Bristol City boss Steve Cotterill ready to make some big decisions BRISTOL City manager Steve Cotterill admits he is not looking forward to telling some players they no longer have a future at the club. Cotterill is in the process of drawing up his retained list for next season and is set for face-to-face talks with his players over the next 24 hours. In some cases, he will tell out-of-contract players, some of them long-serving, that their services are no longer required. Experienced defenders Louis Carey and Liam Fontaine and midfielders Marvin Elliott and Stephen Pearson are all out of contract, while Cotterill must also decide whether to pursue or relinquish loan signings Nyron Nosworthy, Wade Elliott, Tyrone Barnett, Martin Paterson, Simon Gillett and Simon Moore. "Because I need to rejig the squad, we are facing a difficult few days," said Cotterill. "I have to have a few awkward conversations with some top lads, who have been first-class, and I won't enjoy that at all. "Those conversations are always difficult, but I will do it face to face and man to man. That is how I always work. "I will speak to the players concerned in the next day or so and it is a part of the job I don't enjoy, for sure. "Those players have been a part of it, they have done well for me and I love every single one of them to death. "But I need to try to bring other players into the squad and integrate them into what is a fantastic dressing room." An unbeaten five-match run saw City finish in 12th place in League One, a remarkable achievement for a side that spent so much of the season battling relegation. Cotterill sought to put City's recovery in context following a 1-1 draw in the final game at Crawley and he lavished praise on his players. "It's funny how it ended really," said City's manager. "I said I wanted three wins and two draws from the last five games and, lo and behold, we've ended up with two draws when I wanted five wins. "But given where we were in those dark days back in December when we were bottom of the table, to finish 12th is remarkable. "Had we won the last game today, we would have ended up finishing in tenth place. That we have finished in the top half of the table is a wonderful achievement. "I wouldn't say it is a wonderful achievement for Bristol City to finish 12th, but it is when you consider where we were in December. "It is a great credit to everybody connected with the football club. We have seen a massive effort from everybody, from the supporters, from the players, from the owner, the chairman and the board and the staff. It has been a real team effort. "Without the support of all of those people we would not have done it." Veteran City defender Carey was included in the squad for the first time in months, but did not make a final appearance for the club he has served for nearly 20 years. Out of contract, he is not expected to be offered a new deal when City make public their retained list next week. Left with one substitution still to make during the final ten minutes, Cotterill opted to send on striker Jay Emmanuel-Thomas in a bid to win the game. Explaining his decision, Cotterill said: "We've already reached the point where Louis has got that (appearance) record and I was going for the win. "If I'd have brought Louis on, it would have been a defensive move to shore us up. "I had one substitution left and I wanted to get 'JET' on to see if he could open Crawley up. I'm not too much of a sentimentalist and I wanted to go for the win."
Wonder if they will offer Carey a back room job I wonder if they have a back room in which to offer him a job for Well they are knocking down the stadium...
Que ??????? Yes there are some difficult decisions to be made, but that is why he is the Manager, and I'm sure the players in question already have a good idea as to whether their services are required or not. Hopefully SC is totally clear in his mind as to who does and who doesn't have a future with us. Clear out the dead wood, and couple that with a few decent signings, and you never know where it might take us.
I agree Angelic, footballers are not considered the smartest of people at times but I reckon most will have gauged the situation and I doubt there will be too many shocked faces next week.
Carey and Fontaine have no playing future and frankly, I cant see one for Marv. either- Pearson always gave me the impression that he really wanted championship football but being injured, couldn't move on. Those 4 are fairly straight forward and I doubt any would be surprised. The goalkeeping situation for me, is more interesting. Moore, I feel will be needed at Cardiff, particularly if Marshall goes- Richards, I understand is out of contract. That leaves us with Fielding, who did well recently and Parish who I don't feel Cott's rates too highly. Of the loanees- Wade Elliott is a must. If we don't take Nosworthy, a centre back is still a must. Not sure on Paterson or Gillett. Barnett, no. We do of course need to hang on to Baldock, the other interesting one is JET. Didn't Cott's sort of hint he would be moving on?
personnally i thought in limited run outs Paterson looked really good, with a pre-season and gelling more with the squad him and sam would be deadly, if he wants and we can afford of course.
When interviewed after dropping Paul Gascoigne from the England squad, Glen Hoddle was asked if that was the hardest decision he had ever taken. He replied 'no way', it was easy when compared to telling a handful of YTS youth youngsters in the Swindon academy that they needed to look for a career outside football. Those players not selected to stay at AG will not starve. They have already earnt more than I will this year without winning the league - and we are only at month 5!!!
