Please log in or register. Registered visitors get fewer ads.
Monday Musings - Let's hear it for Peter
Monday Musings - Let's hear it for Peter
Monday, 23rd Mar 2009 18:50 by Paul Redfern

This last week has been notable for the launch of the film ‘The Damned United' based on the book of the same name. People up and down the country have dredged up their favoured memories of Old Big Head himself – some reflecting well on the man himself and others less pleasant.

While I haven't yet seen the film, I have read the book and it is dark, a novel noir. But that's what you might expect from the author David Peace who has also written the quartet ‘1974', ‘1977', ‘1980', and ‘1983', from which the recent TV series ‘Red Riding' has been based on. The books are as bleak and gritty as anything emanating from the American hard-boiled crime novel stable.

So it is no surprise that the Clough family took exception to the book and as son Nigel says, they won't be wanting to watch anything based – however loosely – on the book.

That is their right and of course, as a family, they will want to cherish their own memories of Clough senior, and indeed they have responded by cooperating with ITV to make a TV programme putting their side.

Whatever the outcomes of the launch of the film and the ITV programme, it seems inevitable that Clough senior will be very much in the limelight as he was at times in his own life. I have no quarrel with that, as my own opinion of him was that he was a remarkable football manager whose achievements will stand the test of time.

More than that, he genuinely also had a deep and real respect for the spirit of the game; football should be played with flair, élan and total concentration on the game. That included respecting referees and refusing to get sidetracked into childish, niggly and petty squabbles that have blighted and continue to spoil our enjoyment of the game as witnessed this last weekend. It did not mean avoiding the physical side of the game – Hennessey was once instructed to ‘sort out' Palace star Steve Kember which he did to devastating effect in the first five minutes, and, of course, some of Mackay's tackles were to drool over for weeks afterwards.

But generally it was about playing good entertaining football as grudgingly admitted by some of the London hacks. When I was at boarding school in the south of England we only had access to London newspapers which invariably dismissed teams from north of Watford in a parochial and condescending way. I remember feeling this almost overwhelming sense of pride and astonishment reading a report in 1968 of a midweek match. To my amazement, the reporter wrote something along the lines of “while they made many mistakes, they also played with enormous flair”. That was praise indeed. It was the second division championship year and things were stirring then.

But none of this would have been possible without a certain Peter Taylor. Clough acknowledged the debt he owed to Taylor by referring him as the “goods in the shop”, while he himself was the “shop window”. He also paid tribute to Taylor at the unveiling of a new bust of himself at the City Ground by asking that the ‘Brian Clough stand' be renamed “The Brian Clough and Peter Taylor Stand”.

So I think it is a travesty that the makers of the film have cast Timothy Spall as Taylor. Spall is a fine actor, but my image of him is of a little fat man who has never run a mile in his life and Taylor as an ex-goalkeeper was anything but little. Spall does not even look like him, and I don't care whether he gets Taylor's voice and mannerisms off perfect or not; to me, he is hopelessly miscast.

More than that, my impression from the trailers that I have seen, the makers of the film seem to have fallen into the trap that so many people have made, of dismissing Taylor as the lesser of the two. In fact, both men formed a brilliant partnership based on complementary skills, and notably for the football world at that time were not afraid to acknowledge that. Along with the Allison and Mercer partnership, they challenged the conventions of the time which did not recognise management partnerships.

Once I've seen the film, I may change my opinion of Spall being cast as Taylor, and of the weight given to Taylor and his place in the history of Derby County (Forest don't count), but for now, I sincerely hope that Taylor does not get forgotten amidst all the current hype. When – not if – the current Board recognises their achievements and erects a lasting memorial to them, Taylor should take his rightful place as one of the ‘Clough and Taylor' duo that propelled us to the First Division championship in 1972.

Let's make sure Peter Taylor isn't forgotten.

Photo: Action Images



Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.


You need to login in order to post your comments

Derby County Polls

About Us Contact Us Terms & Conditions Privacy Cookies Advertising
© FansNetwork 2024