Calderwood Looking For Contract Extension

At the start of the 2007/8 campaign there was only one thing that was going to keep Colin Calderwood in a job at the City Ground and that was promotion.

He achieved that and without the need for the dreaded Play Offs. He also achieved it amidst stern criticism from fans regarding his tactics and team selections, but despite all this he got us up automatically in the most dramatic fashion on the last day of the season.

It was only three weeks before the season ended, when automatic promotion had all but disappeared out of the window and even a Play Off place had still to be secured. We were at one stage 12 points behind Carlisle and 9 behind Doncaster and we had yet to put together a run of more than 3 games unbeaten. CC kept saying that automatic was still possible and mathematically it was, but few believed him (at least I didn't). It was thanks to good form at the right time and a cataclysmic collapse on the parts of Donny and Carlisle that we made it up.

According to the Nottingham Evening Post, CC is now seeking a contract extension and you can't blame him for that. If ever there was a good time to ask, then immediately after clinching promotion is as good a time as any. CC said with regards to his future, is that he hopes talks will be carried out during the summer. 'What I will say is that it is a fair club in the way that the players are rewarded if they do the job,' he said. 'And the chairman and the club have always looked after managers as well.'

One thing we are desperate for at the moment is stability and in CC we may well have the right man to steer us further, but for me he still has a way to go to convince us that he has what it takes to succeed at a higher level. Granted he's had a lot of success in his short time as a manager, but he has also been at smaller clubs and in smaller Divisions. On many occasions this season he has fallen short in the tactical department and everything from team selection to formations have been criticised by the fans and rightly so.

Whilst it's unreasonable of us to expect too much next season in the Championship, none of us want to see League 1 again. Stability is what we need and CC may well be the man to deliver it, but just in case he isn't, any improved contract should have the proviso that if we're struggling, then he has to go. I really hope he is the man for the long term, but I still have reservations.