Bristol City manager Steve Cotterill in need of a few lieutenants on the field to ensure his message is clear. WORRYING times for Bristol City, worrying times, indeed. Teams will lose games from time-to-time, we all know that, but the manner of defeat at Sheffield United last Saturday was certainly one that will have left manager Steve Cotterill with some cause for concern. I heard Steve's interview immediately after the game and I have to admit I felt sorry for him. He can't have expected his team to play as poorly as they did and when you are interviewed straight after a performance like that it is often difficult to find the answers to the questions that are put before you because you don't know them in your own mind until you've had a chance to take stock. You can often come across as a little unsure of where you are going, but, once Steve had a chance to look at the DVD again, I'm pretty sure that by Monday morning he will have had a clearer picture in his mind on how to move forward. It's a well-worn clich̩, but, you really do learn a lot about your team and the people in after a defeat like that. A lot of the time in this column, I talk about players having to take responsibility and I look at those in the Bristol City dressing room and I suspect there are a couple of characters in there who will be willing to take this situation by the scruff of the neck. The manager of the team will always take the ultimate responsibility for how things are going on the pitch, but, at times, during my own playing career, I was often in changing rooms that had people who would act as lieutenants when times were tough and would get the players together to thrash things out together on their own. The manager would often know all about these meetings, but, would detach themselves from the situation and let the players get on with it. But in recent seasons I wonder to myself if there have been any of these sort of 'lieutenants' in the City changing room. I think maybe Steve has seen that for himself since arriving and has sought to address that by bringing players in to the club to fulfil that role for him over recent months. I don't know whether or not one of those sort of 'meetings' has taken place at Bristol City this week Рbut if there has been I don't think that it would be a bad thing at all before the players seek redemption against Gillingham at Ashton Gate. Read more: http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Leroy-...tory-20724276-detail/story.html#ixzz2uheTUPTj
