat to SC at one of the public events he attends (annual meetings, fans parliaments etc) you'll find him talking animatedly about football with great passion and using glasses, jugs, people or whatever is to hand as props to get his point across. You'll find he's more cultured than he gets credited for.

[bristolcitysweden]

Hopefully, but I doubt it very much, the club got a long term plan for Carlos Anton.  

[spudski]

If you get the opportunity to chat to SC at one of the public events he attends (annual meetings, fans parliaments etc) you'll find him talking animatedly about football with great passion and using glasses, jugs, people or whatever is to hand as props to get his point across. You'll find he's more cultured than he gets credited for.

I'm just waiting for someone to annoy him, and they get his legendary 'home visit'    

[Ian M]

I'm just waiting for someone to annoy him, and they get his legendary 'home visit'

Then you could count that as engaging with the fans?

[Ian M]

Hopefully, but I doubt it very much, the club got a long term plan for Carlos Anton.

Other than to produce high quality players for the first team through the Academy you mean?

[bristolcitysweden]

Other than to produce high quality players for the first team through the Academy you mean?

Mind the topic

[Squire Dastardly]

Far too early to say. He has proved that he can motivate players who under McInnes and SOD were running around with their arses in their hands. Great, he has done an excellent job in the latter part of this season not least in the way he has obtained some very handy loanees.

 

BUT, if things go well at the start of next season and we are there or thereabouts at Christmas, will he be the kind of manager who can push on and achieve even better things?

 

For me, the jury is out and he still has plenty to prove relative to this club's ambitions.

[ten minutes of rough]

Can't see him going anywhere anytime soon, he still young and ambitious and has shed loads of experience, add to that he does talk like we does, so Cotts is a Sh1t Head.  

[Chappers]

It's not just going up, we need to go up with the nucleus of a squad that can compete at Championship level. Best to just be patient rather than look for instant success, followed by struggle in the higher level.

[GodEmperor Palpatine]

what connection? he treat all like idiots, in fact he was probably the most disconnected manager we've ever had in my life time

 

No he didn't at all... Wow

[Esmond Million's Bung]

I know many fans on here hate SoD for the results he got us...but the one thing I do miss, is the connection he had with the fans and the way he was willing to talk football... I do really miss that...it was refreshing. If you are 'into' your football and it's finer points it was nice to hear and he gave up a lot of time to fans who wanted to listen.

 

I'm fed up with football manager talk. No disrespect to SC...99% of them talk the same way.

 

I just hope this manager gets us some stability and Championship football.

 

If we could have that for the next ten years, I'd put up with anything he says and snap his hand off.I spent some time today going over his post match interviews, opening match of the season against Bradford upbeat and audible

 

I spent some time today going over this seasons post match interviews.

 

opening game against Bradford upbeat, audible and hopeful.

 

Coventry he seemed shell shocked and the interview just never flowed, it was as if he could see the start of a long hard season if that midfield/defensive display was anything to go by (but to be fair who wouldn't after a 5-4 game).

 

MK Dons on reflection is a worrying departure for me, he more or less admitted that he set up for point but still appeared unhappy.

 

Rovers the less said about that pathetic diatribe the better for me he is beginning to lose the plot.

 

Right up to the Wycombe defeat his interviews are getting worse and quieter and more difficult to understand more digs at the fans, the Wycombe interview I think he is angry but it's difficult to tell to be honest.

 

From that moment on even more quiet, punctuated by lots of sniffing, sighing and exasperation at having to do the interviews in the first place and made worse because he never had the answers and was beginning to see things in games that very few other people obviously could.

 

Now i'm no psychiatrist but I suspect they would have a field day analysing that lot.

 

You might believe he had a connection with the fans, i'm sorry mate it just did not come over in any of his interviews in the slightest, any guy with 47 years in the game who has to ask how the fans want him to interact before, during and after games just does not have a connection with the fans.

 

Some times old well used adages still have a place in the world at large and even in football and the one 'football is a simple game' comes to mind when it comes to SOD's tenure at BCFC, I for one believe he tried to change everything from day one at the club and the over complication was too much to soon especially for a young evolving squad, who clearly couldn't take everything in so fast, I think it needed to be gradual and writing the programme notes is ok, just keep him away from recorded interviews because they will eventually turn into dirges.

[spudski]

I spent some time today going over this seasons post match interviews.

 

opening game against Bradford upbeat, audible and hopeful.

 

Coventry he seemed shell shocked and the interview just never flowed, it was as if he could see the start of a long hard season if that midfield/defensive display was anything to go by (but to be fair who wouldn't after a 5-4 game).

 

MK Dons on reflection is a worrying departure for me, he more or less admitted that he set up for point but still appeared unhappy.

 

Rovers the less said about that pathetic diatribe the better for me he is beginning to lose the plot.

 

Right up to the Wycombe defeat his interviews are getting worse and quieter and more difficult to understand more digs at the fans, the Wycombe interview I think he is angry but it's difficult to tell to be honest.

 

From that moment on even more quiet, punctuated by lots of sniffing, sighing and exasperation at having to do the interviews in the first place and made worse because he never had the answers and was beginning to see things in games that very few other people obviously could.

 

Now i'm no psychiatrist but I suspect they would have a field day analysing that lot.

 

You might believe he had a connection with the fans, i'm sorry mate it just did not come over in any of his interviews in the slightest, any guy with 47 years in the game who has to ask how the fans want him to interact before, during and after games just does not have a connection with the fans.

 

Some times old well used adages still have a place in the world at large and even in football and the one 'football is a simple game' comes to mind when it comes to SOD's tenure at BCFC, I for one believe he tried to change everything from day one at the club and the over complication was too much to soon especially for a young evolving squad, who clearly couldn't take everything in so fast, I think it needed to be gradual and writing the programme notes is ok, just keep him away from recorded interviews because they will eventually turn into dirges.

I agree to an extent mate...I think he was trying to do too much. Pressure got to him. Plus no one likes doing interviews straight after a game. I think that's why many stick to the same old adages.

 

Get him away from the aftermath of a game and he was quiet engaging...well at least I found him to be and a few others I know.

 

I think he was marmite...you either loved him or hated him.

[Aizoon]

I know many fans on here hate SoD for the results he got us...but the one thing I do miss, is the connection he had with the fans and the way he was willing to talk football... I do really miss that...it was refreshing. If you are 'into' your football and it's finer points it was nice to hear and he gave up a lot of time to fans who wanted to listen.

 

I'm fed up with football manager talk. No disrespect to SC...99% of them talk the same way.

 

I just hope this manager gets us some stability and Championship football.

 

If we could have that for the next ten years, I'd put up with anything he says and snap his hand off.

 

I tend to disagree. If you strip out the Ron Manager stuff, Cotterill talks a lot of sense post-match, particularly when he's had a few minutes to get his thoughts together. Never confuse the style with the content. Arm-waving and sniffling are irrelevant - it's what the man says that matters.

[Drew Peacock]

When SC was appointed i was not alone in being sceptical about his appointment. Having said that, I think he has done a fantastic job in bringing some experienced heads in, changing the mind sets of the players, imporoving them and ultimately turning our season around. Our form in recent months has been fantastic and to finish the season towards the top of the form table is very promising for next year.

However, I wanted to see how of fellow City fans now felt about SC and whether or not you viewed him as a long term manager for our club? By this I mean someone in the mould of Gary Johnson who might be the person to take us back up and develop us over a few years.

I'm still undecided as to whether I view him in that way. What do you think?

 

I think we all believed MacInnes was going to be the long term manager after he kept us up the season he joined.

 

Look how that turned out.

 

Anyway, clubs very, very rarely have a long term manager.

[Superjack]

Unlike most I was all for Cotterill's appointment... I thought that he would be a good fit.

The two things that I knew were that he was passionate and wouldn't suffer 'big time charlies'.

Long term?... I don't know... but I'd put more money on it with Cotterill than with any City manager for quite a while...

[WTFiGO!?!]

If you get the opportunity to chat to SC at one of the public events he attends (annual meetings, fans parliaments etc) you'll find him talking animatedly about football with great passion and using glasses, jugs, people or whatever is to hand as props to get his point across. You'll find he's more cultured than he gets credited for.

Combine that with balls and respect, too. He confronted an independent coach load of irate supporters after Brentford saying he could understand their frustration and assured them he was doing all he could to get things right. This wouldn't have been a particularly pleasent thing to have to do as it could've turned nasty but him fronting up to it went down well. A lesser man would have buried his head in the sand an got away asap.

I get the impression he deeply cares about the club.

[Red Skin]

I was skeptical about SC, but cannot argue with the job he's done. He has stuck with what he said he'd do. Played attractive football with urgency in terms of getting the ball forward quicker and has played youth. He's filled the players with confidence and has given the club a large dose on enthusiasm which was needed. (He does like to blow his own trumpet but I'm happy to overlook this).

His loan signings have brought the experience needed and I feel he's let the right players go. Sadly Barnett didn't work but ultimately El And could still work out if he settles and stops believing his own hype.

Long term? Obviously depends on results and the board holding their nerve but I think he has a good chance. I think he is a good fit for club and fans.

[spudski]

I tend to disagree. If you strip out the Ron Manager stuff, Cotterill talks a lot of sense post-match, particularly when he's had a few minutes to get his thoughts together. Never confuse the style with the content. Arm-waving and sniffling are irrelevant - it's what the man says that matters.

I don't doubt he can't talk sense? I never said he couldn't.

 

But you can't say he went into the same in depth analyses as what SoD did.

 

There were even threads started on this forum about how much more he did.

 

Like I said before...some appreciated it and some saw it as waffle...each to their own of course... He was marmite here...you either loved him or hated him.

 

To be honest I think the job as manager at this Club is probably one of the hardest in football.

 

The Club want to set in place this 5 pillars mullarky and were wanting to stick to it under SoD...they and he, realised they were trying to do it all too quickly so it failed to a certain extent. We've brought in SC and avoided relegation which is great...but it will be interesting to see what happens in the transfer market this Summer and which way we go.

 

All managers are judged by their results...so any manager wants to do what's best for his CV not just the Clubs...he will know because of the nature of the job that he will eventually be sacked... So to expect any manager to come here and transform the Club throughout is quiet a big ask without it effecting results to some degree.

 

As SoD said...it's a big job and he saw it taking a few years to turn around.

 

I know some people will say 'any manager says that to cover his arse'....but I actually believe that to be the case here.

 

I know he put in place some good things at the Club, so I hope any manager we have, keeps the momentum going in the right direction.

 

Hopefully it all works out under SC and we keep progressing...

[Esmond Million's Bung]

I tend to disagree. If you strip out the Ron Manager stuff, Cotterill talks a lot of sense post-match, particularly when he's had a few minutes to get his thoughts together. Never confuse the style with the content. Arm-waving and sniffling are irrelevant - it's what the man says that matters.

 

of course you are correct, however firstly the mumbling and sniffing made a lot of people just switch the interview off making the content irrelevant because the message never got to a lot of people, you speak a lot about arm waving in fact you seem to be one of the few on here that does, I think what people were rightly talking about was when things were going wrong SOD very rarely sent out instructions to try to change or counter act things, if it was the first half he usually waited until half time, which was quite often too late.

[Aizoon]

of course you are correct, however firstly the mumbling and sniffing made a lot of people just switch the interview off making the content irrelevant because the message never got to a lot of people, you speak a lot about arm waving in fact you seem to be one of the few on here that does, I think what people were rightly talking about was when things were going wrong SOD very rarely sent out instructions to try to change or counter act things, if it was the first half he usually waited until half time, which was quite often too late.

 

Perhaps, but a lot of people here seem to disregard what Cotterill says because of the arm-waving (that's a metaphor, by the way, for Ron Manager-speak - obviously, you can't see the arm-waving on the wireless).

 

O'Driscoll's stated philosophy was to give the players the chance to sort it out for themselves in preference to intervening. You might disagree with that, but he explained that it was his intention.

[spudski]

Perhaps, but a lot of people here seem to disregard what Cotterill says because of the arm-waving (that's a metaphor, by the way, for Ron Manager-speak - obviously, you can't see the arm-waving on the wireless).

 

O'Driscoll's stated philosophy was to give the players the chance to sort it out for themselves in preference to intervening. You might disagree with that, but he explained that it was his intention.

Which is why Cruyff got Barcelona and Ajax to get players in training to play in every position on the field...and they still do this...right through the age groups.

 

It is so the player can get inside the mind of that position and add it to his repertoire . Knowledge of the oppositions position they are facing. So they had complete understanding of what they are meant to do without having to think. And adjust and make the right decisions accordingly.

 

Denis Berkamp said he became a better player after training in the LB and RB positions, because he then knew what they were thinking.

 

I'm not a fan of Managers constantly shouting Instruction from the sideline...as it stops the player thinking for himself and he becomes reliant on the manager for Instruction.

 

Get it ingrained...set a game plan out...stick to it...adjust accordingly if necessary and speak in full at half time.

 

If a manager is constantly shouting it generally means he's got his tactics wrong.

 

I think we will see an improvement in years to come under the coaching of Carlos Anton. Playing players out of position in training is a good thing...

[Esmond Million's Bung]

Perhaps, but a lot of people here seem to disregard what Cotterill says because of the arm-waving (that's a metaphor, by the way, for Ron Manager-speak - obviously, you can't see the arm-waving on the wireless).

 

O'Driscoll's stated philosophy was to give the players the chance to sort it out for themselves in preference to intervening. You might disagree with that, but he explained that it was his intention.

 

and neither can you.

[Who Are Rovers?]

Let's see how he does in the summer, and the start of next season, and we will judge from there.

 

But so far, so good.

[Aizoon]

and neither can you.

 

Sorry, one can't see the arm-waving on the wireless...