Legendary manager Brian Clough has sadly passed away at the age of 69.

The man who guided Nottingham Forest to two European Cup triumphs commanded enormous respect within the game and always insisted he should have been given the chance to manage England.

During his playing days, Clough was a prolific scorer in the North East for Middlesbrough and Sunderland before injury curtailed his career.

Often controversial, 'Old Big 'Ead', as he said he should be called after landing an OBE, also took Derby County to the title and worked superbly in tandem with his assistant Peter Taylor.

In his final season in charge at Forest, Clough was unable to prevent the club slipping out of The Premiership in 1993 but retired gracefully and kept involved in the game with various aspects of media work.

He also took a keen interest in his son Nigel's attempts to follow in his footsteps by managing a club at non-league Burton Albion.

"He should have been England manager," former Forest striker Garry Birtles told Sky Sports News.

"It's the biggest disgrace he didn't get that job as he deserved it thoroughly.

"He was just one of those all-time greats."

Clough had a liver transplant in January, 2003, after suffering from ill health.



I know some ppl might not like this guy, but he was a fucking good manager who wasn't afraid to speak his mind, and much more of a good guy than a lot of todays. He'll be missed, esp here in the midlands

One of the best managers ever and proud Smoggy to boot. Should have been England manager as well, will be greatly missed

RIP

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aye, when he twatted the pitch invader, classic.

There had been some talk of a posthumous knighthood for the great man.

Think this falls rather pathetically into the "too little, too late" category. A legend who's been retired & in poor health for over a decade should have been "Sir" long ago. Frankly, I'm surprised that an arch-populist like Blair missed such a trick.

Perhaps being a (whisper it quietly) socialist counted against Cloughie...

quote:

Originally posted by tbh There had been some talk of a posthumous knighthood for the great man. Think this falls rather pathetically into the "too little, too late" category. A legend who's been retired & in poor health for over a decade should have been "Sir" long ago. Frankly, I'm surprised that an arch-populist like Blair missed such a trick. Perhaps being a (whisper it quietly) socialist counted against Cloughie...

Over the past few months there has been a campaign running to get Cloughie knighted. This has been mainly running in the Teesside area but people from further afield had started to join in.

Definitely to late i agree

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especially when a guy with nowhere near the same amount of class in ferguson can get it

204 goals in 215 games for middlesbrough, legend.

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quote:

Originally posted by Ian^ especially when a guy with nowhere near the same amount of class in ferguson can get it

Disagree.

Ferguson has turned Manchester United from perennial underachivers to one of the words best teams. He also somehow managed to convert Aberdeen (of all teams) into one of the best in Europe. This knighthood was warranted.

I think a much better example of someone who received a knighthood with nowhere near the same class or credentials is Trevor Brooking.

he got an OBE but calling him sir brian would have been nice (and he would have loved it).

i'm not mad about football now, but when i was younger i was a die hard forest fan, and he was always a bit of a role model even after he left forest because of his straight talking no bullshit ways. if the queen was wrong, you could guarentee if cloughie was there he would put her straight. cloughie was a legend and always will be.

RIP old big 'ead

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RIP