Cloughie: Legacy of a self-confessed Big ‘Ead



“I wouldn‘t say I was the greatest manager ever. But I was in the top one.”

This is far from the first time this quote has been repeated, but this could be said about so many words spoken by Brian Clough OBE. He has become synonymous with the straight-talking, no-nonsense side of football - an Editor’s dream, always able to provide another sound- bite that testified to his great affinity with the game.

Certainly, the respect is mutual; without Clough, the histories of Derby, Nottingham Forest, and the English game at large would have been a greatly different affair. He brought championships and back-to-back European trophies to two relatively minor clubs, getting the best out of players who themselves knew were not the finest footballers to have graced their leagues. He put together an unbeaten league run which has only just been beaten, by a side that have taken a whole lot more to assemble than those at Forest.

His record at the City Ground was nothing short of phenomenal - arriving in 1975, he took a couple of years to get things rolling, then it began to flow - promotion ‘77, championship ‘78, European Cup ‘79, again in ‘80. Four League Cups were also amassed in this period, and the only trophy to escape him was the F.A Cup. As an individual with unfortunate Spurs leanings, I would happily give up our 1991 triumph over his side that he might have the lot.

But he was a genius, and as with most real geniuses, he was not without his flaws. Amongst his regrets, three subjects stand out prominently; his relationships with Peter Taylor, Justin Fashanu and drink. His falling out with his former right-hand man, Taylor, fired by the latter’s decision to sign John Robertson while Clough was on holiday, was put into context by Taylor’s death in 1990. The years of silence before made it immensely hard for Clough to forgive himself for the collapse of not only one of the greatest managerial partnerships of that and any era, but also a great friendship.

Death was also the spark for the regret that he felt over Justin Fashanu. The striker’s suicide in 1998 caused Clough to look back at his treatment of a player he saw as a playboy and a fraud, someone not inclined to be what he wanted: a footballer and nothing else. He has since conceded that he should have done more - if not because he liked him, then because he was his manager, and he owed the young forward a duty of care. Doubtless, his Ј1,000,000 investment was not rewarded with goals - 3 in 31 games - and Clough was so un- impressed he had him removed from the training ground and sold for a measly Ј25,000, but Fashanu was in need of help, and his manager felt he let him down.

The final regret came right at the end of his career, when too much drink clouded his judgement and compromised his professionalism. Forest slipped out of the inaugural Premiership, to the great shame of their intensely proud manager.

Yet these are some of only a few lows that Clough’s career saw - he was not the pioneer perhaps, but he was a leading advocate of the belief that football is a game to be played on the floor, not in the air. His side reflected this - from the bargain buys (Frank Clark, free; Gary Birtles, Ј2,000; Archie Gemmill, Ј25,000) to the big-money gambles (Trevor Francis, the first Ј1 million footballer; Peter Shilton, Ј270,000), all played with an irresistible skill and fluency that led them to their success.

The question is often asked - could he do it today? Could he cope with the hefty egos and the even heftier wage packets? Of course he could - if Mark Viduka kicked up a stink, if Kieron Dyer refused to play right-wing, they’d be straight out and be replaced by someone who would wear the shirt with pride and play with passion. A lesser name perhaps, but a more effective performer. Just look at one of Clough’s protйgйs, Martin O’Neill, with his mentor from second division to European Cup Final - his Celtic side is characterised by this kind of player - Balde, Petrov, Mjallby and McNamara. None of them are leading names, yet together they came teasingly close to lifting the UEFA Cup, lead out of second-place mediocrity by their talismanic manager.

The country can only hope that a man such as this will one day get the England job, to allow us an insight into the way it might have been had Brian Clough been employed, as he surely should have been, in the national hot-seat. But perhaps that would have made him just too big-’eaded.

Brian Clough (1935-2004)

204 goals in 222 appearances (M’boro)
63 in 74 (S’land)
2 England Caps
2 Championships
2 European Cups
4 League Cups