Tuesday 16 May 2017 16:00, UK
Steve Cotterill has turned down the chance to take up the Birmingham assistant manager's role on a permanent basis.
The 52-year-old joined the club as a first-team coach and assistant to Harry Redknapp with just three games of the Sky Bet Championship season remaining after the resignation of Gianfranco Zola.
He helped the Blues avoid relegation on the final day and Redknapp was confirmed as the permanent boss of Birmingham last week after he signed a one-year contract.
However, Cotterill, who guided Bristol City to the League One title in 2015 and has had spells in charge of Nottingham Forest, Portsmouth and Burnley will not be staying on as his assistant and he said he still wants to be a manager in his own right.
"It was a very difficult decision," he told bcfc.com. "I have given it a lot of thought. But I have decided to turn down the club's offer of being assistant manager.
"The club made me a good offer and my decision was solely based on being a number two, whereas really I have been a manager for a long time in my own right. Harry Redknapp asked me to come in and help for three weeks and I believe that's what I firmly did."
He added: "I will miss lots of people at Birmingham City I got on extremely well with. I'd like to thank the kitmen, analysts, physios, sports scientists, office staff and the players. And with the players, the relationship I developed with them on and off the pitch was fantastic.
"They were very receptive in the meeting room, they worked extremely hard on the training ground and the results were there to see - they did really well to get the two out of three wins needed to stay in the Championship.
"Last, but by no means least, I'd like to thank the fans. In the three games they were unbelievable. The support they gave to the players was different class."
