The passing of Brian Clough yesterday has left a hole in the game of football that us unlikely to be filled in any way, shape or form in the future.
Brian Clough may not have had the trophy haul of other managers in the game over the past 30 years or more but his achievements were probably second to none considering the clubs that he achieved that success with. Derby County league champions. Nottingham Forest league champions and twice champions of Europe. Those achievements alone say it all for the man who was never afraid to speak his mind.
Nottingham Forest were languishing near the bottom of the second division (now the championship) when Clough took over and he turned that around into promotion, a league title the next season and followed that up with back to back European Cup Wins. Sir Alex Ferguson is credited as the most successful manager of the modern era but he never managed that success abroad and even the likes of the great Bob Paisley only managed it on foundations build by Bill Shankly.
Cloughie was unique. Working in tandem with Peter Taylor they purchased players and made them world class. Some of these players were only half decent when they arrived but Clough turned them around and made them special. He made them have belief in themselves and he bought the best out of the people that he had playing for himself. Nottingham Forest have not been the same since he left and they will, I would imagine, never be as successful again. But their trophy cabinet will always play host to those two European Cups - the biggest club trophy that European Football can offer. And this as well in the day that all competitiors were champions, not 4th place in their respective leagues.
People forget as well that Clough found Roy Keane and bought him to this country and Martin O'Neill owes so much of his success to Mr Clough and the methods he used at Forest when O'Neill was part of the golden era of the late 70s. Clough won four league cups as well with Forest - all done in the day when the league cup was given equal importance by all clubs competing in it. No reserve teams, these were strong teams put out by everyone.
Sometimes you looked at Clough and wondered what he was talking about but you knew that he was talking sense even if you couldn't understand it. He simply loved football and although many wouldn't admit it, football loved him.
His character was what the game needed, sometimes you think the game needs that sort of character now. He'd clip a fan if a fan stepped out of order and he himself admitted that he hit Roy Keane once "Not hard, because he got up again" said Clough. Can you imagine if Ferguson did that tomorrow?
Clough's passing is football's loss and the game is worse off because of it. It may be eleven years since he left Forest but the legend of Brian Clough will always live for ever and so it should.
A loss to football. RIP Cloughie.
| DusseldorfJack Posted on 21/9 8:18 | Email this Message | NSR - Cloughie Quotes |
RIP Mr.Clough, God bless you sir. "If God had wanted us to play football in the clouds, he'd have put grass up there." On the importance of passing to feet. "Manchester United in Brazil? I hope they all get bloody diarrhea." On Man Utd opting-out of the FA Cup to play in the World Club Championship. "I can't even spell spaghetti never mind talk Italian. How could I tell an Italian to get the ball - he might grab mine." On the influx of foreign players. "I bet their dressing room will smell of garlic rather than liniment over the next few months." On the number of French players at Arsenal. "Who the hell wants fourteen pairs of shoes when you go on holiday? I haven't had fourteen pairs in my life." On the contents of Posh Spice's missing luggage. "I wouldn't say I was the best manager in the business. But I was in the top one." Looking back at his success. "On occasions I have been big headed. I think most people are when they get in the limelight. I call myself Big Head just to remind myself not to be." Old Big 'Ead explains his nickname. "At last England have appointed a manager who speaks English better than the players." On the appointment of Sven Goran Eriksson as England manager. "If he'd been English or Swedish, he'd have walked the England job." On Martin O'Neill. "Anybody who can do anything in Leicester but make a jumper has got to be a genius." A tribute to Martin O'Neill. "The ugliest player I ever signed was Kenny Burns." A Clough complement for a talented player. "Stand up straight, get your shoulders back and get your hair cut." Advice for John McGovern at Hartlepool. "Take your hands out of your pockets." More advice, this time for a young Trevor Francis as he receives an award from the Master Manager. "The Derby players have seen more of his balls than the one they're meant to be playing with." On the streaker who appeared during Derby's game against Manchester United. "I only ever hit Roy the once. He got up so I couldn't have hit him very hard." On dealing with Roy Keane. "Walk on water? I know most people out there will be saying that instead of walking on it, I should have taken more of it with my drinks. They are absolutely right." Reflecting on his drink problem. "I'm dealing with my drinking problem and I have a reputation for getting things done." A comment which speaks for itself. "Don't send me flowers when I'm dead. If you like me, send them while I'm alive." After the operation which saved his life. "Players lose you games, not tactics. There's so much crap talked about tactics by people who barely know how to win at dominoes." Reflecting on England's exit from Euro 2000. "We talk about it for twenty minutes and then we decide I was right." On dealing with a player who disagrees. "I want no epitaphs of profound history and all that type of thing. I contributed - I would hope they would say that, and I would hope somebody liked me," On how he would like to be remembered. "It was a crooked match and he was a crooked referee. That was a tournament we could and should have won." On the 1984 UEFA Cup semi-final Forest lost to Anderlecht. "I'm sure the England selectors thought if they took me on and gave me the job, I'd want to run the show. They were shrewd, because that's exactly what I would have done." On not getting the England manager's job. "You don't want roast beef and Yorkshire every night and twice on Sunday." On too much football on television. "If a chairman sacks the manager he initially appointed, he should go as well." On too many managers getting the boot. "I thought it was my next door neighbour, because I think she felt that if I got something like that, I'd have to move." Guessing who nominated him for a knighthood. "For all his horses, knighthoods and championships, he hasn't got two of what I've got. And I don't mean balls!" Referring to Sir Alex Ferguson's failure to win two successive European Cups. "I like my women to be feminine, not sliding into tackles and covered in mud." On women's football. ''That Seaman is a handsome young man but he spends too much time looking in his mirror, rather than at the ball. You can't keep goal with hair like that." On England goalkeeper David Seaman. "I've missed him. He used to make me laugh. He was the best diffuser of a situation I have ever known. I hope he's alright." On the late Peter Taylor. "He's learned more about football management than he ever imagined. Some people think you can take football boots off and put a suit on. You can't do that." On David Platt's first season as Forest manager. "He should guide Posh in the direction of a singing coach because she's nowhere near as good at her job as her husband." Advice for David Beckham. "Barbara's supervising the move. She's having more extensions built than Heathrow Airport." On moving house in Derbyshire. | | | IP: Logged |
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