Nigel Clough, the son of coaching legend Brian Clough and manager of Derby County, talks about the difference between being a player and now in management-
“Completely different,” he explains. “As a footballer, you look forward to the whole day — the preparation, your lunch, the rest in the afternoon . . . especially night matches. But it’s not the same as a manager. There isn’t the same excitement. You go into each game with a feeling of trepidation, and there’s dejection afterwards if things don’t go according to plan.”
“And what if tonight doesn’t go to plan?” I ask. “Will you take that dejection home with you? How long does it take to clear your system?”
“That’s impossible. It’s absolutely impossible to separate it from the rest of your life. It stays with you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I don’t think there is any manager who doesn’t carry it with them all the time. It is all-consuming.”
I remind him of a response his father gave once when someone asked how he was doing. “Surviving,” Brian Clough replied. “You see, that’s what we all do, isn’t it? We survive first and try to prosper afterwards. I survive day to day, month to month, year to year. No one does any more than survive.”
His son agrees. “Yeah, that’s how it feels the majority of the time. I’m sure for Sir Alex [Ferguson] and the top three or four who are winning trophies, it’s different but for everybody else it’s about getting through the next game, the next month, the next season, whatever . . . And for us, being in the position we are in, it’s probably more applicable than ever.”
“Completely different,” he explains. “As a footballer, you look forward to the whole day — the preparation, your lunch, the rest in the afternoon . . . especially night matches. But it’s not the same as a manager. There isn’t the same excitement. You go into each game with a feeling of trepidation, and there’s dejection afterwards if things don’t go according to plan.”
“And what if tonight doesn’t go to plan?” I ask. “Will you take that dejection home with you? How long does it take to clear your system?”
“That’s impossible. It’s absolutely impossible to separate it from the rest of your life. It stays with you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I don’t think there is any manager who doesn’t carry it with them all the time. It is all-consuming.”
I remind him of a response his father gave once when someone asked how he was doing. “Surviving,” Brian Clough replied. “You see, that’s what we all do, isn’t it? We survive first and try to prosper afterwards. I survive day to day, month to month, year to year. No one does any more than survive.”
His son agrees. “Yeah, that’s how it feels the majority of the time. I’m sure for Sir Alex [Ferguson] and the top three or four who are winning trophies, it’s different but for everybody else it’s about getting through the next game, the next month, the next season, whatever . . . And for us, being in the position we are in, it’s probably more applicable than ever.”
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