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Nigel Clough Interview

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DcFc Dyycheee

DcFc Dyycheee

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Derby County manager Nigel Clough happy to follow dad's lead in bid to launch promotion push.

It was in Brian Clough’s second year that he guided Derby County to promotion in 1969 and, whisper it quietly, but optimism is building that this could be the year where his son starts making some history of his own.
 

Now 47, Nigel Clough will never escape the shadow of the master manager but nor would he want to.
 

“Do I feel the pressure because of the surname? I suppose it’s another responsibility you’ve added to the list of being the Derby manager,” he says, with a smile. It’s like the royal baby isn’t it, producing an heir?
 

“But I’ve never felt that pressure or even thought about it too greatly. There’s enough other things to worry about but I can see the reasoning why people may want me to do well. It’s nice. If I can try to keep the name ticking along for a few more years, I’ll try.
 

“The one thing he said that stuck with me was that three points shuts everybody up. He never sat us all down and gave us great words of wisdom but win a game, which is something he managed to do a lot, and nobody complains. It puts everybody at the club on a different level, any issues get pushed to one side.”
 

There have been many issues for Clough to contend with, ever since he was unveiled in front of a blinding hail of bulb flashes, for an FA Cup tie against Manchester United in January 2009, yet he is sitting in a sparse room at Derby’s Moor Farm training complex on Friday and could not appear more relaxed.

 

The relentless grind of the Championship season is a little over a week away and he will start this campaign as the longest serving manager in this most capricious of divisions, a statistic that you sense is already proving more of a burden than a source of pride.
 

He has agreed to a rare interview only six days after the death of his mother Barbara, who passed away after a short illness, and Clough is focusing all his energies on continuing the steady progress from last season.
 

It has not always been easy. There have been false dawns, flirts with relegation and at least 40 players offloaded, with Clough fighting a constant battle to trim the wage bill and either produce homegrown players or discover lower league talent.
 

There was a painful FA Cup defeat to then non-League Crawley Town and had his team lost to Swansea in March 2011, he would have almost certainly been sacked. They won 2-1 and have finished 12th and then 10th in the two seasons since.
 

But now, he feels, he possesses his strongest squad yet. He believes the current crop are worth “£20million plus”, a far cry from the underachieving squad taking home gargantuan salaries that he inherited shortly after Derby’s doomed year in the Premier League.
 

Jeff Hendrick and Jamie Ward are both coveted players but none more so than England Under-21 international Will Hughes, a midfielder who has been regularly scouted by Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool and would cost at least £8million.
 

Clough will complete five years in charge this January, arguably deserving of a gold watch in this cut-throat division, but it is never something he takes for granted.
 

He said: “We might be here for two more weeks or two months, you just don’t know. The sack isn’t something we’re worried about because it will happen, if they don’t carry us out in a box first. 

“The highs and lows are so disproportionate to everyday life that it’s difficult to keep things in perspective.

 

“The managers like Sir Alex Ferguson, my dad and Arsene Wenger are the successful ones and you’d think clubs would look at those models and say, ‘wait a minute, let the managers get on with it’.”
 

Is there a secret to getting away from it all? “There’s not much time to relax and it makes you realise how precious the time is that you do get outside of it. 

“You have to grab every opportunity you can to spend time with your family.

“My lad [William] has gone from 10 to 15 since I’ve been here, my young girl [Helena] has gone from seven to 12 and I’ve certainly not seen them as much as I did in the first part of their lives.

 

“It’s a price you’ve got to pay, unfortunately. Picking them up every day from school when I was at Burton Albion seems a long time ago.
 

“I like to read, it’s the only thing that switches you off – television doesn’t work because you’re not really concentrating but reading tends to take you away. “I like good quality escapism, thrillers. David Baldacci, James Patterson are two favourites. I’m used to thrillers managing in the Championship – although the football doesn’t have the grisly murders.”

 

The drama will begin for Clough a week tomorrow, when Derby kick off their season in one of the Football League’s 125th anniversary fixtures at home to Blackburn Rovers.
 

Clough has long abandoned making predictions in this division but expects the likes of Bolton Wanderers and Nottingham Forest, the club where he made his name as a player, to figure strongly for promotion.
 

Queens Park Rangers, he feels, could walk the league by 15 points based on the ability in their squad, but the Championship is unforgiving and cares little for reputations.
 

“It’s more of a daunting feeling going into the season than anything else,” he says. “You’re excited, of course, because you want to be successful but you look at the long slog of 46 games and so much can happen in that time.
 

“I don’t think unpredictable does it justice. It can be erratic, there is not one game when you could predict a result. It’s certainly not a betting man’s league.” - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/derby-county/10205855/Derby-County-manager-Nigel-Clough-happy-to-follow-dads-lead-in-bid-to-launch-promotion-push.html

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eddie

eddie

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I like Cloughie.

 

So do I.

 

He is a breath of fresh air compared to the farts that emanate from some directions.

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uttoxram75

uttoxram75

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I like Cloughie.

I've lived through his Dad, Dave Mackay, Arthur Cox and the Bald Eagle doing great things with my club. 

 

Nowt would make me happier than a bloke who was brought up and lived in Derby most of his life put us back up in the top division and keep us there with a well run, well organised, relatively debt free club.

 

He knows what he's doing, he knows he's got to work for success rather than just buy it.

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Alph

Alph

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Top bloke. Don't see how anyone could dispute that.

Some of the best managers (and one highly rate one who's never earned the hype) could do with having half his class.

Please push us on this year Nige.

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Pearl Ram

Pearl Ram

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Did he really have to say that about Forest... The red dogs will be all over that..

A bit of a masterstroke in my opinion, put's Davies under pressure to deliver if other manager's are predicting big things for a team. 

 

I suppose they'll be in the mix for the play offs but I can't see them getting automatic, much as I loathe the little scrote I have to acknowledge his pedigree in this division but we will take at least 4 points off them, it's the law isn't it ?  ;)

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AndyinLiverpool

AndyinLiverpool

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A bit of a masterstroke in my opinion, put's Davies under pressure to deliver if other manager's are predicting big things for a team.

I suppose they'll be in the mix for the play offs but I can't see them getting automatic, much as I loathe the little scrote I have to acknowledge his pedigree in this division but we will take at least 4 points off them, it's the law isn't it ? ;)

I agree. I don't think he likes Davies very much (who does?) and I reckon this is just preparing the ground for when Forest start to struggle.

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PrivateDerby

PrivateDerby

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I've lived through his Dad, Dave Mackay, Arthur Cox and the Bald Eagle doing great things with my club.

Nowt would make me happier than a bloke who was brought up and lived in Derby most of his life put us back up in the top division and keep us there with a well run, well organised, relatively debt free club.

He knows what he's doing, he knows he's got to work for success rather than just buy it.

Brought a tear that :lol:

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Leicester Ram

Leicester Ram

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I'd love to see him get a crack at the PL with us, a reward for the patience he's had to do with all the cost cutting and losing players. His celebration away at Leeds is one of my favourite moments as a Derby fan, demonstrated the sort of manager he is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

He's just winding Billy up too, get him scared for a good old knee in the back (of the head, hopefully)  :ph34r: .

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mwram1973

mwram1973

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Is that the whole interview?

 

Seems pretty pointless to me.. There only seemed to be about 5 or 6 answers about pretty pointless questions and the rest was made up of the writer's information which we all already know..

 

Well Derby County as a whole seems pretty pointless to you though bris.

 

Top man, pure class & good luck to him this season, can't wait.

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