Sacking Steve Cotteril, good or bad?

The news was broken on Thursday morning that Steve Cotteril had been relieved of his duties as Forest manager. Again there was a great mixture of emotions amongst fans, with some excitement but also a tinge of sadness over his sudden departure. A lot of fans believed he deserved a chance with money, whereas some didn't think he was the right man to lead us into the new era. Fresh start and all that cliché rubbish.

During his time as Forest manager Cotteril did what was asked of him, to keep the reds in the Championship. It seemed a difficult task when he started his reign, and it proved to be just that as Forest struggled throughout the season, going a whole month in December without scoring a goal being one low of a   pretty awful campaign.

It was (with the help of O'Driscoll) the loan signings that Cotteril brought in that kept us in the league, there can be no question of that. The addition of solidarity in Scott Wooton from Man Utd, fan favourite George Elikobi from Wolves and ex ram Danny Higgingbotham from Stoke certainly helped sure up a weak and futile defence. While signing of largely unknown Adlene Guedioura (also from Wolves) to the midfield made a huge difference, the Algerian creating a long lasting impression as one of the best loan players for many years! Also it shouldn't be forgotten that another two men who were key to survival in Andy Reid and Garath McCleary were both given a chance under Cotteril, and didn't disappoint with top performances during the back end of the season.

He did make mistakes, ridiculous comments such as "the fans were too loud for the players to hear me" after a 2-1 defeat at Middlesbrough. I was there, I've been to louder funeral's. Also deciding to spend his post match interview criticising the team profusely, after an incredible 7-3 victory at Elland Road didn't really help his cause. It was also clear he wasn't really a great tactician, leaving a solid Higgingbotham on the bench while instead playing an uninterested captain  in Luke Chambers mystifying me personally.

He did though do the job he was asked to do as i said earlier in the article, steering the reds to another season in the Championship in a hugely difficult time in the clubs history.

I think personally he could have been given a chance under a new regime, to finally not have to work on such a shoe string budget. The loan signings he brought in were incredibly effective and who knows what he could have done with money behind him, if his eye for a great player is as true as it was finding Guedioura.

I do also agree though that a new dawn brings a new era, and if the new owners want to bring in a new manager and have a completely clean slate to work with then i can see the benefits, so while i'm left feeling desperately sorry for Cotteril, I do understand why his contract was terminated and will be interested to see who the new manager is, as long as its not McCleish. Or Strachan for that matter.

Thanks for everything Steve.