[Albion] If Brian Clough had stayed

Cheeky Monkey · Sep 8, 2024

Clough said himself he could have achieved at Brighton what he did at Forest/Derby. As Green Cross Code Man said on another thread, about Ian Wright and Martin Keown, it's one of the things that rankles a bit, gives you (possibly irrational) pause tor the thought, in the case of European glory, although Derby fans must feel it 10x worse.

Comrade Sam · Sep 8, 2024

The squad Clough and Taylor assembled at Brighton were on an upward trajectory and Mullery inherited in a similar way to De Zerbi did.

Han Solo · Sep 8, 2024

POSKETT AT THE VALLEY said:
What do you think would have happened.

He would have died eventually

Harry Wilson's tackle · Sep 8, 2024

I hated the Clough era.

The 0-4 to Walton and Hersham
This:

The public abuse of our players.
The flounce.

And then all that old bollocks about his regrets.

As for Clough himself, league titles with two different clubs, the double European cup, obviously a genius...

But ask Peter Ward whether he was a good man.....

jonny.rainbow · Sep 8, 2024

We would have adopted ‘Mull of Kintyre’ as our walk out song in place of ‘Sussex by the Sea’.

SeagullsoverLondon · Sep 8, 2024

If he had stayed, we would have worked our way to the First Division by 1977, but then England would have appointed him England manager when Revie resigned, as the disastrous 44 days at Leeds would not have counted against him.
He would have taken Taylor as well.

Mullery would have been appointed manager at QPR by that time, so not available.

In a totally left field gamble, we appoint up and coming St Mirren manager, Alex Ferguson, who doesn't join Aberdeen, and Brighton win several domestic leagues, cups and European competitions over the next 25 years

ConfusedGloryHunter · Sep 8, 2024

SeagullsoverLondon said:
If he had stayed, we would have worked our way to the First Division by 1977, but then England would have appointed him England manager when Revie resigned, as the disastrous 44 days at Leeds would not have counted against him.
He would have taken Taylor as well.

Mullery would have been appointed manager at QPR by that time, so not available.

In a totally left field gamble, we appoint up and coming St Mirren manager, Alex Ferguson, who doesn't join Aberdeen, and Brighton win several domestic leagues, cups and European competitions over the next 25 years

Finally. A realistic answer.

One Teddy Maybank · Sep 8, 2024

Brilliant manager. Anyone saying different, is just changing history.

However, not for us.

I agree with @GT49er and although we’ll never know, in reality, we have a good idea.

Taylor was clearly very interested in making it a success, and if our away form and form in the run-in hadn’t been so atrocious, who knows….

But Cloughie? Nah….

One Teddy Maybank · Sep 8, 2024

Harry Wilson's tackle said:
I hated the Clough era.

The 0-4 to Walton and Hersham
This:

The public abuse of our players.
The flounce.

And then all that old bollocks about his regrets.

As for Clough himself, league titles with two different clubs, the double European cup, obviously a genius...

But ask Peter Ward whether he was a good man.....

Plenty of players don’t get on with managers, I think Megson, Wallace and almost certainly Fashanu had a poor opinion of him, but some of the European winners in his championship winning team probably feel completely different…… Shilts, McGovern, Burns etc….

Uncle Spielberg · Sep 8, 2024

Clough was without a doubt the catalyst for Brighton going from lower league three to the first division. He turned the club around in his 8 months here and Taylor carried it on. Average crowds 5000, first game 0 0 v York City over 16000. I was there

amexer · Sep 8, 2024

Great character and manager. He may have left coaching to others but boy could he motivate Played it simple and got the best out of players. Outstanding at Derby and Forest. Disaster at Leeds where he was faced with some top players he had previously called cloggers and they were never going to change there way of playing.
One of very few managers who could make his team believe purely on personality. Not many over years Klopp Fergy and Guadiola and I would add DeZerbi who with same players made them believe they could get points at Anfield Old Trafford etc.
Andy Rollings has some good stories about him. No agents in those days Clough personaly went to Norwich to sign him.

Harry Wilson's tackle · Sep 8, 2024

SeagullsoverLondon said:
If he had stayed, we would have worked our way to the First Division by 1977, but then England would have appointed him England manager when Revie resigned, as the disastrous 44 days at Leeds would not have counted against him.
He would have taken Taylor as well.

Mullery would have been appointed manager at QPR by that time, so not available.

In a totally left field gamble, we appoint up and coming St Mirren manager, Alex Ferguson, who doesn't join Aberdeen, and Brighton win several domestic leagues, cups and European competitions over the next 25 years

Clough was the only person to call out what everyone knew about - that Leeds were cheats and their players offered bungs to opposition players 'go easy'.

There is absolutely no chance he would have been allowed anywhere near the England job because the suits knew he lacked discretion.

Harry Wilson's tackle · Sep 8, 2024

One Teddy Maybank said:
Plenty of players don’t get on with managers, I think Megson, Wallace and almost certainly Fashanu had a poor opinion of him, but some of the European winners in his championship winning team probably feel completely different…… Shilts, McGovern, Burns etc….

I think Martin O'Neill was a fan.

Clough made me feel uncomfortable, even though I was just a teenager.

I had a sense he was out of control.

SeagullsoverLondon · Sep 8, 2024

Harry Wilson's tackle said:
Clough was the only person to call out what everyone knew about - that Leeds were cheats and their players offered bungs to opposition players 'go easy'.

There is absolutely no chance he would have been allowed anywhere near the England job because the suits knew he lacked discretion.

I know!
In my ultra-realistic alternative history, Taylor tells him to keep his mouth shut and he gets the England job.
England win the World Cup in 82 and we are all spared the "3 Lions, 40 years of hurt" rubbish.

Uncle Spielberg · Sep 8, 2024

Played 34 Won 12 Drawn 9 Lost 13

Questions · Sep 8, 2024

Hamilton said:
Clough is an enigma in the game. He’s both a legend and a mythical creature. Was he a great manager or a tyrant? Was he a tactical genius or did he just find and stand next to someone who was? Was he driven by a passion for the game or a hatred of everything it did to him?

Such imbalances tell me I’d rather watch him from afar rather than up close.

I think I agree with this. Incredibly rude during some interviews to some decent people but definitely a force to be reckoned with alongside Taylor. (Who was a prick)
“If we don’t make promotion I shall hang these players from the floodlight pylons”
(Well we didn’t 1975/76)

Vicar! · Sep 8, 2024

It is a great question, personally, I believe he would have taken us into the First Division with a title to follow. The end would have been the inability to develop the Goldstone and it would have been back to normality.

BLOCK F · Sep 8, 2024

I well remember the announcement of him and Taylor being appointed, we were on our honeymoon. Excited at the prospect ( no not the honeymoon!

), but he turned out to be an absolute disaster and pisstaker, for all the reasons that us oldies can remember.
A true git who made the likes of Poyet and RDZ look like yes men.
An Onanist.

Ooh it’s a corner · Sep 8, 2024

I‘m in the same camp as @One Teddy Maybank - he was undoubtedly a genius - his teams at Derby and Forest were exactly that - TEAMS - far greater than the sum of their parts through his motivational genius BUT he didn’t suit everyone or every place.

He did indeed often come across as rude and almost always arrogant. He was a true character of the game and it was far richer for him.

Jeremiah · Sep 8, 2024

Didn't Clough and Taylor come to us as a pair and then when Clough left Taylor stayed and he picked up Peter Ward from Burton Albion? So, IMO, without Clough we would have never had Wardie and all the glory that followed.

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[Albion] If Brian Clough had stayed

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