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In not the sharpest contrast from the previous blog (‘The British Empire Rules Again’), I would like to dedicate this one to the greatest manager there ever was.
In case you weren’t aware, that man was known as Brian Clough (or ‘Ol Big ‘Ead as his adoring press christened him). Now, let’s be as frank as he would have been, in case there was any doubt of his supreme
status, there will never be another manager as good.
This man not only transformed Derby County into First Division (that’s the Premier League with more teams in it) Champions [Paul Jewell take note],
but he took Nottingham Forest up into the top flight one season, and scooped
the title the next. If that wasn’t enough the man took Forest to an unprecedented successive European Cup (that’s the Champions’ League with only the winners in it) double. That, in short, will never be
eclipsed. In the modern game a lot of people look at his achievements and find
excuses. The fact is, if you were as good a manager as he you could do it in
1956 or 2056.
Despite Cloughie’s immense success, it’s not just that that sets him apart from his peers. It was the fact that he made
football interesting. For all the global appeal of David Beckham’s movie star looks (and sweet right boot, in fairness), people didn’t care about how Brian looked, they just wanted to hear what he had to say. Who
else could have got Muhammad Ali to comment on a soccer star!
When Clough was around, he’d combine his management duties with TV appearances. When he was sacked as
manager of ‘Don Revie’s Leeds Machine’, the man went on telly the same evening, with Revie, to talk about it. Can you
imagine that in the modern game?! Avram Grant sitting alongside Jose Mourinho
discussing his ‘Stop-gap’, Arsene Wenger sitting alongside George Graham discussing the ‘new’ Arsenal or even Kevin Keegan with Alex Ferguson in ’96?!
Clough didn’t have to be the media clown, the bloke who likes the sound of his own voice and
says outrageous things. He did it because not only did he live and breathe
football, but he wanted to give his team an advantage. This was probably why he
and Sir Alex never really saw eye to eye – whereas Clough had created a public front, Ferguson preferred crafty
mind-games. Yep, Cloughie really was one in a million. There aren’t many people in football or even modern culture, who the whole world stops to
listen to.
CM
(c) ChrisOnline.biz 2009
