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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the Western Mail, Cotterill – who is set in January to become the club’s record capture – said \u201cI don\u2019t see why promotion can\u2019t be a realistic aim<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way the side have been playing, anything can happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI watched the game on Friday and they made a Derby side with very good players look like a poor team; they couldn\u2019t get a kick of the ball.<\/p>\n
\u201cSwansea were passing it around for fun and murdered them really.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo as far as promotion goes why not? No-one\u2019s bossing this league at the moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWest Brom and Newcastle are obviously up there but I played against Newcastle with Sheffield United not so long ago, and they certainly didn\u2019t stand out as front-runners like teams have done in this division in the past.<\/p>\n
\u201cSwansea 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there is a difference this year,\u201d said Cotterill, who featured and scored against the Swans last year as part of the Blades team that reached the play-off final.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey look a lot more patient and don\u2019t try and force things.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut they\u2019ve also got a plan A, B and C \u2013 where as last year if plan a didn\u2019t work the game would go against them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey still play the best football in the division and the way they play can suit me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving seen how well the lads are playing it\u2019s not an easy task for me to be a part of that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not about me turning up and saying I\u2019ve arrived when I\u2019ve got to earn a place.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you don\u2019t mind that. At Sheffield I wasn\u2019t playing because I didn\u2019t suit the style of play the manager wanted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey got rid of good players like Lee Hendrie and Brian Howard because they didn\u2019t fit into the plans up there because they\u2019re not physical enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cJohn Toshack has always said if you\u2019re playing regular you\u2019ve got a chance of playing in the national side,\u201d said Cotterill of his Wales hopes.<\/p>\n
\u201cFingers crossed that can be the case for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t be envious of the lads starting because if I haven\u2019t been playing regularly at my club I can\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n