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Nottingham Forest v Derby: Brian Clough was 'a genius', says Garry Birtles

Fans to pay tribute to former manager in Sunday's live Sky Sports game

NOTTINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM - MAY 01:  Nottingham Forest mananger Brian Clough salutes the fans after his last game in charge of the club before retiring.
Image: Brian Clough brought glory to Forest and Derby

Nottingham Forest and Derby County fans will pay tribute to legendary manager Brian Clough when they meet live on Sky Sports on Sunday.

Clough brought glory to both clubs, winning back-to-back European Cups with Forest after leading Derby to the First Division title in 1971-72, and to mark the 10-year anniversary of his death, fans will rise to their feet in the 10th minute of the match in applause.

Sky Sports pundit Garry Birtles, who enjoyed two spells playing up front for Clough’s Forest side – including the famous European Cup final wins – says it’s no surprise both sets of supporters still hold the iconic manager close to their hearts.

To do what he did with Derby and Forest was unbelievable and will never be done again.
Garry Birtles

“He was just genius,” Birtles told skysports.com.

“It was one of those eras where you felt privileged and lucky to be part of it as a player – and all ex-Forest and Derby players would say exactly the same.

“You never knew what to expect on a day-to-day basis when you went into training and that was the beauty of it. People said he ruled by fear but that was a load of bunkum. You can’t go to work if you’re ruled by fear – it was a pleasure to go in every day.

“There’s a statue of Brian and [assistant] Peter Taylor at Pride Park and one of Brian near Market Square in Nottingham and if you go to both cities and both teams, there’s not a bad word to be said about him.

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We revisit last season's match between Forest and Derby at the City Ground. Watch the action live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 1pm on Sunday.

“To do what he did with two provincial towns, to take Derby to the semis of the European Cup – where they were cheated out of it – and to do back-to-back wins with Forest was unbelievable and will never be done again.”

Tribute

As well as the off-field recognition, Birtles also expects the two teams to provide a contest fitting of Clough’s legacy on Sunday.

Stuart Pearce’s undefeated Nottingham Forest side lead the Championship after an excellent start to the new campaign, while Steve McClaren’s Derby – who narrowly lost out in last season’s play-off final to QPR – have also shown why they were marked up as favourites for promotion this term.

With plenty of attacking options at both teams’ disposal, Birtles is expecting a thrilling encounter at the City Ground.

FL72 Live

“Pearce has come in and done an excellent job at Forest – and he knows all about the legacy of Brian,” said Birtles.

“He’s got some really good signings in there, as well as experience in vital areas, and a good spine down the side. They’re scoring goals freely at the moment but also showing a resilience - like they did at Sheffield Wednesday, a game they would have lost last year but dug-in and nicked it 1-0.

“Derby, meanwhile, were the top scorers in the league last season and they’ve got players who score goals from all over the pitch. They’re a very talented team and play the right way. It’s looking good for both teams.

“Personally, I think Forest might have the edge in this one. I keep reading about the great atmosphere in the dressing room and Pearce has shown he has the nous to work out the opposition. With home advantage in their favour they can at least maintain their unbeaten record.

“However, it should be one of the most open derbies you’ll see because of the way both teams play – and Sky viewers will have a feast of great football on Sunday afternoon.”

Birtles’ Clough memories

European Cup semi-final, second leg, away to Ajax, 1980

Garry Birtles of Nottingham Forest in action during the European Cup Final match against Malmo played at the Olympic Stadium in Munich, West Germany.
Image: Birtles in action during the 1979 European Cup Final against Malmo played at the Olympic Stadium in Munich

“To win the European Cup back-to-back is so difficult to do, as we see in the modern era, but we beat the best teams in Europe at that particular time and the best teams in their respective countries; we played Ajax in the semi-final led by Rudi Krol and Kevin Keegan’s Hamburg in the final.

“But it was just done differently. Nights before big games you’d sometimes have a drink with Brian – he was fantastic at taking the pressure off you.

“I remember before that semi-final with Ajax, with us leading 2-0 from the first leg, he took us down to the red light area in Amsterdam. We were walking down there the night before the second leg of the semi-final!”

Trip to Spain, ahead of the 1980 European Cup final

28 May 1980:  John McGovern (centre) of Nottingham Forest lifts the trophy in triumph after their victory in the European Cup Final against Hamburg
Image: Forest lifted the trophy for a second time in 1980 with victory over Hamburg

“Brian took us away to Spain for a week ahead of the 1980 European Cup final. We didn’t train for two, three, four days and someone said, ‘gaffer, are we going to train? We’ve got a big game coming up’.

“He’d say, ‘you’ll train when I tell you to’. We eventually did a couple of days' training towards the end of the week and went on and won the final.

“His ideas were all about getting you away from your family, ticket problems, the press and so on and relaxing your mind and body - and it worked brilliantly.

“You look back at those European Cups now and all of us are the same, we still can’t believe it. People always say you should be more animated about them but it wasn’t like that then, it was just a delight to be part of those two years.”

Clough’s approach to training at Forest

MUNICH - MAY 30:  Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough (R) and assistant Peter Taylor look on before the 1979 European Cup Final between Forest and Malmo
Image: Forest manager Clough (r) and assistant Taylor look on before the 1979 European Cup Final

“Some days you’d go into training and he’d say ‘we’re going for a walk up the river’ and he’d go up to a kiosk on Trent embankment and buy us all soup and coffee, we’d walk back to the ground and then he’d say ‘off you go’ and we went home. You’d think you were going to have a hard session and you were home by 11.30am.

“Those things lift players and players responded to things like that. He knew which players to put an arm around and which ones he could rant and rave at and he got a response from everybody.

“He also looked closely at players when he signed them, their attitude and the way they lived their lives. You didn’t realise it at the time but that’s what he did.” 

Watch Nottingham Forest v Derby from 1pm, Sunday on Sky Sports 1

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