Clough a man of backbone and principle

DON’T judge a man by what he says – judge him by what he does – and if that’s the eternal yardstick, put Nigel Clough right on top of the pile.

For those who missed it, the 54-year-old quit as Burton Albion’s boss this week because it was the easiest way for the club to save cash.

Clough (below) fell on his sword at the Pirelli Stadium to keep other people in work. According to skipper Jake Buxton, it saved an ‘unbelievable’ amount of jobs. Chairman Ben Robinson runs a tight ship – there is no fairy godfather in that part of Staffordshire and every pound earned really is a prisoner.

Never mind the fact that Clough, with Robinson’s backing, hoisted this club into the Championship – and kept them there for one season, against the odds.

He kept Derby County on an even keel when the Rams had little cash and performed a creditable job at Sheffield United too, taking the Blades to an FA Cup semi-final when they were in League One.

Clough is more than proficient in his job – but it is Clough the man who deserves praise.

He was interviewed by BBC Radio Derby this week following his departure from the job. Afterwards, the former Liverpool and Nottingham Forest striker rang back and asked to be put on air again. He’d forgotten something.

He wanted to say how sorry he was that up to 9,000 jobs were going to be lost at Rolls-royce, which has a large manufacturing presence in the East Midlands.

Now, that’s the kind of man I would want running my own football club – one of backbone, integrity and principle – the sort that’s sorely missing in this beautifully rotten game of ours.

Nige, your old man would have been proud of you.