Cotterill: Prove you’re worth new Blues deals
STEVE Cotterill insists Birmingham City will handle contract negotiations without sentiment as several first-team stars close in on the end of their St Andrew’s contracts.
Maikel Kieftenbeld, Jonathan Grounds, Stephen Gleeson, David Cotterill, Jacques Maghoma and Paul Robinson are well into the final year of their deals, while summer recruit Jason Lowe only committed to a oneyear contract.
Young striker Jack Storer’s deal also expires at the end of the season, as does Scottish midfielder Andrew Shinnie’s.
But Cotterill, who took over from Harry Redknapp in September, says Blues will demand a level of consistency from the players in question before committing to them.
Asked specifically about Kieftenbeld’s situation, the manager replied: “There are a few we will be looking at. It probably won’t be now. It’s not immediate. We may be looking at that in January some time.
“Those performances (from Kieftenbeld), we are talking half-a-dozen games here. I want players that are going to do it for 25 games at a time before they have a bad one.
“That’s not just him, by the way, that’s everyone. We have to get some balance – good game last week we give him a new contract, whereas the week before when he didn’t have a good game, does that mean no contract?
“This is where we have not got to go up and down here. Let’s get it on an even keel and be focused, not be emotional about it.”
Kieftenbeld said he ‘would listen’ IF Blues decided to offer him a new contract.
The Dutch midfielder sensationally returned to the club in September, a week after agreeing to join Championship rivals Derby County after the EFL failed to ratify the transfer due to a paperwork error.
He has been restored to Blues’ lineup since Cotterill was appointed manager in September, with his wholehearted performances prompting calls for a new deal.
Kieftenbeld said: “If Birmingham made me an offer I would listen to it because they’ve always been good to me and I like to play here.”
Meanwhile, Michael Morrison insists Blues responded to their supporters’ discontent with a positive second-half showing against Wolves at St Andrew’s. Blues trailed 1-0 at the break on Monday night and departed at the interval with some Bluenoses audibly showing their disappointment.
The hosts made changes at the break and, without carving Wolves open, they pushed them back in the second half, only to lose 1-0.
And the Blues captain thinks they tested the runaway leaders.
“I think you could definitely tell it was a derby – especially (in the) second half, we got amongst them,” said Morrison. “There were some tackles going in there and some real desire from the lads to get the fans behind us because first half we felt they weren’t really happy with us.
“Second half, we made a conscious effort to go out there and really put an absolute shift in – and I think we did that.
“Unfortunately we didn’t create enough chances but I don’t think you can knock the workrate of the lads – maybe a bit of the quality was lacking but certainly not the workrate.
“We put everything into it. They are a good side but I think we ran them very close.”