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Forest Boss Undecided Whether He'll Renew Interest in Town Skipper
Forest Boss Undecided Whether He'll Renew Interest in Town Skipper
Monday, 21st Nov 2011 10:03

Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cotterill says he doesn’t know whether he will renew his interest in Town skipper Grant Leadbitter, who TWTD revealed he was targeting when Portsmouth boss in August. Leadbitter is out of contract at the end of the season and having turned down the Blues’ initial offer has told Paul Jewell he is in no hurry to make a decision on his future.

Speaking after his side’s 3-2 victory over the Blues on Saturday, Cotterill was at pains to point out that his interest in both Leadbitter and ex-Town captain David Norris wasn’t leaked by him: “I don’t know how you know [about Pompey’s interest] because when I was at Portsmouth I didn’t make anything public at all.

“There was some interest from Grant when I was at Portsmouth. It wasn’t something that we would have made public or wanted to make public, as was the case with David Norris.

“I don’t tend to do that. I try to do things properly if we can, which I did do, keeping my side of the bargain, so to speak.”

As for any future moves now that he’s at the City Ground, the one-time Wimbledon striker says he’s undecided: “I don’t know whether that interest would be renewed at Nottingham Forest or not because we have a lot of central midfield players at this moment in time.

“It’s horses for courses, so maybe there’s somebody else at another club that we need in a position where we’re a little bit light.”

He says he’s been a fan of Leadbitter’s for a while and was familiar with most of the Town side in action on Saturday: “I’ve been an admirer of Grant for a long time.

“I’ve been an admirer of a lot of players in the Ipswich team. I think they’re a bunch of really good lads. I’ve come across nearly all of them during Championship seasons.

“Carlos Edwards, I’ve come across him before, Collins, Ingimarsson. I didn’t know the young boy Cresswell, who has come in from Tranmere and I think has done very well. He’s done great.

“Obviously I know Jimmy Bullard, I know Grant Leadbitter, the young boy Josh Carson I don’t know, but I think he has a great future. Scotland and Chopra I know very well, and Lee Bowyer. I pretty much knew all their team today.”

From the Town line-up, the former Stoke, Cheltenham and Burnley boss singled two-goalscorer Danny Collins out for praise: “Fantastic. I thought he was a tower of strength for them today. I thought he played very well.

“I just congratulated him outside, I thought he played very well for them today. It’s a pity his loan hadn’t ended a bit earlier or hadn't restarted.”

He says he and his squad worked on counteracting Town’s diamond formation for a number of days last week: “When you know a team is going to play a diamond and you’re going to play 4-4-2 you have to work on it. We started work on it in the early part of the week and did Tuesday, Thursday and Friday on it.

“We started on our front six and incorporated our back four as the week went on. You have to do that against a diamond, it’s really difficult to play against and you have to do that work.

“I thought the work we did allowed players to do what they had to do without thinking about it because actually thinking means you don’t get to the man sometimes. I thought we did that very well today. I was pleased with that. I think the lads did very well with that.”

He says some formations just don’t work against a diamond but remained tight-lipped on what he sees as the key element to thwarting the system: “You could play 4-3-3 against it but I don’t think 4-3-3 against it works because what happens then is that your three midfield players end up marking the point of the diamond, the left and the right of the diamond and your striker ends up marking the base of the diamond.

“Which means that if you’ve got two good footballing centre-halves [playing for the opposition], who marks them? There’s nobody left to mark them because the two full-backs will be running your widemen off.

“But we’ve got diamonds to play against this season, so I don’t want to give too much away! I’d rather keep it to myself.”


Photo: Action Images



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Harry_The_Hamster added 10:11 - Nov 21
Please buy him!
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shaunminx added 10:18 - Nov 21
Please renew your interest and take him. Hell I'll give him a lift if it means we get shot of him.
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JimmyJazz added 10:20 - Nov 21
As for any future moves now that he's at the City Ground, the one-time Wimbledon striker says he's undecided: “I don't know whether that interest would be renewed at Nottingham Forest or not

So what he's saying is that he now realises what a limited player GL really is.
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itfc1981 added 10:34 - Nov 21
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Smithy added 10:49 - Nov 21
If I was manager of Cambridge I wouldn't be interested hes that bad
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are_these_the_days added 11:03 - Nov 21
Unfortunately the more he plays the more would-be buyers realise his limitations & the less is his value.
Cotterill must have noticed this - the only one who hasn't is Paul Jewell
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tractorboy2434 added 11:59 - Nov 21
Don't worry, no one is likely to pay good money for him, he will leave in June for nothing providing he can find anyone stupid enough, if he can't we will offer him another contract and he will stay, that is how gullible we are.
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buryblue77 added 12:00 - Nov 21
Buy him please then at least Jewell will make someone else (Preferably Andrews if he signs permanently and also we could play a different formation with a different player in midfield.
I think I'm a better player and I'm useless!!!
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Mark added 12:30 - Nov 21
I know Keane always favoured his £2.7M signing, telling us he "should be playing in the Premier League", but why on earth has Jewell kept him in the team as the captain? I just don't see how Grant has anything like the leadership skills needed.
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TimmyH added 12:42 - Nov 21
I think Steve Cotterill should have more interest in signing me than Leadbitter, I'm 43 have experience played in Essex senior league and don't join in the oppositions attacks!!
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village_blue added 12:43 - Nov 21
If Cotterill is not sure he wants Leadweight PLEASE PLEASE can we find someone else who will take him of our books and preferably before Thursday' loan deadline date.
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Lightningboy added 12:48 - Nov 21
Wouldn't bother if I was Cotterill.

Leadbitter is quite possibly the poorest captain this club has ever had.

The constant weak point in the team imho..dunno what PJ sees in him?
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dugoutdave added 12:49 - Nov 21
So basically he's figured out he's a waste of space too. I'm a PJ supporter but keeping him as a player let alone having him as captain seems to defy logic. What message does having a captain who says he's in no hurry to sign give to others.What happened to having a captain who was proud to play with the arm band on, proud to give 120% each and every game and did as much as possible to encourage players around him. Sorry PJ but his attitude stinks in every department - get shot of him first opportunity
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Jim added 13:02 - Nov 21
Please take him. I don't usually like jumping on the bang wagon to criticise a player, but I think he is useless. Probably the worst captain I can remember us having. He says he doesn't shout much on the pitch as he lets his football lead by example! Do me a favour!!
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itfcbishop added 13:25 - Nov 21
sell him this jan and lets not make the same mistake like last time with david norris !!
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buryblue77 added 14:45 - Nov 21
I cannot work out why Jewell sticks with him let alone keeps him as captain, I'm a Jewell supporter but two things he does (Leadbitter as captain and stockdale as loanee keeper, although he has no option he should have looked at a permanent more experienced player in the first place) I can't get my head around.
Having some nostagic moments at some of our whole hearted recent captains,
Mowbray, Holland, magilton and De vos and of late we've not had a real leader McAuley, Walters and Norris being by far better than Leadbitter but not a patch on those mentioned above.
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Lightningboy added 14:51 - Nov 21
dugoutdave & buryblue77 - spot on.

2 things we MUST sort out -

a true "captain" (i'd go for possibly Bowyer of the current crop).

+ we need to stop leaking goals,cos at the moment we could score 5 & let in 6.
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HarryfromBath added 15:27 - Nov 21
I would be surprised if they took him, as Forest are full to the brim of midfielders and their fans are very keen for wider players. Pompey fans were very critical of Cotterill for packing the midfield and stifling their creativity, so it could happen.
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irishtim added 15:44 - Nov 21
please some one take him. He is so bad that if we have no one coming through thats better then we r f...d
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buryblue77 added 15:55 - Nov 21
Lightningboy, Bowyer a good shout for captaincy, I'd give it to Andrews if he were signed on a permanent deal or what about Sonko? We just seem a lot more organised at the back when he plays, could he do a job?
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s6blue added 19:39 - Nov 21
all yours if you want him -- complete waste of space. Why jewell insists on playing him is beyond me
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howdonblue added 20:22 - Nov 21
Sell sell sell !!!
How the hell is this guy a captain of any team.
Let alone a professional team
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h32 added 21:03 - Nov 21
.......... be lucky to give him away - can't believe anyone would want to buy him.
Other than Jewell of course ..........
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big_gaz67 added 02:53 - Nov 22
Anyone notice another Cotterill contradiction in this story. Compare

“I don't tend to do that. I try to do things properly if we can, which I did do, keeping my side of the bargain, so to speak.”

against

“I just congratulated him outside, I thought he played very well for them today. It's a pity his loan hadn't ended a bit earlier or hadn't restarted.”

ie I don't talk about other teams players but I would take Collins if he were available and I've just tapped him up to that effect with the January transfer window just 5 weeks away!




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arablue added 07:42 - Nov 22
Grant did not help his cause by refusing to sign an extension...whatever his reasons, valid they may be, when a captain refuses to sign, then in the fans' bad books he will most likely be...
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