So its officially official - we're going to be in this relegation scrap for the rest of the season.
Ideas are waning and everything we try seems to come to no avail.
In November, Cotterill promised he'd give youth a chance. He went on to roll off a list of now established players he's given debuts to in the past - Gary Cahill being one, ex-Reds Nathan Tyson and Kris Commons being others.
Some fans have clung onto this in the feint hope we have a young hero in our academy about to step up and steer us away from trouble.
We can dream, but the optimism is understandable especially with highly rated talents like Patrick Bamford and Jamaal Lascelles - the latter may be turning out for Arsenal reserves this time next month though.
Gone are the days of throwing money at our problems. If we can't buy or loan without having to sell first, the only other way we can add to our squad is with the undiscovered quantities in the youth team.
I'm undecided if youth is the answer at this stage but if they're good enough, they're old enough.
For Karlton Watson and Neil Byrne, Cotterill has seen enough with them both being released last Friday.
Some fans hit twitter to express their fury - why I don't know. Maybe they just wanted a retweet from one of them, when in reality they couldn't give a toss.
The truth is, neither we're identified by Cotterill in November as players who would get a chance. The writings were probably on the wall.
A small group of fans also took up the common rant about our track record of releasing kids before they're ready.
Apart from Bastians, Wright Phillips, Lawrence and Sinclair, none of the players we've released in many years have come close to the level we play at now. Look at Nialle Rodney.
Every side makes mistakes, it's football - Blackburn turned down the opportunity to sign a young Zidane before he went to Juventus.
What you need to realise with the likes of Watson and Byrne, is if they're only good enough for the conference, do you want them in a Championship sides first XI trying to keep us up? I certainly don't.
You wouldn't go and buy two average players from Mansfield after all.
When the remaining youth get their chance remains to be seen.
If this horrendous run of form continues though, I think their chance wil come sooner than any of us anticipate.
Follow me on twitter @benando_torres
Ideas are waning and everything we try seems to come to no avail.
In November, Cotterill promised he'd give youth a chance. He went on to roll off a list of now established players he's given debuts to in the past - Gary Cahill being one, ex-Reds Nathan Tyson and Kris Commons being others.
Some fans have clung onto this in the feint hope we have a young hero in our academy about to step up and steer us away from trouble.
We can dream, but the optimism is understandable especially with highly rated talents like Patrick Bamford and Jamaal Lascelles - the latter may be turning out for Arsenal reserves this time next month though.
Gone are the days of throwing money at our problems. If we can't buy or loan without having to sell first, the only other way we can add to our squad is with the undiscovered quantities in the youth team.
I'm undecided if youth is the answer at this stage but if they're good enough, they're old enough.
For Karlton Watson and Neil Byrne, Cotterill has seen enough with them both being released last Friday.
Some fans hit twitter to express their fury - why I don't know. Maybe they just wanted a retweet from one of them, when in reality they couldn't give a toss.
The truth is, neither we're identified by Cotterill in November as players who would get a chance. The writings were probably on the wall.
A small group of fans also took up the common rant about our track record of releasing kids before they're ready.
Apart from Bastians, Wright Phillips, Lawrence and Sinclair, none of the players we've released in many years have come close to the level we play at now. Look at Nialle Rodney.
Every side makes mistakes, it's football - Blackburn turned down the opportunity to sign a young Zidane before he went to Juventus.
What you need to realise with the likes of Watson and Byrne, is if they're only good enough for the conference, do you want them in a Championship sides first XI trying to keep us up? I certainly don't.
You wouldn't go and buy two average players from Mansfield after all.
When the remaining youth get their chance remains to be seen.
If this horrendous run of form continues though, I think their chance wil come sooner than any of us anticipate.
Follow me on twitter @benando_torres
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