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Steve Cotterill insists no Harry Redknapp contact over Birmingham squad

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Steve Cotterill insists he has not contacted Harry Redknapp for advice on Birmingham's squad after replacing him as manager

Steve Cotterill insists he has not contacted Harry Redknapp for advice on Birmingham's squad after replacing him as manager.

Redknapp, with Cotterill as his assistant, led Birmingham to a dramatic escape from relegation to Sky Bet League One last season, only to be sacked following six successive defeats in the current campaign.

The 70-year-old was backed with heavy investment in the squad during the transfer window from Birmingham's Chinese owners, Trillion Trophy Asia, bringing in 14 new players.

But Cotterill, who left Birmingham in the summer as he wanted to be a manager in his own right, insists he did not need to call on his predecessor to find out about the new recruits at St Andrew's.

"I think I would know them as well as Harry would know them," Cotterill said at his first press conference as Birmingham manager, after being presented by chief executive Xuandong Ren, who asked to be known as Dong.

"First and foremost this dressing room needs to breathe a little bit and find out who is where and who is doing what.

"The answer is not always bringing players in, bringing players in and bringing players in. Sometimes the answer is coach them.

"If they can't do what you want them to do then maybe go to the chairman, to Dong, and say can we go and purchase this player."

The longer Steve Cotterill is here the more likely we are to get back to the Premier League
Xuandong Ren, Birmingham chief executive

Birmingham sit in the relegation zone in the Championship, having been beaten 6-1 by Hull in caretaker manager Lee Carsley's final game in charge on Saturday.

Since his dismissal, Redknapp has said he would have achieved promotion to the Premier League this season or next, but Cotterill insisted he has not been set any minimum expectations by the club's hierarchy.

"To get ourselves out of the relegation zone, that's our immediate task," the former Nottingham Forest and Portsmouth boss said.

"Nothing has been told to me what I need to do or expectations on me. They'll know my type of character."

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Former Birmingham director Panos Pavlakis is sure manager Harry Redknapp 'paid the price' for disagreements behind the scenes at St Andrew's

Dong, though, championed a different rhetoric throughout the press conference, in which he introduced Cotterill as the man who "can lead us to success and back to the Premier League".

The Birmingham chief executive added: "A proven record, that's what the club needs at the moment, and also it's time to have some stability now.

"I know that we are always being labelled foreign owners and we don't know where we get the [label] we like sacking managers, which unfortunately happened, but the longer Steve Cotterill is here the more likely we are to get back to the Premier League. That's the reason we choose him."

Dong reiterated his "love" for Redknapp and thanked the former Tottenham boss for saving the club from relegation.

We have a lot of businesses, like casinos, but this is not the casino business.
Xuandong Ren, Birmingham chief executive

The Birmingham director was also defensive over foreign owners, insisting the club is in good hands.

"Football in this country is huge," said Dong. "We have a lot of businesses, like casinos, but this is not the casino business.

"You get to a casino, you go back home with a bag of cash or empty hands, we know football is something different.

"This is the first time we are actually ready to offer stability to the club."

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