04/25/24
September 20, 2004
I'm not a Forest fan but this guy was a big part of my childhood. I remember him winning the European Cup (twice) and in particular the Malmo game. For those who don't know him, there's more information here, Brian Clough loses battle with cancer . People always say silly things when legends die but this guy was truly unique and there's is no way that either a manager like him could succeed today or that a small team like Forest could both win and retain the Champions League (as it's now called). If football wasn't so obsessed with image rights and merchandising these days it might realise that someone important died today.
posted by Pete at 02:34 PM on September 20, 2004
If football wasn't so obsessed with image rights and merchandising these days it might realise that someone important died today. Oh, I think the game understands it. Roy Keane got his big break under Cloughie, and he's playing tonight. My dad lived just down the road from him in Middlesbrough, and remembers him walking to Ayresome Park for matches. 'Now then, Curly.' An arrogant bugger even in his playing days. But he had every right to be. And in his later years, he was much healthier in spirit than in his last days of management: without the drink, the lucidity and the piercing wit came back as if it had never been away.
posted by etagloh at 03:43 PM on September 20, 2004
Didn't ManU wear black armbands in his memory for this match? I thought that's what they were for at least.
posted by billsaysthis at 04:00 PM on September 20, 2004
Yeah bill, that's right. Whilst I don't come from Nottingham, I do live there and I count myself privileged to have spent a few seasons stood on the Trent End watching the team that Cloughie built. Sadly not the European Cup winning team but the one after that in the mid-80s. They were a fabulous team to watch, sucking in pressure then hitting quick on the break, and always playing the game as it should be played; sharp, incisive passing play out of defence and God help you if hoofed the ball up field. It's a sad day for Nottingham, Derby, Middlesbrough and football.
posted by squealy at 05:58 PM on September 20, 2004
Agreed. A sad day. Football has lost one of it's greatest managers - outspoken, arrogant, but he was right most of the time - he certainly knew how to win football matches.
posted by BigCalm at 03:30 AM on September 21, 2004
Shit... Clough was the greatest, basically. Even going mad and getting Forest relegated couldn't disguise it.