ARTICLE: Steve Cotterill – June 2004 to November 2007

[ClaretTony]

Latest in the managers series - some will say I've not been Cotterill Critical but this is my view on him.

See link
https://www.uptheclarets.com/steve-cott ... ember-2007

[matttheclaret]

Brilliant signings that first summer.

First season was definitely the best, we over achieved massively, with a squad of about 14 for most of it. Even played some decent stuff in the first half of it, with Blake and Chaplow.

Constantly had to sell his better players (usually in January) I'd say he did pretty well on the whole.

That said, I do think he was lucky to survive that 19 game run (the injury to Gray killed us though) and was definitely time for a change when he went.

[randomclaret2]

Fair summary Tony...given the resources he was forced to work with he did an excellent job but by the end things were very stale

[bfcjg]

His brief was to ensure we never got relegated and I dont think he ever changed from that. Always speaks highly of us, nothing against him he did his best.

[Bordeauxclaret]

He did really well to keep us up after the mess we found ourselves in originally.
After that, despite some brief spells mentioned in the article, it really was a tough watch a lot of the time.

In the media he seemed to get more paranoid as time went on, a bit like Mourinho tends to do.

He was what we needed at the beginning but should have been sacked sooner.

[ClaretAndBlue94]

Steadied the ship and left us with something to build on.

It's pleasing to see that most have a positive opinion on him. The end of a managers reign is often what I find sticks in peoples minds more.

[AfloatinClaret]

...2006...a run of eighteen consecutive league games without a win...

I recall it being grim, but not that bad; as noted earlier, Cotterill's efforts were invariably undermined by the immediate economic necessity of selling off players, losing Akinbayi was a blow, but Blake and Gray (yes injury not a sale) were massive. I'd have hated to play for him mind, damn but that guy was noisy when (constantly!) shouting from the touchline.

[leelad]

A fair and measured summary Tony. The signings he made in that first Summer were second to none (Michael Duff for £30k). Also remember the partnership between McGreal and Cahill (you could see then he was a class act), Micah Hyde's goal against Blackburn and that 4-1 win against Norwich. His approach was definitely safety first and being defensive minded in a rigid framework. That proved to be his undoing in the end. But I wish him well, he speaks about us in a good light and I think with the passage of time he did well for us.

[frankinwales]

I thought he did an amazing job at Notts forest to keep them up considering the position they were in when he arrived. I always thought that he was badly treated by them
... It was a brand of football with us that was defensive first but I suppose he didn't have much available to him to be more attacking and yes, that long run felt like it was never going to end
.. Up the Clarets.

[cricketfieldclarets]

I liked Cotterill and thought he would have had a better career than he has.

Made some good signings. He was a Championship Allerdyce. Which is a backhanded compliment.

[ksrclaret]

He was the manager we needed at the time after a very turbulent couple of years. His cautious approach and willingness to depend on experienced players (he was only young at the time and could easily have been threatened by that) ensured we were never really in trouble of going down when we really ought to have gone. He brought a solidity and steel that was missing before his arrival.

We actually played some good football as well in his first 6 months before Blake was sold. Robbie almost operated as a false nine during that period with our midfield players feeding him the ball and making runs into the forward areas. I remember being so impressed with what he was doing with about 14 first team players.

After Robbie left though we regressed into a rigid, long ball side. And although we had a few purple patches, the football on offer after that was mostly a real chore to watch. He left at the correct time but in the end he did a solid job for us.

[SammyBoy]

I appreciate Cotterill and what he did for Burnley. We really needed his skill set at the time, someone to was able to operate on a shoestring and keep us up, all the while losing any player that showed promise. That said, some of the most excruciating games I've ever endured as a Burnley fan came during his tenure, Southampton and Hull at home stand out, awful stuff.

[mdd2]

Very good manager for us at a time when many would have relegated us but when Flood came onto the Board and we had more money for a time although he made some good signings he lost the plot with results and I suspect would have relegated us. OC came in and changed our playing style and of course gave us a wonderful season and a half before he probably made the biggest mistake in his career to date.
I do think he gets too much flack about his time here as in the transfer market he did very well for us

[ClaretTony]

I do think he gets too much flack about his time here as in the transfer market he did very well for us

All managers make good and bad signings but I do think SC overall did as well as most. There were some that weren’t good, Thomas stands out but how he rescued that and Barry Kilby told me that getting that £1.2m was all down to SC after the club were ready to accept about £250,000.

Sinclair, McGreal, Duff and Hyde to start with then bringing Robbie back plus Carlisle, Caldwell, Elliott and Alexander.

I spoke to him on the day before we got Caldwell. We were struggling because two other clubs had offered him more but he said there was a chance because he preferred Burnley. Then he told me that if he got Caldwell he’d be the next captain. When I asked why he just said that you only had to speak to him to know he was a leader. He got that one right.

I know I’m a bit biased given I got on with him unbelievably well although I knew him well enough to understand why he was hard work at times for the media. Genuine bloke though who still cares about our club.

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

He did well with the limited funds he had but Christ that 19 game run nearly put me off watching the clarets forever.

[TommyJohnson]

Norwich away was his finest moment

[ClaretTony]

He did well with the limited funds he had but Christ that 19 game run nearly put me off watching the clarets forever.

Wasn’t good was it? Some games we were a bit unfortunate but then there were the home games against Stoke & Luton plus the trip to Southend when they were worse than us but won it at the end because of an Elliott mistake.

That season changed with the injuries to Andy Gray & Steve Jones and it was those two coming back in after getting fit who helped rescue it with those five wins. We’d just nobody to bring in when they got injured.

[cricketfieldclarets]

How did he get that money for Thomas. Incredible. Even today he wasn’t worth that.

[Swizzlestick]

The crucifier!

[Fretters]

Was it Paul McVeigh we brought in who helped end the 19 game run? I was surprised we didn't get him permanently in the summer.

[aggi]

He did really well when he first came in, significantly improved the squad whilst cutting wages. Quite lucky in that there were a lot of players that could be moved out at that point so he had something of a clean slate but did well to bring new ones in and get them to gel.

It went downhill after that though, the football got worse whilst the wage bill went up and up. By the time Coyle came in we were on a real downward spiral and without the miracle he worked the club would have been in serious trouble.

Sometimes the loyalty to a manager works out and sometimes it doesn't, I think a lot were pretty surprised that he made it through that terrible winless run. It all worked out ok in the end though.

[ClaretTony]

Was it Paul McVeigh we brought in who helped end the 19 game run? I was surprised we didn't get him permanently in the summer.

It was McVeigh and there was an interest. We might have signed him but Blake became available and I think we went for the better option