Brian Clough – The greatest manager England never had
The Football Association’s failure to appoint Brian Clough as England manager in 1977 is widely viewed as one of the biggest mistakes ever made in professional football.
Having failed to qualify for the 1978 World Cup, England suffered further humiliation when Don Revie resigned to take charge of the United Arab Emirates national team.
Ron Greenwood was placed in temporary charge, but Clough was the standout candidate on a shortlist which featured several other underwhelming options.
What followed next was a glorious example that the people running English football at the time could not be trusted to do the right thing.
FA pantomime riles Clough
Clough attended an interview at Lancaster Gate and was so confident with how things went he told trusted assistant Peter Clough that ‘the job was ours’.
However, Clough reportedly never stood a chance of being offered the job, with FA officials agreeing beforehand that Greenwood would be appointed permanently.
Although Clough was understandably seething, it is easy to see why he was snubbed. In simple terms, his abrasive style was too controversial for the FA.
His fallout with Derby chairman Sam Longson garnered plenty of negative headlines, while his bitter exit from Leeds United after 44 days was still fresh in the memory.
Clough made no secret of his disdain for high-ranking club officials, and that stance did not find favour with the people behind the scenes at the FA.
His anger at the FA’s skullduggery spilt over into his autobiography, with readers told he would have been a ‘bloody good’ England manager if he had been given the chance.
Abrasive style could have worked the oracle for England
Having had their fingers burnt by Revie’s controversial exit to the UAE, the FA decided they needed a safe pair of hands to take charge of the England team.
Greenwood ticked the boxes but could not hold a candle to Clough regarding his overall managerial ability.
England were in danger of becoming an international irrelevance after failing to qualify for the 1978 World Cup and Greenwood did not achieve much during his time in charge.
Clough’s uncompromising style would likely have worked a treat with the Three Lions at a time when they needed a massive kick up the backside.
Many pundits believe the FA were concerned he would be too abrasive for the players and were unwilling to trust him to take the team forward.
In fairness, the numerous stories about his fallouts with players at club level would have been enough to have caused concern within the FA.
However, the key element they overlooked was that Clough’s methods delivered silverware and helped the players under his tutelage improve.
For example, he regularly fell out with Larry Lloyd, but there is no question that the best years of his career came under Clough at Forest.
There have been suggestions that some England players would have been resistant to playing for Clough, but that said more about their character than Clough’s.
Kevin Keegan was not overly complimentary about Clough in his autobiography, while several other England players from that era have questioned his managerial style.
England’s loss was Forest’s gain
The FA’s decision to appoint Greenwood ahead of Clough unquestionably prevented the Three Lions from achieving the success their fans craved.
However, England’s loss was Forest’s gain, with Clough using the rejection as the motivation to inspire the greatest period in the club’s history.
He had guided Forest into the First Division in 1977 and followed that up by leading them to the league title in their first season in the top flight.
Clough then conquered Europe with Forest, inspiring them to back-to-back successes in the European Cup in 1979 and 1980.
While Forest established themselves as the kings of the continent, England failed to get out of their group at the 1980 European Championship in Italy.
They went into the tournament in a confident mood, fuelled mainly by Liverpool and Forest’s success in the European Cup over the previous four seasons.
Each respective team was packed with English players, but their successes ultimately did not translate to the international stage.
The decision to omit Bryan Robson from the squad was a massive error that Clough would probably not have made had he been in charge.
Greenwood’s decision to rotate goalkeepers Peter Shilton and Ray Clemence was also disastrous, as it caused confusion for England’s defenders.
He also persisted in playing Keegan despite his off-field activities leaving him exhausted and unable to perform at his best. Clough would not have stood for such nonsense.
The fact that Liverpool and Aston Villa hammered home English dominance by winning the European Cup the next two seasons accentuated the national team’s failures.
Although there were no guarantees Clough would have won silverware with England, his decisive nature would have served the team much better than Greenwood’s lack of ruthlessness.
Overlooking Clough was an absolute howler by the FA, but one which Forest fans will be eternally grateful for given the success he delivered to the club.
