“There is a feeling that Brian (Clough) did badly at Leeds; I’m not too sure of that.” - England international Stan Anderson was a good mate of Brian Clough

 

One of Brian Clough’s close mates thought he wasn’t bothered about succeeding at Elland Road

 

“There is a feeling that Brian (Clough) did badly at Leeds; I’m not too sure of that.”

 

England international Stan Anderson who captained Sunderland, Newcastle United and Middlesbrough.

 

Taken from Stan Anderson’s autobiography CAPTAIN OF THE NORTH

Written with assistance from Mark Metcalf

 

I was not at the least surprised that he became one of the great managers as he was always very sure of himself.  Having failed to sustain his recovery, Brian did exceptionally well coaching the Sunderland youth team to the FA Youth Cup semi-final.  And if George Hardwick is to believed, the board failed to extend his managers contract at the end of the 1964 65 season because he told them that Brian would be his right-hand man within two years.

 

That was no way those in charge at Sunderland were having that, and after the club received the insurance money paid for the loss of a key player, Clough and Hardwick were gone within months.

 

 Apart from those at Leeds, none of the many players he managed have a bad word for him. He was strict but always honest and players appreciate that. Frank Clark is one of the most placid players you could hope to meet and he never had a bad word to say about Brian.

 

Brian also managed Dave MacKay, known for his volatility, yet he handled him pretty well.  And Roy Keane did as he was told under Brian at Nottingham Forest.

 

If Brian was a friend, he always stood by you.  When I quit my job at Middlesbrough, he was one of the first on the telephone, asking me to come and watch a match with him.

 

Mind you, that never stopped him getting annoyed if his team lost. He was bitterly upset when I took Middlesbrough to the Baseball ground one year and we won.

 

Afterwards he went on about how lucky we were. That was nonsense: we’d deserve to win: but he hated losing.

 

His more controversial appointment was as manager of Leeds United at the start of the 1974-75 season when he took over from Don Revie.  Leeds had won the First Division the previous season, although after a fabulous unbeaten start to the season they’d stuttered a little towards the very end.

 

When the fixtures for the new season came out, Leeds opponents in their first home game of the season were Queens Park Rangers, where I was then assistant manager.

 

We won one nil and they were murmurings both in the crowd and in the corridors downstairs that Brian wasn’t the man for Leeds.

 

Afterwards we went for a meal, and by chance the Leeds team were booked into the same hotel.  Brian was with them and the atmosphere wasn’t great.

 I asked if he fancy to drink, and how was it going?

“Not great,’ He replied. ‘I’ve had a few problems.’

I repeated that he’d be alright

 

‘I’m not so sure about that. I don’t think I will be here too long,’ he said.  It was a statement that shook me. I smiled but he was gone.

 

I got the impression this heart wasn’t in it. He didn’t have Peter Taylor, His assistant manager at Hartlepools, Brighton and Derby alongside him although his chief coach Jimmy Gordon had joined him at Elland Road.

 

Brian wouldn’t have said something like that as a joke. He was definite. I believe, knowing Brian pretty well, that he thought, ‘I’m working my ticket here and Manny Cousins will get rid of me.’ 

 

I’m sure he would never have resigned; he’d have wanted the pay off.

 

He should never have gone Leeds as he hated them, how they played, and he hated Don Revie. He even went on TV to say that.

 

I think he took the job for the publicity. He was at Brighton, who were nonentities, and he knew if he went to Elland Road he’d be back in the spotlight, which is what he wanted, what he always craved and needed.

 

He’d have preferred to succeed with Leeds, but I am not certain he lost a great deal of sleep when he didn’t.  He knew he’d do all right financially and by raising his profile again he could hope to get another job. I wouldn’t say it was laughing at Leeds, but either way you look at it he was certain to do all right. There is a feeling that Brian did badly at Leeds; I’m not too sure of that.

 

Of course, he became manager Nottingham Forest and proved what a genius he was.