After troubled start, Cotterill deserves time
There's a lot Steve Cotterill could say.
There's a heck of a lot the Pompey boss could tell us all about what he has had to contend with since coming into the job as Pompey manager in June.
But Cotterill won't lift the lid on the extent of the perils and pitfalls he has negotiated after assuming leadership of his team.
Why? Quite simply, he feels it would be disrespectful to speak badly of a club which means so much to so many people.
The 46-year-old does not want to hurt the followers of the star and crescent with the realities of what has taken place at Fratton Park in recent times.
Pompey are still feeling the aftershocks of their crippling financial woes which smashed the club's foundations to rubble.
That could easily have led to a lot more destruction in the hours up to the close of the transfer deadline on Tuesday night.
Cotterill knew what he was coming into at Pompey wasn't going to be pretty, but moving in as the radioactive particles from the mushroom cloud explosion settled has been way more severe than he ever anticipated.
Not that he's looking for a sympathy vote.
The working class lad from Cheltenham is made of sterner stuff than to play that card in an effort to garner public support.
But does he really deserve the kind of condemnation that has been dished out by some so far this season?
Four league games into the campaign and the calls have started for Cotterill's head in some cyber corners.
Okay, that has come mostly from a very small but vocal minority from the anonymous comfort of their keyboard.
But seriously? Really?
Did anyone expect anything other than a stuttering start after a pre-season which saw players rack up 100 hours of travel halfway around the world when they should have been training?
Wasn't it obvious what would take place as players either wondered about being sold or who they would be left to play with?
Relegation and administration has left Pompey with a haphazard and lop-sided squad. The wages of many of those who have remained has eaten into Cotterill's budgets.
By hook or by crook August 31 has passed with two senior players leaving and two arriving. The word is it could have been a lot worse than that.
We now know the mish-mash of players that remain will be in place until January at least.
There may not be a recognised right-back among them and there may not be an established left-sided player, but at least Cotterill can rest easy no more will slip away.
And he has been able to deliver a blinding piece of business with Stoke – a deal he organised himself – to get Liam Lawrence, Dave Kitson and an eventual 2m in cash for Marc Wilson.
People point to the lacklustre starts of loan additions Ibrahima Sonko and Carl Dickinson, but they need time. Just like a certain Linvoy Primus did.
They may not be the long-term future but they are characters needed for the rocky Championship terrain ahead – especially when you look at the number of senior players around when Cotterill arrived.
Lawrence and Kitson are two additions who should shine in the game's second tier. Then there is the arrival of Ricardo Rocha.
The Portugal man's culture allows for the right dynamic in a central- partnership alongside the power of Aaron Mokoena and Sonko.
Kyle Naughton's arrival from Spurs would free Hayden Mullins up for a return to midfield. The right-back is one of the best young loans around.
Throw in a Kanu comeback and a possible further midfield addition to add some forward-thinking impetus, and some semblance of a Championship squad starts to emerge.
That is what allows Cotterill to look towards a chink of light in a tunnel which has been darker than he could ever have imagined.
Pompey fans should do the same.
As the man in charge said when he arrived, people should start judging him when the transfer deadline passes.
It would be ridiculous to form any opinion on the man charged with steering the club through its rebirth up to this point.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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