Who was the bad egg?

BRISTOL CITY BLOG: Why sound man-management can keep Robins at the top.
By a_stockhausen

It was while chatting to Karleigh Osborne on the touchline before kick-off at Port Vale last month that I first gained a real insight into Bristol City manager Steve Cotterill’s man-management skills.

Out of the team and unable even to force his way back into the 18-man match-day squad after being injured during the close season, the big defender could easily have taken umbrage. After all, he was a first team regular for much of last season.

I asked Karleigh how he felt about things and was genuinely taken aback by his answer. Remembering how I felt whenever I used to be omitted from the starting XI during my non-League playing days, I expected him to take the opportunity to have a quiet grumble.

His response could not have been more different. Rather than bemoan his lot, Karleigh backed his manager's team selection and endorsed those defenders who had played in every game. He understood the situation, accepted the reasons behind it and told me he would just have to knuckle down, work hard in training and await his chance.

Now I have known a number of players, and one in particular, who, while at City, created problems in the dressing room when over-looked for selection. Disappointment has to be managed in an environment where just one bad apple can be enough to affect team spirit adversely.

Karleigh made mention of the spirit within City’s current squad and insisted those out of the team were still willing those with the shirts to do well. I have known of more than one player in recent times who wanted City to lose in order to win back his place in the starting line-up! So far, I have detected no such negative vibes within this group and that surely says a great deal about Cotterill’s ability to manage disappointment and engender the kind of togetherness that is a prerequisite for any team with aspirations to win promotion.

I witnessed further evidence of Cotterill’s man-management methods when talking to Wes Burns just 30 minutes after he had delivered a stunning winning goal against Chesterfield at Ashton Gate last weekend.

As Wes came through the door of the press interview room beneath the Atyeo Stand, he looked slightly disappointed. Strange, I thought, for someone who had every right to crow after emerging as the match-winning hero.

Wes explained that he had been at fault for Chesterfield’s second equalising goal when losing his man and allowing a cross to come into the box. That he was prepared to talk so openly regarding the shortcomings of his performance was revealing.

Having spent a good deal of time around this group of players in recent months I can honestly say I have not once detected one inflated ego or encountered any sense of arrogance or complacency.

Cotterill talked often about recruiting players with character as well as ability during the summer and it seems he has done his homework assiduously. If City’s rivals in the chasing pack are hoping the leaders become too big for their boots and suffer a fall from grace, they are likely to be kept waiting a long time. From what I have seen this season, this group is well and truly grounded and Cotterill’s ability to ensure his charges remain focused on the job in hand should ensure things remain that way.

This particular squad reminds me of the one assembled by Gary Johnson between 2005 and 2007. Like Cotterill, Johnson recruited young aspirational players, who had started out in lower league football and were determined to better themselves. There were no big-time charlies in the team that won automatic promotion to the Championship in 2007 and the same applies to the current dressing room.

It was only when City, having come close to attaining Premier League status, decided to pursue a different route that team spirit suffered. Players accustomed to treading the boards in the Premier League and Championship came in on big wages and presented Johnson with a man-management challenge which eventually overwhelmed him.

Cotterill has worked wonders in a short space of time to create a positive environment and, should City return to the Championship any time soon, they will do well to foster and protect that.


http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/BRISTO...ement-Robins/story-23225240-detail/story.html

Nice words, excellent read and who was the trouble maker...?