Brian Clough: The Greatest Manager England Never Had

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I admired the man for his honesty, he called a spade a spade, his ability both as a player and a manager but most of all for the great football teams that he produced. They swaggered with Cloughie style and he had the ability to take an unwanted player and turn him into a dreamwever or a leviathan on the pitch. He was a man's man. He was also his own worst enemy and was inevitably responsible for his own decline although he regretted many of the decisions that he made.
 The programme above is on BBC2 tonight at 2230 BST but for those of you who live abroad through the wonders of modern technology you will be able to watch it for up to a fortnight over the internet on BBCiPlayer at bbc.co.uk/iplayer . Whoops - this isn't true unfortunately as it's only available to licence players in the UK-however this might help for those of you that are technical hubpages.com/hub/Watching-BBC-IPlayer-Abroad
 Stories about him abound , some true and others not, but his sayings are rightly legendary. In the programme he is asked why he never became England's manager and he replied because I frightened them to death because they thought I wanted to take over the F.A. as well, and they were right. I have no doubt that had he got the job English football would have thrived and that under him we might even have possibly won the World Cup. As for the F.A. not only was that a wrong decision but almost everyone they have taken since has led to the deterioration of the English game. Money alone rules at th F.A. and they have miserbly neglected their duty to nurture the game at grass roots level. We have 800 youth coaches with a grade 3 certificate whilst in Germany they have 18,000 and in Spain 23,000. No wonder they triumphed in South Africa whilst our superstars failed us utterly.
 Before the documentary is a film called, "The Damned United". It is a what they call a factional account of his few diasterous months as manager of Leeds United. The film is lightweight and I don't think the actor playing Cloughie got him right in any way. It is based on a book of the same title written by David Peace which is equally boring. For those of you who want to read a more serious and factual tome I would recommend "20 Years With Brian Clough" written by Duncan Hamilton who knew the man very well as a cub reporter and then on through most of his career.
 In the book it is revealed that he was within a day of becoming Birmingham City's manager under Clifford Coombes and, dear reader, you may wish to reflect on how the history of that club might have been changed had that happened. Fate and destiny not only change lives but history as well. What might have been ....
 Don't go to Amazon or any other bookseller to get a copy of this excellent book but visit your Public Library and get a copy , but be quick mind before the ConDems close them all down.