Bristol City will not over-pay, says boss Steve Cotterill. By ANDY STOCKHAUSEN Steve Cotterill insists Bristol City will not be held to ransom by prospective new signings. City's boss has been working tirelessly in an inflated market in a bid to bolster his squad since the end of last season, and his attempts to recruit a proven Championship goal-scorer have met with frustration and disappointment. Now that the window for emergency loan signings has reopened, Cotterill is hoping to add another two players to his squad. But he is refusing to pay over the odds in his search for a forward and a midfielder. "We are not going to over-pay any player to come and play for us. We are not going to do that," said Cotterill, who tried and failed to sign Crystal Palace marksman Dwight Gayle last month before losing out to Burnley in the race for Brentford striker Andre Gray. In both cases, the selling clubs accepted big-money bids from City, only for the players to turn down the move. Recalling a difficult transfer window, Cotterill said: "The biggest problem is trying to strike a deal with a club and then ending up wasting your time. I did that twice. "I did it with Crystal Palace and Brentford, to no avail in the end. Those were hard negotiations with chairmen and directors of football please log in to view this image over a couple of days and they were hard deals to thrash out. When you end up not getting those deals, it is frustrating. "Those wages might have been do-able, but I didn't think they were particularly right. That's fine. One of them has gone and found a good home and we move on. "We didn't spend too much time worrying about that, because you cannot afford to in this game. It is worse when everything is made public knowledge these days and it looks as though people have turned you down because there is something wrong with your football club please log in to view this image and something wrong with the city you live in. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with the city we live in and absolutely nothing wrong with our football club. It is a great club and it will get even better. For as long as I'm here, I will keep pushing 100 per cent to get us where we want to be. Sometimes, it just comes down to money and that can happen. But it's all right – we're okay with that." City's manager reportedly switched his search for a striker to Bournemouth's Yann Kermogant, only for a proposed deal to fall through on deadline day. But Cotterill is not ruling our reviving that transfer when the window reopens in January. He said: "Despite not getting those two deals over the line, I would have been absolutely delighted if I could have done the one I was trying to do on deadline day. It won't happen with a loan, but it is something that might potentially be able to happen in January. If that is the case, then fantastic. "We will then be strengthening our squad throughout the season. Another two good players and I will be happy with what I have. I could have had 20 players in on deadline day, but they would not have improved my team. What is the point of doing that?" Having signed Jonathan Kodjia from French club Angers for £2.1 million and brought in Ben Hamer, Callum Robinson, Liam Moore and Nathan Baker on loan, Cotterill feels he needs another two players. He said: "Things are shaping up nicely. It is not going to happen overnight and I would say we probably need another two players." http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/City-pay-says-boss-Cotterill/story-27813362-detail/story.html
As I said on another thread, if we are in the bottom 3 come January then no-one that's any good will want to come here no matter what's being offered.
Simply put you want to pay 8 million transfer fee,but you do not want to pay the salary,pointless even trying to sign these guys. The best thing is don't go for players we can't afford. Yes let's return to league 1 as without a quality number 9 to play alongside Kojak and a top quality midfield general we are going to struggle to get out of the bottom six.
I regret to say that the team I have supported my entire life don't appear that they want to be in the big show. Although I tend to agree with SC's comments in regards to the greediness of most, if not all, of today's players and his reluctance to pay the kind of money demanded by even average players, surely he must have known the price of admission to the Championship. When we signed the almost unknown Kodija I said to myself that at least we were thinking outside the normal boxes, and that particular signing appears to be working well. Where has that radical and different thinking gone? When I saw us in the market for Gayle and Gray I shuddered as I thought we were heading down the same chasm as all the rest and I questioned what we expected either of them to bring to the table apart from complaints and second guesses. Perhaps it's time to rethink what we say we want to achieve, and what we can actually afford to invest in those dreams, without falling foul of the money police who seem to target the weak and let the teams with the higher priced accountants (use that as an analogy for any term you see fit) move forward (or up and down if you get my drift) without hindrance. Chickens and eggs come to mind when it relates to our predicament and I just hope we have a Plan B, or even a Plan C, up our sleeves or that SC has an unknown source of fresh talent hiding somewhere in the bargain section of some obscure football pool. I don't envy his position because if you remember last season when some posters said we would be on his case if the new campaign got off to a poor start, well they were right. Reading the article today about Colin Sexstone made me wonder if we still have the same kind of people pulling some of the strings in the back halls of Ashton Gate when it comes to key decisions wanted to be made by the manager? Sexstone never inspired confidence in me, or a lot of other people, and I always got the impression that his mind and commitment were usually elsewhere other than the football team. Supporters deserve a better life than listening to platitudes coming from the boardroom and all I ask is that someone takes the bull by the horns and put some of their words in to actions that get results - how simple is that? Time will be the only judge of where we go from here.
I don't blame SC in any of this tbh. He'd most probably done his homework and had his targets in mind, and then during the Summer we had the amazingly naïve comments of the owner complaining about salaries at this level, which would have made every other team in the league laugh at the country bumpkins, and how simple we were being upon our arrival. As per usual we talk the talk, but when it really matters we don't walk the walk or behave like a professional club. It seems that everything is either left to chance or not done properly. I'm as shocked as anyone at the crazy wages supposedly being paid by some clubs in the Championship, but you either put up or shut up. The alternative is to go back where we came from.
Perhaps I'm "half-full", but with a little more luck we could have won all 3 home games and things would look very different We still have a good side and will be all right - have faith!!
I agree with Simon. Some moan that the manager don't tell us stuff, then he tells us something and still not happy. I saw the game with my own eyes on Tuesday and can honestly say what Cotterill said was the truth, at times we was playing football we've dreamed off playing. It took a goal out of nothing from that slimy Aussie twat but the defence looked comfortable. I also agree with him saying about players fees, the last thing we want is to be constantly so far in the red that more debts got to be wiped.
Massive case of deja vue here. We have been having the same discussion year on year since I joined old BBC606 (in 2007) about:- a). lack of summer transfer activity and b). we won't be over paying The same thing has been happening EVERY BLOODY YEAR. We identify targets but then won't pay the going rate, effing pointless... There was the one exception that proves the rule which was pre season last year when we recruited early, got the players that we wanted in and had a proper pre season and strangely enough, look what happened. Did we learn nothing...? If you won't pay the going rate, you won't get the players that you want, simples. Its not rocket science Einstein....
That's all fine but let's put the Preston game in context. We were playing one of the teams who like us, will likely be battling to stay out of the bottom 3 for most of the season. So it's all very well to give the players praise for a decent enough result, but it sounds to me like we should have had all 3 points and won the game by a few clear goals which would have looked a darn sight better, and would have been reward for our dominance. But if we continue to spurn chances we will be made to pay (again) by the better teams.
Such an event could even lead to the manager stating "we were magnificent" oh he said that anyway.....
He did indeed, by I and others, don't understand why, as it's not Real Madrid we've got a draw against, it was Preston North End, who by all accounts we'd comprehensively outplayed BUT FAILED TO FINISH THE JOB AGAINST AND GET THE 3 POINTS. Or have I missed something ???? Magnificent is the sort of thing you might expect from the team being 1-0 down entering added time and winning 2-1, or a Cup upset against higher opposition. It's just totally out of context with the result. Good, adequate, expected all work, but magnificent ? Really ? Just like the word legend being used about players who aren't old enough to have earned it.
It's clear why he's done it, he's keeping a positive morale to keep the players heads up, Like he did when he took us over. I really don't see how anyone can get arsey over that kind of post-match comment.
I'm sure that's true as well, but he'll have run out of superlatives by the next time we win if he's using the word magnificent for a draw.
its not being arsey its being CITY FORUMSY.. as angelic and others have stated magnificent is by far the wrong word for a draw against a team who on the night should have slaughtered more in keeping would have been "the lads played very well, against a keeper who had everything right on the night and salvaged a well earned point"
So tell me, are Chelsea going to be relegated this year? Just wondering as you've already consigned us to be in a relegation battle. I've always got the impression that you're dying for Cotterill to fail so you can put stats up saying you've never been a fan of his. Once again, I've said it before apart from one glaring miss and one goal their keeper won man of the match for one reason and that was keeping us out. But then that's the difference from being there too, listening to the radio or reading match reports etc.
How many more years do we have to listen to the hype coming from the top as Prem has stated? Promises, promises and more promises that are rarely, if ever, acted upon. Do we still need the midfield general that has been on our wish list forever or am I still dreaming of the forgotten pieces of our rise to the top jigsaw?
Ok, 'things' might not have gone for us this season but everything and everything went for us last season. We got our signings in early, and hardly an injury or suspension. Life/Football isn't always perfect and we haven't had our share of lady luck but we can't grumble after last year. The attacking intent of Cotterill has been fantastic and the tide will turn - it always does. All I know is I can't wait for tomorrow
What planet are you on ? Since his appointment I have been one of SC's staunchest supporters. Prove to me otherwise. And if you hadn't noticed, we are already in a relegation battle
