Former Forest Green boss Steve Cotterill has been installed as the bookmakers’ favourite to make an emotional return to Cheltenham Town, more than two decades after he first made his managerial name at Whaddon Road.
The 61-year-old was seen in the boardroom on Saturday as the Robins suffered a 3-0 defeat at home, a result that proved the final straw for Michael Flynn, who departed with Cheltenham rooted to the bottom of League Two.
Cotterill departed Forest Green Rovers in June after chairman Dale Vince ended his 18-month reign at the New Lawn. Cotterill led Rovers to third in the table last season, but they were beaten by Southend United on penalties in the play-offs to miss out on a place in the Wembley final.
Before that, he enjoyed a long and varied managerial career that has included spells in charge of Burnley, Stoke City, Notts County, Portsmouth, Nottingham Forest, Bristol City and Shrewsbury Town.
He is also well acquainted with Cheltenham’s new chairman Mike Garlick, having worked alongside him during a three-year stint at Burnley in the mid-2000s. Their relationship is seen as a key factor in the speculation linking Cotterill with a Robins return.
Bookmakers BetVictor have priced Cotterill at 2/1 to take the hot seat, with the prospect of him returning to the club he transformed in the late 1990s. During his first spell at Whaddon Road, Cotterill masterminded Cheltenham’s rise from non-league football, winning the FA Trophy in 1998, securing the Conference title in 1999, and guiding the club into the Football League via the play-offs in 2002.
That success established him as one of the country’s brightest young managers, paving the way for moves up the football pyramid. Now, 28 years on from first taking the reins, Cheltenham fans could see a familiar face tasked with leading another revival.
