Premier League Predictions – Week 6

There are some brilliant derbies this weekend. Firstly we have the Merseyside derby and then on Sunday, we have the North-London derby so it’s going to be a very very enthralling weekend of Premier League football.

This week, our predictors are, David Yaffe- Bellany of In For The Hat Trick and Jack McInroy of You’ll Will Nothing With Yids.

So onto The Predictions Challenge!

Fixture	Ibby Akkas prediction		David Yaffe –Bellany prediction		Jack McInroy prediction		Actual Score
Everton v Liverpool	1-2		2-2		1-1		0-2
Aston Villa v Wigan	2-0		3-1		1-0		2-0
Blackburn v Man City	0-3		2-1		0-2		0-4
Man United v Norwich	3-1		4-0		2-0		2-0
Sunderland v West Brom	1-0		1-0		1-1		2-2
Wolves v Newcastle	2-2		2-3		2-1		1-2
Bolton v Chelsea	1-2		1-3		0-2		1-5
Fulham v QPR	2-1		2-1		1-1		6-0
Swansea v Stoke	1-0		3-0		0-2		2-0
Tottenham v Arsenal	2-2		4-1		3-0		2-1
Total Scores	Correct Results - 6	Perfect Results - 1	Correct Results - 7	Perfect Results - 0	Correct Results - 6	Perfect Results - 1

The Results

Jack McInroy - 9 Points

Ibby Akkas - 9 Points

David Yaffe - Bellany - 7 points

This week we have a draw, coming in joint first is Jack and Ibby with 9 points, while in third, David comes in with 7 points!

Make sure you check out David’s In For The Hat Trick site, especially his ‘Moments Series’ which is a very good read. He can also be followed on Twitter too: @INFTH

Jack’s You’ll Will Nothing With Yids website is a fantastic website which is dedicated to Spurs. Jack can also be followed on Twitter: @Yids.

Find out here how last week’s predictors did!

For more information on The Predictions Challenge check out this page.

Video: Mourinho's woeful acting + Tony Pulis on the Tevez saga

Our first video is Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho doing an advert for Braun. Mourinho maybe a world class manager, but by no means in hell is he a good actor. Just take a look at his acting in this video. It's actually quite embarrassing!




Our final video is about Tony Pulis on the Tevez - Man City saga. As with most managers, Sky and the press have been asking various managers on their thoughts on the Tevez issue. But the brilliant Pulis, slams the question in an emphatic yet refreshing manner.

Readers Goals of the Weekend

Cant wait for this weekend's matches? We're nearly there, only a few more days left till the weekend! But let's take a look at some of the best goals or most memorable goals from last weekend's matches

Some of our readers have given their recommendations for their favourite goals of the past weekend's matches.

Clarence Seedorf v Cesena - chosen by Oggo Sylla - @RossonerOgo_333 + Alberto Sulejmani - @arberitoz


M1-0C by simaotvgolo12

Javier Pastore v Montpellier - chosen by James Busher - @jam_bu88



Richard Dunne OG - v QPR - chosen by Hayden Shaw - @elhaydo



Hayden quite eloquently explained why it was his favorite goal of the weekend, ' because I'm a heartless bastard and own goal equalisers in the 90th minute are hilarious.' Lovely, but it's a good point, own goals in the last few minutes are rather hilarious!

Emmanuele Calaio v Lecce - chosen by Rory Hanna - @Rornald0



It's an absolutely beautiful chip, so ambitious, but just sensationally executed.

Which of these goals were your favorite?
Clarence Seedorf v Cesena Javier Pastore v Montpellier Emmanuele Calaio v Lecce Richard Dunne OG - v QPR
	Results

Five Observations from Week 5 in the Premier League

1.) Fernando Torres takes one step forward then two steps back – For the first time in his Chelsea career, and for the first time in 2011, Fernando Torres has scored in two games in a row. It’s fair to say the old Fernando, the world class version is coming back to the surface. However, he seems to eclipse his positives actions with Chelsea with a negative action. His sending off this weekend symbolises this. Torres had no real need to lunge in with two feet up in the air. It was a woeful striker’s tackle. But just when you think Torres is finding his form, sharpness and goals, he commits an act which could possibly affect his consistency. Ironically, consistency is something he has craved for since moving to Chelsea.

2.) Man United gain a credible draw at Stoke – Yes, Man United’s 100% winning record is over. But it’s by no means a disaster. Already this season, Stoke have held Chelsea and have beaten Liverpool at home. Many of United’s league contenders will come to Stoke and will struggle to get all three points. Man United can also learn a lot from this result too. Although United’s defending has been relatively strong this season, at times they have shown their frailties. Peter Crouch’s goal for Stoke highlighted United’s poor defending from the set piece. Perhaps young Phil Jones should have been more tighter and more aware of the positioning of Stoke’s target man Peter Crouch. While just after Stoke’s goal, Rio Ferdinand’s miss kicked his clearance which nearly and should have given Crouch a chance to score his second goal of the game. But Sir Alex, the fans and the players will be even more aware that the champions need to put more focus in their defending, as the defensive lapse could have cost them the game. Indeed, David De Gea stood up to Stoke’s aggressive and direct nature. The new Man United goalkeeper made some crucial saves which helped preserved United from losing. With every game, the young Spaniard looks more confident, more settled and more of a natural successor to Van der Sar.

3.) Man City’ strength in depth is the difference – City had a very tough encounter versus Everton. The Merseysiders were committed, focused and organised in restricting Man City the opportunity to create and finish chances. For most of the game, Everton frustrated Man City. They simply couldn’t find a break through. Everton did a very good job in nullifying in- form players such as Edin Dzeko. However, for all the talent City started in the match, this could be matched by Man City’s quality on the bench. Step up James Milner and Mario Balotelli. Both substitutes scored both of the goals in the game. Everton could not cope with City’s quality on the bench, as a result, the likes of Silva and Aguero’s both stepped up after the introduction of Balotelli and Milner. It’s fair to say, against tough oppositions, Manchester City’s strength in depth could be the potential decider in the title race. After all, they possess many attacking threats, while as the game progresses and the opposition tire, the quality of attacking depth, especially on the bench could prove to be the difference. Just as it proved to be against Everton this weekend.

4.) Liverpool becoming ever more dependent on Luis Suarez – Liverpool were not great against Wolves this weekend. At times they were on top, and created many chances. But there were also periods when Wolves asked all the questions of Liverpool and The Reds didn’t defend that impressively. Offensively, the difference for Liverpool again was Luis Suarez. His movement, energy and creativity often left the Wolves defence feeling dizzy. But at times during the game, it was as if Suarez was the only Liverpool player looking to move in and out of pockets of space. Without his movement, it would seem as if Liverpool’s performance was lacklustre and short of creative ideas. It’s evident the other attacking Liverpool players need to show more intelligent movement in order to create space. But when Luis Suarez is in form, its not surprising a team becomes dependent on him. He is arguably a complete striker, who can create and finish himself, so is it surprising he becomes the focal point of team?

5.) The Newcastle United revolution gets bigger and bigger – Newcastle were widely tipped as the team who would be in and around the foot of the table at the start of the season. Due to the club selling key players such as Enrique, Nolan and Barton. But Alan Pardew and his new look Newcastle side have started the season off very impressively. After 6 games, they find themselves unbeaten, and are in fourth place with 12 points. The new signings seem to have given the club some balance and variation of quality. Attackers Demba Ba and Leon Best have so far consistently provided goals. One could argue that Ba has been rather inconsistent for Newcastle so far and has drifted in and out of games. It’s a fair point, he hasn’t been great. But against Blackburn he was a consistent threat, his pace, strength and instinctive finishing was the difference. His hat-trick will not only give The Toon Army some optimism, it will give them some pride. Furthermore, the return of Hatem Ben Arfa gives Newcastle even more quality and technical strength. Newcastle have rather quietly constructed a very good outfit which is proving to be a decent side.

Five Statistics from this weekend

1.) Fernando Torres has scored against 24/28 of teams he has faced in the Premier League.

2.) Four different players have scored a hat-trick for Newcastle United since the start of 2010/11 season

3.) Peter Crouch has scored for 6 different Premier League clubs in his career.

4.) Tottenham are the only team this season to pass more than 600 times in more than one game.

5.) Aston Villa are the third team in Premier League history to draw 5/6 of their opening games.

The Rise of the 'Nine and a Half'

In his debut article for The Football Front, Nick Meredith tackles the rise of the contemporary 'Nine and a Half' position.

Wayne Rooney is on a hot streak. His goal against Chelsea brought his domestic tally for this season to 10 goals in 6 starts. Relishing his deeper-lying role in United’s fluid 4-4-2/4-2-3-1 cross, he is both creator in chief and predatory goalscorer for his high-flying side.

It wasn’t always this way, though. In the 2010/11 season he suffered an early dip of form before roaring back as United’s focal point. Alongside the lethal Javier Hernandez, Rooney bagged 11 goals and as many assists. In the season before that, (the 2009/10 season), things were again slightly different: instead of being his side’s main creative outlet, he was their main goalscorer, scoring 26 goals as United were pipped to the title.

So the eternal question springs up, as it often does. What IS Rooney? For people trying to slot him into a specific role, it's a nightmare. Is he a classic ‘Number 10?', creating chances for others and roaming deep into midfield? The 2010/11 season would seem to suggest so. But what about another wonderful season he had, in the 2009/10 season? This was arguably his best season, Rooney was often deployed as a lone striker and was the main goalscorer of the team. So is he a ‘Number 9?’, a powerful focal point for the attack and the side’s main goal threat? This season would seem to suggest, he is somewhere in between.

The ‘nine and a half’

This season, Rooney has been deployed in the withdrawn position he made his own last season, but he has added the goalscoring prowess of the 2009/10 season. Rooney has been drifting around behind a striker such as Danny Welbeck or Hernandez, he has found space in which to both create and score. He is equally a goalscorer and a creator. The usual roles don’t apply here. He is far too complete to be classed as either a ‘9’ or ‘10’. In fact, he slots into a much rarer role: the ‘nine and a half’.

The idea of a ‘nine and a half’ isn’t new – Marco Van Basten was arguably its greatest exponent – but very few have the talent to carry it off. Finding a player complete enough that he can both create and score is hard enough, and finding one who is good enough to fulfil the role to its full extent is rarer still. The role is becoming more and more prevalent nowadays. However, due to the increasing completeness of footballers. Decades ago, a footballer could excel at one thing and make it into a team. Since then, the successes of Rinus Michel’s ‘Total Football’, Arrigo Sacchi’s ‘Gli Immortali’ and now the current Barcelona sides, in which universality was and is still the key, it has shaped footballers into much more rounded athletes. Even a decade ago, strikers like Robbie Fowler – who is short, not creative, not strong and not quick – could thrive in the Premier League because of his wonderful finishing. Perhaps, now he wouldn’t even get a look in.

Players like Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Diego Forlan are all complete strikers and are excellent ‘nine and a half’s', on top of being truly world-class strikers. There are many 'nine and a half's' players in the modern game. In the Premier League alone, there are at least five – Rooney, Robin Van Persie, Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez and Luis Suarez. All five combine the twin talents of creativity and goalscoring. All of them are wonderful strikers, and are the Premier League’s best, which brings us onto the meat of this article.

The rise of the complete forward

Why are ‘nine and a half’s so effective? The simple answer could be their versatility, which of course, always make them an asset – for instance, Aguero has been used both playing off a main striker and as the main striker himself this season – but that is more to do with their worth to the team rather than their effectiveness on the pitch. In essence, the 9 ½‘s effectiveness is based around uncertainty. You have a variety of options to stop a forward, but realistically, you can only implement one. When faced with a striker who can do so much so well, how can you possibly defend against him?

Let’s compare Rooney to another top striker, say the ex-Inter poacher Samuel Eto’o. Both of them are wonderful players, but Eto’o, whilst a truly lethal finisher and one of the best strikers of the past decade, is clearly by no means a 9½. Creatively, he doesn’t have the vision and passing ability to be able to split the defence with an incisive through-ball or create a chance for another in such a way that real 9 ½s like Rooney or Messi can. What he does have is the aforementioned eye for goal, terrific movement and blistering pace. When faced with a pacey, clinical striker, the main worry for the defence is balls over the top and in behind the defence for him to chase, beating the defender with his pace in order to get in a one-on-one with the keeper. However, the easiest solution is for the defense to sit deep and allow the opposition to play in front of them, thus denying the striker space in behind for the rest of the team to roll balls through.

Try this with Rooney, though, and a whole new problem is opened up. A 9 ½ is equally happy to drop deep as he is up against a central defender, he can drop off and exploit the extra space that has opened up as a result. Whilst an opposition defence wouldn’t mind Eto’o doing this due to his creative skills being rather poor by comparison to the likes of Messi or Rooney, but allowing Rooney to do it would be suicide. With space and time on the ball and willing runners from midfield, Rooney can destroy any defence with ease.

So how DO you stop them?

Man-marking a dangerous player is a trick as old as football itself. Having a deep holding midfielder with strict man-marking instructions is all well and good, but unfortunately the 9 ½ is usually equal to it. If we take our case example of Rooney, he often drops even deeper thus, escaping the attentions of the deep midfielder or even leaving a gaping hole in front of the defence for others to exploit as the marker follows him (Fig. 1) . It could also lead to Rooney pushing up higher, forcing the midfielder to drop into the defence and leave a shortfall of numbers in midfield (Fig. 2).

Transparent positions show how each player started in the movement. Click to enlarge.

One final method could just be ignoring the 'nine and a half's' completely, and treating them like any other player. It goes without saying that this is an extremely risky gambit considering how most 9 ½s are such influential and talented players. Andre Villas-Boas arguably attempted this when his Chelsea side played against Manchester United, and achieved a partial success in that Rooney was relatively quiet compared to recent games. On the other hand, Rooney scored one goal, he hit the post, took five shots and won two dribbles. These stats are hardly calming, especially as its the opposition’s best striker.

So with most traditional methods useless, what could a manager use to stop a 9 ½? There are two possible solutions, one rather practical and another highly experimental. The first is to just set up with two deep holders, a 4-2-3-1 for instance. Uruguay did a variant of this in the World Cup, with their two destroyers, Diego Perez and Egidio Arevalo, solidly staying in front of their defence. If a 9 ½ ever tried dropping deep to find space, such as Holland’s Robin Van Persie did in their semi-final match, one of the two would track him. Van Persie was free to move as deep as he wanted, the other holding player remained in position sweeping in front of the defence (Fig. 3). In this case, this was complicated by the presence of Wesley Sneijder playing as a trequartista, though Uruguay got around that by fielding another solid central midfielder, Walter Gargano, ahead of the midfield pivot. Gargano was comfortable dropping in and helping out with the defensive legwork. Although Uruguay lost the game, it would be hard to blame the midfield holders for doing their job, or indeed to praise a relatively ineffective Van Persie. But the knock-on effect of this, of course, is that unless the midfield destroyers are very talented the team loses it's passing ability from the centre of the pitch, effecting fluidity as a result.

The second method involves using a zonal marking system in order to keep the 9 ½ tracked across the pitch without compromising shape. Instead of using a strict man-marker, when a 9 ½ tries moving deep or out of the man-marker’s comfortable range, he passes him onto a more advanced midfielder higher up the pitch. In theory, this would work perfectly. In practice, the move is extremely difficult to pull off, requiring exceptional teamwork and awareness on the pitch by the defenders.

How the 9 ½ role will develop remains to be seen, but as footballers get more and more well rounded, new ways of stopping 9 ½s will be developed. I mentioned at the start of this article that strikers are becoming less one-dimensional, but the same is also true of defenders. Nowadays cultured defenders like Gerard Pique, David Luiz and Thomas Vermaelen are becoming much more prevalent. With their ability to step out of defence and into midfield, they can track the deeper movements of strikers with more ease than ever before. This will only aid them in the constant tactical battle between defenders and strikers. As it is, finding cultured defenders is hard, and the ‘nine and a half’ continues to be one of the most potent weapons a manager can bring to bear on the field.

This article was written by Nick Meredith, you can find all of his work for The Football Front here. Make sure you follow him on Twitter too: @NTMeredith. Nick also runs the fantastic Dots & Crosses website too - http://dotsandcrosses.wordpress.com/

The Europa League - Football's most loathed competition

Above is a photo of an inconsolable Ian Holloway – who a few hours earlier, saw his adventurous side being relegated from the Premier League. At the time of this photo, the Blackpool manager had just learnt his side could be playing in the Europa League. Holloway reacted by denying his team were eligible and then shrugged at the prospect of playing in the competition. From his emotions its abundantly clear that competing in the Europa League is not even a consolation from being relegated from the Premier League.

Ian Holloway was right.

It turned out that Blackpool were not eligible for a Europa League place spot through the fair play system, but the actions of Holloway surely symbolise just how unfashionable the Europa League is.

Think about it. One of the smallest clubs to ever play in the Premier League view the Europa League as an irritation rather than an opportunity to make the club grow.

To say the Europa League has a limited appeal is a huge understatement. Clubs in Italy, Spain and England loath the competition. Most players, managers and supporters sigh at the prospect of competing in the dour Europa League.

The Europa League can be described as doing a house hold chore, such as taking out the garbage or getting rid of the clutter. In other words, it’s a job which has to be done. While the Champions League can be metaphorically described as studying for you’re A-levels or degree. Although it’s a struggle and challenge, there is a sense that it’s a sign of strength, ambition, and desire to fulfil long term aspirations.

Coming back to Europe, there is almost a sense of arrogance from teams in Italy, Spain and England. Instead of seeing the competition as a privilege and a chance to gain respectable European success, they see the competition as a tortuous chore rather than an opportunity.

There is no denying, this attitude must change. Being in Europe, whether it’s the Champions League or the Europa League, it must be viewed as a symbol of ambition, rather than a symbol of misery.

But the harsh reality is that a lack of ambition in the Europa League is rife.

For instance, Tottenham’s media friendly manager, Harry Redknapp labelled his sides tie against POAK a ‘nuisance’ and made 10 changes to his side. Redknapp started 6 players who were 21 years old or even younger. His selection was probably unrecognisable to even the most ardent Spurs fans.

Indeed, Tottenham’s Redknapp isn’t the first to do this, many English clubs such as Aston Villa, Liverpool and big Italian sides have done the same too.

To most people, when a team field a virtual reserve side in a European Competition it’s somewhat irritating.

The whole point of participating in a competition, especially a European one, the ultimate aim should be to win it. Yet, playing a team full of reserve and fringe players demonstrates an attitude of content if the team goes out.

With teams selecting highly weakened sides for the Europa League, one cannot deny the competition has lost its prestigious nature and its allure.

But why has this become the case?

The answer is simple and logical.

The Europa League is too bureaucratic, too long winded and too tedious.

By the time the Europa League reaches the group stage it has around 48 teams participating, while it’s bigger brother, the Champions League has a mere 32 sides participating during its group stages. This just emphasises just how over crowded The Europa League is.

Furthermore, last season’s Europa League Champions (FC Porto) played 17 Europa League games in order to reach the final. That equates to nearly half a domestic season’s worth of games in order to win the competition.

So it’s understandable why teams are so reluctant to participate in the competition. The road to glory can have severe effects on a club’s domestic performances, especially as Europa games are being played on a Thursday. This means Europa clubs have around three days to recover, prepare and in some cases travel numerous air miles before facing their next opposition on a Sunday.

Does it really surprise many if a team comes back from a Europa League tie, fatigued and severely incoherent? The competition demands a hell of a lot, but in rewards, it gives a little.

Arguably, only teams with large squads can just about cope with the competition. Although, most of these teams with the larger squads find themselves competing in the Champions League. Or if they are in the Europa League, they view the competition as a hindrance to progression, rather than as a means to progress.

Perhaps a reason why some clubs view the Europa League as a hindrance to progression is due to the mediocre revenue which is created by participating in the Europa League.

It’s reasonable to say The Europa League doesn’t offer as much in terms of economic gains for teams participating in the competition. While in direct comparison, the Champions League offers an incredible amount of cash for clubs participating in the tournament.

Last season’s Champions League finalists, Manchester United earned themselves £46.1 million from Champions League revenue. While Europa League winners, FC Porto, approximately earned a mere £15million. As the figures prove, there is massive gulf in difference in the cash earned. So is it surprise that some teams find the Europa League a nuisance? It’s evidently transparent; the lack of financial gain is a dominating factor as to why some teams are unwilling to take the Europa League seriously.

In some respects, UEFA have themselves to blame for the lack of respect towards the Europa League. After all, if the financial gains were more balanced between the two competitions, teams would be more willing to participate in the Europa League.

While clubs in the Europa earn a handful of millions, teams in the Champions League earn pockets full of millions. No one can deny, once a team participates in the Champions League. They do not look back. They want to return and continuously compete in the Champions League. So when the drop outs of the Champions League appear in the Europa League, they enter the tournament unenthusiastically. They know the competition doesn’t possess the same status as its older brother, nor does it give anywhere near the same financial gains as the Champions League.

The harsh reality of the Euorpa League is that it has not adapted to the modern game and its mentality. The competition gives away very little in economic gains and the football is elongated with too many stages. Without a doubt, this has lead to the competition having little appeal, little glow and little respect.

The fact most Europa League participants see the competition as a punishment rather than an opportunity it just demonstrates the fatal flaws within the structure and mechanisms of the tournament.

There is no doubt the Europa League is in a state of redundancy, UEFA need to act quickly in order to revive their large historic competition.

For your information UEFA, changing its name again, will not do the trick.

Here at The Football Front, we have explored some ideas which could possibly improve UEFA's Europa League.

Four ways to improve the Europa League

1.) Get rid of the group stages - Since the introduction of the group stage the Euorpa League has become even more tedious and long winded. Abolishing this stage will make the competition more interesting as there would be a knockout stage which is consistent throughout the whole tournament.

2.) Playing one legged ties - Playing one legged ties will make the competition more enthralling as its virtually sudden death. This will make most of the games have a sense of excitement, anticipation and suspense towards them. At the moment the games are dour for long stages simply because teams are unwilling to concede or because they are playing for the second leg.

3.) Give the winners of the Europa League a right to play in the Champions League - Allowing the winners earn Champions League qualification it will give the Europa League something viable for its competitors to fight for.It will interest all the teams in the tournament, especially the bigger sides, as they want to play in the Champions League more than anything else.

4.) Play Europa League games on alternate Tuesdays and Wednesdays to the Champions League - This may be a fixture and logistical nightmare, but if the Europa League is played on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, when the Champions League is not being played, it may make the tournament worth competing for to some clubs. After all, it gives the teams time to recover and prepare for their next opposition on the weekend.

Video: FIFA 12 - Engine Fail

Now, FIFA 12 does look rather impressive. The demo was good fun. The game looked more slick and more smooth. The shooting and defending was far more realistic and made the game more appealing. Its definitely an improvement on last years FIFA, but there a still a few issues..

As the video below demonstrates, there are some complete fails which are still present in the game.

Take a look, the fails are actually very funny!

Premier League Predictions - Week 5

Another week of great Premier League fixtures comes along with another prediction challenge from The Football Front.

This week our predictors are Hayden Shaw of One Step Over Too Many and Matt Kenny of The Red Samurai.

So, onto our predictions!

Fixture	Ibby Akkas prediction		Hayden Shaw prediction		Matt Kenny prediction		Actual Score
Man City v Everton	2-0		2-0		3-1		2-0
Arsenal v Bolton	3-1		2-1		2-0		3-0
Chelsea v Swansea	4-0		2-0		4-1		4-1
Liverpool v Wolves	3-0		2-2		3-0		2-1
Newcastle v Blackburn	1-2		1-1		2-2		3-1
West Brom v Fulham	2-2		1-1		0-0		0-0
Wigan v Tottenham	1-3		1-3		1-2		1-2
Stoke v Man United	0-0		0-3		0-1		1-1
QPR v Aston Villa	1-1		1-1		2-0		1-1
Norwich v Sunderland	1-0		1-2		2-2		2-1
Total Correct Scores	Correct Scores - 7	Perfect Scores - 2	Correct Scores - 4	Perfect Scores - 2	Correct Scores - 3	Perfect Scores - 3

The Results

Ibby Akkas - 13 points

Matt Kenny - 12 points

Hayden Shaw - 10 points

After a very high scoring weekend, Ibby Akkas scrapes the win by 1 point, while Matt Kenny came second with 12 points. Hayden Shaw came third with 10 points.

Hayden can be followed on Twitter: @elhaydo , check out his great blog too: onestepovertoomany.wordpress.com

Be sure to check out Matt’s fantastic blog too: theredsamurai.net, he can also be followed on Twitter too: @mattkenny89.

Find how our predictors ManUtd24 and Ben Johnston did last week!

RIP Mr Clough – 7 Years On

The Football Front’s Senior Writer, Christian Brown writes a warm piece on the legend, Brain Clough.

News that still saddens me to this day. Waking up and watching all the tributes flood in, it’s quite hard to keep a set of dry eyes. I remember being in a car with my dad when we heard the news; he had to stop the car due to how shocked and distraught he was. Fierce rivals united as one, for a day at least. For on this day, the 20^th September, 7 years ago a true legend passed away at the age of 69. A footballing genius who took two clubs going nowhere into English and European powerhouses respectively. That man was Brian Clough.

Starting his football career off as a player, he played for hometown team Middlesbrough and scored 197 goals in 213 games for them, before switching to Sunderland. He then got 54 in 61 for them, before injury stopped his playing days at the tender age of 27. He attempted to make a comeback, but lasted 3 games before quitting for good. A little known fact it seems, Brian Clough was the first player to score 250 league goals in England – faster than Jimmy Greaves. He also represented his country twice.

His managerial career started with Hartlepools United (now Hartlepool), a spell which saw him name Peter Taylor as assistant manager. At 30, Clough was the youngest manager in the league. Clough was there for 2 years, before going to the East Midlands to join Derby County, taking Taylor with him. Before his arrival, the Rams had been out the top flight for 5 years. During his 6 year tenure however, Derby won the league and went to the semi finals of the European Cup, before being cheated by a bought referee against Juventus.

However, a fractious relationship with the board – notably with chairman Sam Longson - saw Clough and Taylor both resign in 1973. They may have won the league again in 1975 under Dave Mackay, but Derby fans still regard accepting their resignations as the worst decision the club has ever made. Since that title win, Derby haven’t done anything of note, apart from finish as the worst team in Premier League history with 11 points. They’ve just been sitting in the second division mounting the odd promotion campaign, a far cry from the days in the early 70’s.

Next for Clough, was Brighton. Taking Taylor with him, they didn’t set the country alight like they had done at Derby, and within a year Clough had left – to take over Leeds United. A move which shocked the whole footballing world, as Clough had repeatedly attacked Leeds’ style and then manager Don Revie, whilst Revie himself had told the board to appoint Leeds midfielder Johnny Giles as his successor. Taylor didn’t follow this time, so Clough was on his own. The pairing was a disaster, as it would appear that Clough changed things far too quickly.

The right idea was there, that Leeds ‘machine’ was at an end and parts needed to be changed in order for it to carry on. People like Bremner were getting old and needed replacing. There was also the style, which – under the previous management - was robust to say the least. The players didn’t take to him before, so when he turned up and said “you can throw all your medals into a bin cos you’ve won them all by bloody cheating”, they were hardly behind him. It led to the clubs worst start in 15 years, and after 44 days and a massive pay off, Clough was out the door.

Then, on the 6^th January 1975, Clough found his perfect managerial bride. For the people who say Christmas has two dates, the 25^th of December and the 6^th of January – what a Christmas present he was for that club. A club who were 13^th in Division 2 at the time of the takeover, a club who although had won the FA Cup 16 years prior and finished 2^nd in the top league 8 years ago, were seemingly going nowhere and doing nothing. A club left to rot in the second division, much like Derby before he took over. That club, was Derby’s East Midlands rivals, Nottingham Forest.

I will be brief. In May 1975, Forest finished the season 16^th in the Second Division. 5 years later in May 1980, Forest had just retained the European Cup in Madrid. They had gone from finishing runners up behind Wolves in the Second Division, to winning the European Cup back to back, with a League title along the way. Clough also won the League Cup 4 times with Forest in his 18 year reign (twice with Taylor, twice without), the European Super Cup, a Charity Shield victory, a semi final in the UEFA Cup before being cheated by a bought ref – again, and an FA Cup Final, which they lost 2-1. The FA Cup was the only honour that eluded Clough.

In May 1993, Clough retired following Forest’s relegation from the Premier League. That club will never see success on that scale ever again, as they – like Derby – find themselves plodding along in the Second Division, having found themselves in footballing purgatory (third division) for 3 years. They’ve been out the top flight for 12 years now. Brian Clough retired as the greatest British manager of all time. Say what you like about Ferguson, but without the millions at his disposal, would he have done what Clough did at Forest and Derby?

Ferguson hasn’t touched people like Clough did either. The amount Clough gave to charity and other people is phenomenal. His arrogance and brashness have planted many a smile on our faces, and you don’t see Ferguson helping out the common people when they’re on strike. Clough touched the people of Nottingham to the point where they funded the £70,000 statue of him in Nottingham City Centre. It amazes me how Brian was never given the England job. Everyone was calling for it to happen, but The FA – as usual – showed no backbone and appointed Ron Greenwood. Forest then went on to win 2 European Cups.

Call it fate, call it a coincidence, call it what you will – 3 days ago (17/11/11) Derby beat Forest at The City Ground to regain The Brian Clough Cup; a cup contested to honour Brian’s achievements. Brian’s son Nigel is currently managing at the first team Brian won success with as a manager. Today, on Brian’s anniversary, Forest host Newcastle United. The same Newcastle that Middlesbrough and Sunderland both hate – the teams Brian played for. If Forest win tonight, you can’t help but think the master manager is behind it all, sitting in God’s favourite chair with a huge grin on his face.

Here are some quotes from the great man:

“If God had wanted us to play football in the clouds, he’d have put the grass up there”

“Football hooligans? Well there are 92 club chairmen for a start”

“Rome wasn’t built in a day. But I wasn’t on that particular job”

“Players lose you games, not tactics. There’s so much crap talked about tactics by people who barely know how to win at dominoes”

(“What if a player comes to you asking to change something?”) “Well, we talk about it for twenty minutes, and then decide I was right”

“I’m sure the England selectors thought if they took me on and gave me the job, I’d want to run the show. They were shrewd, because that’s exactly what I would have done”

“If a chairman sacks a manager he initially appointed, he should go as well”

“I wouldn’t say I was the best in the business. But I’m in the top one”

A hero to the common man, and the best manager England never had. RIP ‘Sir’ Brian Clough

This piece was written by Christian Brown, you can follow him on his Twitter - @Chris78901, Chris also writes for The Sports Pallet too. All of Chris' work is on his blog, 1-chris78901.