Source: Daily_Mail
The crazy world of Old Big 'Ead: Memories of Brian Clough
The demonising of Brian Clough in the controversial new film The Damned United focuses on his turbulent 44 days in charge of Leeds United. Such was the anguish created by this damaging portrait that his family refused to co-operate in the film's making. Here Sportsmail's IAN LADYMAN retraces Clough's steps, trawls the archives and speaks to many of those who were close to him to reveal the true story behind the life of Brian...[LNB]Brian Clough had just accepted his first managerial post, at Hartlepool. It was October 1965 and he walked in front of the television cameras to deliver his opening message.[LNB] 'The things that are hard work to other managers are not hard work to me. The discipline side, the judging of players, the training and coaching. These are not problems as far as I'm concerned.' [LNB]Clough was 30 years old. [LNB]Just moments into his first address, Clough already presumed himself to be better than the rest. Almost 45 years on, who can argue? [LNB][LNB][LNB] Clough medicine: The legendary manager plays cricket in his underpants at a training session before a European Cup Final.[LNB]Certainly not many of those who played for him during the remarkable, trophy-laden years that were to follow at Derby County and, of course, Nottingham Forest. [LNB]Not all of Clough's players liked him, but this has not clouded their judgment. [LNB]Former Forest and Liverpool defender Larry Lloyd, who won two European Cups under Clough after being rescued from Coventry's reserves, once told his manager: 'If you walked into a pub I was drinking in, I would walk out.' [LNB]Nevertheless, the big central defender is equally categoric when it comes to reflecting on his old manager's place in the pantheon. [LNB]'I played for Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley but, without doubt, Cloughie was the best,' says Lloyd. 'It's close, because Shankly was a genius too, but Cloughie did it with two much smaller clubs. [LNB]'I can't remember ever having a tactical or coaching lesson from him, but as a football manager he was second to none. He made us feel invincible. Every time we ran out there we thought we would win.' [LNB] There's only one Brian Clough! Why we - and some Leeds fans - love Old Big 'Ead and his green jumperLike father like son: Clough, Redknapp and Co prove football is a family affairThe LMA has celebrated the success of managers in English football with a commemorative poster, so...why no Cloughie?[LNB]Clough has been immortalised in print and on film, but to see what he really stood for, you should step through the doors of the City Ground. [LNB]The home of Nottingham Forest is an unpretentious, unspectacular stadium by modern standards. Nevertheless, Clough's name is still written all over it. [LNB]Just as they are now, Forest were struggling in the old Second Division when Clough arrived in January 1975 following his disastrous 44-day spell at Leeds. A little over five years later, they had won the European Cup. Twice. [LNB]'I can remember his first day,' says winger John Robertson, who was on the transfer list before Clough arrived. 'I was sat in the dressing room facing the doors and, bang, they flew open. [LNB]'He took off his jacket and in one movement flung it on to a peg. I didn't even know the peg was there, so how did he? You could feel the electricity. [LNB]In with a shout: Clough leaps off the bench with something to say to his Nottingham Forest side.[LNB]'There were no pleasantries, no introductions, no shaking hands. He just told us we were going training. After that we all bucked up. We had no choice.' [LNB]Clough's style of management relied heavily on surprise, unpredictability and impulse. Kenny Burns, a decent centre forward who was transformed into a title-winning central defender, was once fined £25 just for playing a square pass across goal; his partner Lloyd was once substituted before kick-off just because he had his socks rolled down.[LNB] Then there was striker Garry Birtles, a carpet fitter before joining Forest for £5,000 and who went on to play for England. He was ordered to shave before boarding the bus to the 1980 European Cup final in Madrid ('He could see I was nervous and wanted to take my mind off the game,' said Birtles). [LNB]Clough's style did not change much as he moved from Hartlepool to Derby, Brighton, Leeds and then Forest, from where he retired in 1993. [LNB]A manager of people rather than a coach, his ability to get the best out of players - to get inside their heads - perhaps remains unequalled to this day. There were no set-piece routines and no drills. His methods were unique. [LNB]Who else, for example, would encourage his players to drink beer on the coach journey to a European Cup final, as he did in 1979? [LNB]'He would do things like that all the time,' recalls Birtles. 'The night before the League Cup final against Southampton in 1979 we were blotto. [LNB]'We had everything we could possibly have wanted to drink. Bitter, lager, mild, champagne. There were people who could hardly stand by the time we went to bed. But Clough insisted on it. Archie Gemmill wanted to go to bed. He wouldn't let him. [LNB]'We were 1-0 down at half-time the next day, but once we sobered up we were OK. We won 3-2.' [LNB]Shake any of the numerous books written about Clough and stories of intimidation, humiliation and bullying will tumble out. Clough, though, always denied his players were scared of him. 'The key to preparation,' he said, 'is relaxation.' [LNB] Cloughie shares a 1978 League Cup winning moment with Kenny Burns.[LNB]Some players - Lloyd and Burns among them - claim never to have been frightened of Clough. Others - including Robertson and captain John McGovern - would suggest otherwise. This, after all, was a manager who knocked down Roy Keane with a single punch. Keane, one of the most ferocious midfielders to play in the Premier League, was a discovery from Irish parttimers Cobh Ramblers. [LNB]He later recalled in his autobiography: 'He was incredible. I walked into the dressing room at half-time once and he punched me straight in the face. "Don't pass the ball back to the goalkeeper!" he screamed. He never said sorry but the following week I was given a few days off.' [LNB]On other occasions, players were made to run through nettles on the banks of the River Trent. [LNB]Former Nottingham Evening Post reporter Ian Edwards reveals: 'I was at the City Ground one day waiting to see players after training. [LNB]'Robbo (Robertson) was long since retired but had come to the ground for some reason. Cloughie spotted us and stomped over to b*****k me about something I had written. As he did this I could feel Robbo shuffling behind me. He was hiding. [LNB]'After Cloughie had gone, I turned to Robbo and he was sitting there with his head in his hands. [LNB]'He said, "I am retired. I am a grown up. I have kids. So why am I still terrified of that man?"'[LNB] The manager leads the singing on the Forest team bus.[LNB]Despite his success at Forest, Clough's most memorable achievement - in his own words - came a decade earlier, 15 miles down the A52 at Derby County. Joining in 1967, the 32-year-old stripped down the club and started again. [LNB]The process might not have worked later at Leeds, but it worked at Derby. Pictures came down. Players were sold and staff dismissed. Two tea ladies overheard laughing after a home defeat were never seen at the ground again. [LNB]And in May 1969, at the end of his first full season, Derby were promoted as Division Two champions. [LNB]Clough then beat his great rival, Leeds manager Don Revie, to the Division One title on the final weekend of the 1971-72 season. [LNB]Derby chairman Sam Longson had watched Clough, the prolific centre forward whose career came to an end through injury at 29, playing for Sunderland. He said: 'He was telling everyone what to do. There was something about him. Others called it arrogance. I called it leadership.' [LNB]At Derby - as he was to be at Forest - Clough was revered and hated in equal measure. 'He had about five different personalities,' says Derby secretary Stuart Webb. 'If you showed an ounce of resistance, he would crush it out of you and rebuild you to his own liking.' [LNB]Double act: Clough and his long-time assistant Peter Taylor.[LNB]But it was clear, even then, that Clough's methods worked. Under him, Derby, reached the semi-finals of the European Cup. Then, six months later, he walked out. [LNB]'It was a mad moment,' he said later. 'I was too full of myself. If I had stayed we could have won the lot. It could have been a dynasty.'[LNB]It was - as was always the way with Clough - a deeply bitter exit. [LNB]Forest are a smaller club - even during the glory years the City Ground was not always full - and the close - knit mentality of the Clough era remains to this day. Last week, the apprentices there were still cleaning boots. [LNB]'We were on our backsides when Cloughie got hold of us,' said current Forest kit man Terry Farndale, who has worked at the club for 37 years. [LNB]'He took us from nowhere and made us the greatest club in Europe. But don't ask me to tell you any Cloughie stories because I won't. I could never, ever do him justice.' [LNB]Such loyalty to Clough is common. This, after all, is a man who once tried to give his OBE to his gardener. He invited himself and took along the same gardener when Kenny Burns was married. [LNB]Burns, signed from Birmingham, was one of the many talents spotted by Peter Taylor, Clough's famous sidekick, of whom the manager once wrote: 'I miss you badly. You once said, "When you get shot of me there won't be much laughter in your life". You were right.' [LNB]Without Taylor, Clough was not the same manager. Their falling-out - after Taylor wrote a book about the pair's partnership without consulting Clough, then left Forest suddenly in 1982 - was bitter and enduring. Clough was never the same again. [LNB]Taylor went to manage Derby and signed Robertson without letting Clough know. Clough, feeling betrayed, claimed that if he saw his old partner on the A52 between Nottingham and Derby he would 'run him over'. In an ironic twist, that very road now carries Clough's name. [LNB] Cloughie leads out his Nottingham Forest team for the 1991 FA Cup final - hand-in-hand with opposing Tottenham manager Terry Venables.[LNB]Taylor was the man who spotted the players and the man who made Clough laugh. Burns, who arrived at Forest with something of a reputation, said: 'Apparently Peter knew that I liked a flutter on the horses and dogs, and because of this Clough was not sure about signing me. [LNB]'I went to Perry Barr one night to have a few bets and, apparently, Taylor followed me. He was there in the shadows with a hat on and his collar up. He even wore dark glasses. [LNB]'Then it was Clough's turn. I eventually met him at a garden centre, at a sweet pea exhibition, and he persuaded me to sign. When I got married he invited himself and he brought his wife and his gardener. Incredible.' [LNB]Clough later said of Taylor's knack of finding players: 'He was always 24 hours ahead of me when it came to seeing things and spotting players. I don't like to name drop, but Frank Sinatra once told me that the written word is the first thing in his business and the music comes later. [LNB]'Well, in football, the man who picks the players comes first. All the bulls**t comes later.' [LNB]The trophies from their reign remain at the humble City Ground. One Division One championship. Two European Cups. One European Super Cup. Four League Cups (two won after Taylor left). [LNB]John McGovern, who signed for Clough four times, says: 'When people come up and ask me for my memories of Brian Clough, I just open my trophy box and show them the medals. They are my memories.'[LNB][LNB]A BIN FULL OF CASH JUST WENT MISSING...[LNB]Lurid tales of alcohol abuse and financial impropriety followed Clough to his retirement. In truth, he had been no stranger to talk of both throughout his career. [LNB]At Derby, the directors took to locking the drinks cabinet when they were not at the club, while Clough's assistant Peter Taylor admitted: 'We were both drinking to excess.' [LNB]Up for the cup: Taylor (above) and Clough both drank heavily.[LNB]Teddy Sheringham, meanwhile, recalls going into the Nottingham Forest dressing room during his brief stay at the City Ground. [LNB]'Drinks had been lined up and I traipsed in and grabbed the first beaker I saw,' said Sheringham. [LNB]'I took a long swig and for the next 10 seconds I couldn't breathe. It was a very large, barely diluted, vodka and orange. "I think I've just drunk your drink, boss", I gasped.' [LNB]In 1970, Derby were fined £10,000 for financial irregularities that implicated Clough and Taylor. Derby secretary Stuart Webb claimed: 'Clough was running round with bins full of cash one disappeared.' [LNB]At Forest the pair were found to have accepted cash to play a friendly in Ireland while in the Nineties - as Clough's health suffered - an FA report concluded that he had profited financially from several transfers, including Sheringham's to Tottenham. [LNB]But, throughout his personal and professional decline, Clough remained compelling. That he never managed the England national team - he was overlooked after an interview when Ron Greenwood was chosen in 1977 -remains a contentious issue. It would certainly not have been dull. [LNB]Former Forest striker Garry Birtles said: 'How Clough never got the England job was an utter disgrace. The FA should be ashamed - they were scared stiff of him. [LNB]'And why was he never knighted? Trevor Brooking was. Alex Ferguson was. Bobby Robson was. It's absurd.'[LNB]TOMORROW: Jeff Powell on his 36-hour bender with Clough[LNB] There's only one Brian Clough! Why we - and some Leeds fans - love Old Big 'Ead and his green jumperLike father like son: Clough, Redknapp and Co prove football is a family affairThe LMA has celebrated the success of managers in English football with a commemorative poster, so...why no Cloughie?[LNB] [LNB]
