Swansea City were putting the final touches on the deal last night and Cotterill will be straight into the squad that takes on leaders Newcastle at the weekend having watched an impressive display against Derby on Friday night.
Cotterill watched from the Director’s Box as the Swans moved into the play off positions with victory over Derby and the new boy sees nothing in the squad to suggest that they cannot maintain a promotion push right through until the end of the season.
Speaking to the Western Mail, Cotterill – who is set in January to become the club’s record capture – said โI donโt see why promotion canโt be a realistic aim
โThe way the side have been playing, anything can happen.
โI watched the game on Friday and they made a Derby side with very good players look like a poor team; they couldnโt get a kick of the ball.
โSwansea were passing it around for fun and murdered them really.
โSo as far as promotion goes why not? No-oneโs bossing this league at the moment.
โWest Brom and Newcastle are obviously up there but I played against Newcastle with Sheffield United not so long ago, and they certainly didnโt stand out as front-runners like teams have done in this division in the past.
โSwansea are the best footballing side in the league. If they can keep grinding out the results and do the dirty work as well then we can hope for a very good season.
โI think there is a difference this year,โ said Cotterill, who featured and scored against the Swans last year as part of the Blades team that reached the play-off final.
โThey look a lot more patient and donโt try and force things.
โBut theyโve also got a plan A, B and C โ where as last year if plan a didnโt work the game would go against them.
โThey still play the best football in the division and the way they play can suit me.
โHaving seen how well the lads are playing itโs not an easy task for me to be a part of that.
โItโs not about me turning up and saying Iโve arrived when Iโve got to earn a place.
โBut you donโt mind that. At Sheffield I wasnโt playing because I didnโt suit the style of play the manager wanted.
โThey got rid of good players like Lee Hendrie and Brian Howard because they didnโt fit into the plans up there because theyโre not physical enough.
โJohn Toshack has always said if youโre playing regular youโve got a chance of playing in the national side,โ said Cotterill of his Wales hopes.
โFingers crossed that can be the case for me.
โI canโt be envious of the lads starting because if I havenโt been playing regularly at my club I canโt suddenly expect to be in the first XI for my country. Coming here does give me the chance to take the first step to putting that right.โ