Cheltenham Town manager Steve Cotterill expressed a blend of frustration and optimism after his side secured a 2-2 draw at Barnet. While praising his midfielders' efforts, Cotterill voiced clear disappointment with the refereeing performance during the match.
When asked about his satisfaction with the point earned, Cotterill was forthright: “No. We are allowed to say ‘very poor refereeing performance.’ I like Abi (Abigail Byrne), but unfortunately today that was a very poor refereeing performance.”
Reflecting on his team’s overall display, he felt Cheltenham deserved more from the game. “Good. Definitely think we should have won the game today. For me, it’s not a penalty, it’s not in the box. Definitely not clear and the referee doesn’t have a clear idea of it. The assistant could perhaps help out, but to be honest, we didn’t get a lot today. It was a typical away day.”
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Cotterill highlighted the resilience his side showed, coming up against adversity and still producing a strong performance. “That we ended up playing against that, against a lot of odds and ended up, in my opinion, doing enough to win the game today. We’ve had some great chances. The keeper has made a couple of good saves, they got a couple of good blocks in the first half from Jake (Evans). My only problem with my team was the first 20 or 25 minutes. We weren’t at our best and we didn’t pass it enough. Later on, I thought we definitely were good value for a point, but we could easily have won the game today.”
The manager was pleased with the goals from Ryan Broom and Charlie McCann but felt his team missed other opportunities. “Yes, but we didn’t take our chances when they came along, did we? We had a few others. Jake had a couple of good looks at their goal today. The keeper has made a couple of good saves because when he connects with that left foot, it is good. We didn’t see enough of him or Broomy early in the game and it was that game for us today. Once we got that going, after 25 minutes, we were much better. Once we got into half-time, there were more of our patterns coming out and we were better.”
Defensively, Cotterill observed that they faced mostly direct play from Barnet, a departure from the previous season. “Direct balls, that’s what we had to defend today. They have changed a little bit from last year, gone a bit more direct and blown teams away. We knew that would be coming. There was a slight wind for the first 20 minutes so that was in it, but they are direct and they ask questions of you. I thought most of them, we answered today.”
On the topic of player fitness and squad availability, Cotterill noted the impact of recent injuries and the demanding conditions. “Yes, if we have everyone fit we are all right. We have just been a bit unlucky in the last two weeks. We’ve been back training for eight or nine weeks, but the culmination of a few things, fatigue, hard ground hasn’t helped anybody, so that takes its toll and unfortunately when they are out of the team, they don’t quite get their match games to bring them up to speed. There was an unbelievable shift from Shaun McWilliams, who was excellent. Freddy Willcox alongside him, I thought he was great. I was hoping and praying he’d have a good game today for two reasons: number one I didn’t take the gamble with Ben (Stevenson) and I am pleased I didn’t do that and those two were really good for us in there, as was Charlie McCann in the 10. Andreas (Weimann) for his first start, probably since May - they haven’t done bad. Broomy put in a good shift coming into the game later, so did Jake. I am really happy with the boys, but it could have been slightly better.”
He emphasised that the team’s performance was not just about energy and enthusiasm but also involved tactical awareness. “Yes, but not just all that, running around and rah rah rah, clapping and punching your chest! There has to be a lot of thought behind what we are doing and how we are trying to play. When we get to play like that, we look a good team.”
Regarding transfer activity ahead of the deadline, Cotterill revealed there was no progress. “I am not near anyone, I am absolutely not near anyone. I said pre-match I was let down by somebody, but that’s probably best as if he lets us down then he’d have let us down when he came anyway. I have no problem with that, people letting us down, I don’t want them here anyway. So that’s that. We are not on anyone at the minute, or close to anyone. So we know what we’ll be doing on Sunday, don’t we.”
On having a game scheduled on the transfer deadline day, Cotterill was unfazed. “Nah! What’s the point in worrying about that? It’s there anyway. I’ve had it for years. When I was manager of Nottingham Forest, I sold Wes Morgan to Leicester City on deadline day when I didn’t really want to. He was the best centre-back in the Championship for years. I had to give a young boy his debut that night called Jamaal Lascelles, so sometimes what happens is you start someone else’s career off. Jamaal has gone on to have a fantastic career and Wes has got a great move because he ended up winning the Premier League. What did I get out of it? Probably not a lot! It is what it is, those are the rules. I am not bothered about it.”
Cotterill also shared his respect for Barnet and their manager Dean Brennan. “I think they will be, yes. Dean has done a great job and I like him, get on well with him. For the 90 minutes, he’s going to want his team to win, and I will want my team to win, but I’ll go and see him now and have a quick soft drink with him before we depart. I like Dean and his staff and I have known quite a few of his players now for a few years that have done really well for Barnet. It was going to be a tough old gig coming here today and when you go a goal down it’s even tougher. But the character we showed was huge and if we get that third one, it’s game done. You don’t get that at the end and as I’ve said before, a very poor refereeing performance today. Very poor.”
On player fitness updates, Cotterill said, “We’ll know more about that on Monday, same with Ben Stevenson. At the end it was just ‘don’t go on and do anything rash Ben’. I felt Shaun had covered every blade of grass out there and I didn’t want us to get done on the counter when he didn’t have enough energy in him to get back. We missed him against Swindon and he’s been great. He’s a great lad, who has fitted in the dressing room perfectly and him and Freddy today epitomised our performance, especially in the second half when we started getting on the ball and dictating the game a little bit.”
Discussing Freddy Willcox’s role, Cotterill clarified his preferred position for the player. “I don’t see left-back. I have seen him left-back and left centre-back in a three. I don’t see that. I’ll bet you that’s not far off one of his best performances for Cheltenham Town. In central midfield. He is as tough as an oak tree. He’ll tackle anything, Freddy, but it’s not just that because I could have put him in the team for that six months ago. Now, it’s about him doing bit by bit by bit, nice and gently with him. Getting his body shape right, opening out on his back foot to make those passes a lot easier. Understand moving off the back of pressing midfield players. He’s a great kid, I am really pleased for him and the lads gave him a round of applause in the dressing room, which was really good.”,