CLOUGH FOLLOWING IN HIS FATHER’S TARTAN FOOTSTEPS:
Nigel follows his dad’s recipe for success
IN his formative years, Nigel Clough watched i n awe as his f ather Brian twice conquered Europe with a thrilling Nottingham Forest side packed to the brim with swashbuckling Scots.
In 1979, Clough’s line-up boasted John McGovern, Kenny Burns, John Robertson, plus unused subs Archie Gemmill and John O’Hare, as t hey defeated Malmo at Munich’s Olympic Stadium in the European Cup Final.
For their ti tl e defence the following year, Old Big ’Ead had five Scots on the pitch at the same t i me — Frank Gray j oining McGovern, Burns, Robertson and O’Hare as Hamburg were humbled at the Bernabeu.
On Sunday, as son Nigel takes Sheffield United to Wembley for an FA Cup semi-final — the one trophy that somehow eluded his f at her — he f i nds hi mself inadvertently following a similar tartan-tinged blueprint for success.
Against Hull, Clough’s Blades of glory are likely to boast at least five out of the six Scots in their squad, with Stefan Scougall, Jamie Murphy, Ryan Flynn, Bob Harris, Stephen McGinn and Niall Collins all on the Bramall Lane books.
The David Weir experiment was not exactly a success in the steel city, with Clough hired late last year to replace the sacked former Rangers captain after his first
“My dad had a good posse of Scotsmen”
managerial post turned sour.
But the man known simply as ‘The No 9’ while playing under his dad at Forest believes the Scottish presence in his dressing room has been a key component of United’s run to Wembley. Even if he can’t understand a word any of them are saying...
‘My dad had a good posse of Scots and that did make an impression on me,’ said Clough. ‘ In my last job, as the manager at Derby, I always thought Scotland was a good market for us to be looking at. I’d say the best lad I bought at Derby over my five years there was Craig Bryson from Kilmarnock.
‘At Sheffield, we’ve got Stefan Scougall, who is in that same sort of mould. He’s not quite as good as Craig Bryson at the moment but he could be down the line.
‘Murphy and Flynn were maybe on the fringes a while back but have been brilliant for me. All the Scots here have been brilliant.
‘I don’t find it difficult managing a dressing room of Scots. But understanding them is a different matter. When they are all together, we can’t understand a word.
‘But their attitudes are great. It’s a nice little group of Scots we have at Sheffield United. They all get on really well but are not a separate little group or anything like that.
‘It also means we have some good games in training. We have the English against the Scots, and the Scots against “The Rest”.
‘But we’re usually one or two short so anybody who looks Scottish or knows anyone Scottish goes in their team. Terry Kennedy, the centrehalf with red hair, is usually the one. He pleads not to go in, says he’s from Barnsley, but he looks a bit Scottish so he gets lumped in.
‘The games have been pretty even. Of course we don’t put any money on it because if we did then the Scots would win every time! If there’s a pound on it, then the Scots are not too keen on losing!’
The Sultans of Ping FC, a 1990s indie band, once released a track in homage to Nigel as the “Young man with a lovely smile”.
According to defender Collins, there is no grinning from Clough when the Scots are winning. But the native of Troon sees the Scotland v England games as the secret of United’s success as they became the first third-tier team in 13 years to reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
‘We played one of those England v Scotland games i n training before an earlier FA Cup tie and were 4-0 up at half-time,’ said Collins. ‘Funnily enough, he made us play a lot longer in the second half.
‘I’m not kidding you — I was losing the head! But the Scots still held out for the win. The refereeing decisions never went for us the next day. But you’d have to ask the manager about that!
‘ It does mean training gets competitive but that’s been one of our strongest points. The gaffer likes to give us a bit of stick but I think it has been good for the group. It has brought us all together.’
Collins, 30, has enjoyed a long career down south with Sunderland, Wolves, Preston and Leeds but he remains something of an unknown quantity in his homeland. Despite having graced Wembley twice for play- offs, he feels more at home at Hampden, after making his breakthrough with Queen’s Park back in 2001.
‘I made my debut at Hampden when I was 17 under John McCormack,’ he said. ‘We needed to win to stay up but we got beaten 2-0 by Forfar and they stayed up on goal difference. You could call it a baptism of fire.
‘I got used to Hampden but not as people know it, not when it was full. My memories of Hampden are of the ball getting kicked into the stand and it taking another five minutes before you could get it back to restart the game.
‘But I loved my time at Queen’s Park. They are renowned f or giving their young boys a chance and I played one full season in the first t eam before going to Dumbarton and then getting a move down to Sunderland.
‘I know I’m not really well known back in Scotland but I’ve had a good career and I can’t complain. I’ve been lucky to have played at Wembley before in a play-off final that we lost on penalties — but getting to an FA Cup Final would be a real career highlight.’