Brian Clough once said that a goalkeeper could be worth 15 points in a season. If, like many of Clough's comments, it contained an element of hyperbole, Peter Shilton came close to justifying it during his days at Nottingham Forest. So did Manchester United's Peter Schmeichel, especially in the 1995-96 season.

The Madness of Managers...

To embark on a career in football management there are two indispensable traits (aside from the obvious need for technical/tactical nous and man-management) that are required if the candidate is to have any chance of success or survival.

The first of these is an ultra thick skin with which to protect the fragile creature within from the onslaught of criticism from the fans, the media, his chairman and even from his own players.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c World Cup 2010: Into Africa – Vuvuzealots www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

In case you missed, I know I did, here's the hysterical segment from Comedy Central's The Daily Show last week featuring John Oliver's report on English football hooliganism.

One of the advantages of the Premier League season starting a week later than some European leagues is that it gives us a chance, for one weekend at least, to watch other leagues that we necessarily wouldn't have as much time for once the season kicks off.

And what better way to spend the weekend by watching the real life drama of The Damned United when Derby County play Leeds United at Elland Road in the Championship?

If Brian Clough was right, if a good goalkeeper is worth 18 points a season then Wenger has some explaining to do. His stubborness, his reluctance to see Manuel Almunia for what he is, a two bob journeyman, has cost Arsenal the last three Premier League titles.
Yep, my latest rant on Jakarta Globe tackles the thorny issue of goalkeepers, their importance and the rarity of the English members of the species.

How would you feel if you were Roman Abramovich after this evening's Champions League match between Chelsea and Inter? When he disposed of Jose Mourinho just over three years ago, it was reportedly a show of player power the likes of which the English game had seldom seen before. Mourinho, however, has never quite gone away.

Roy Hodgson's mission at Fulham went unfinished. His appointment as manager was Fulham onwer Mohammad Al-Fayed's step towards putting Fulham in the top four of modern English football lore, and Fulham nearly achieved it. Each season under Hodgson got better and better at Craven Cottage, with many players coming into his system and leaving more hardened to the English game.

Well, judging by the things people say when they're standing down below me, I reckon the feller who sculpted me must've made a pretty good job of it. Y'see he probably thought to himself, Hmmm, it's Old Big 'Ead I'm working on here and he could've adjusted the sizes accordingly. I'm glad he got it right, even though I have to rely on what people say when they walk past to know whether I'm looking all right or not.

By Chris Wright

Alas, I fear that my humble entry in Pies' ‘favourite kit' series isn't going to stir the same kind of emotions within the souls of the public at large that many of the previous nominations have managed to do, being as it is an altogether more personally significant choice.

As the MLS world check their passports and descend upon Toronto, the league's premier and winningest team is searching for its next manager, its third in the past three season (if you include interim Ben Olsen). The team let go of Curt Onalfo toward the end of the season and turned the reigns over to team legend Olsen.

"It's not true that we don't love him, we love him a little too much."
Inter Milan's Marco Materazzi feels the love for team-mate Mario Balotelli - left behind for the Chelsea game following a 'blazing row' with Jose Mourinho.

"We should do like Rocky Marciano and retire while the going's good, because it won't get any better than this.

Peter Lansley of the Times Online answers the question "Why has Aston Villa's form tailed off so badly? " in their 'Ask the Expert' column-

Martin O'Neill appears in thrall to a notion of Brian Clough's that a club can succeed by fielding practically the same XI each week. Much as Clough won the title with Nottingham Forest with a side that changed little - and featured O'Neill - so the Villa manager seems to think he can qualify for the Champions League while barely changing his preferred line-up.

You've see the film The Damned United, or read the book by David Peace that inspired it. The question that remains is, to what extent has the outspoken, charismatic and often times hilarious manager left a lasting impression on you?

For me, Clough embodies what I think of when I imagine English football in the 60's and 70's and he remains a true legend in the game.

A sign of things to come...?
Eight Iconic Managers And Their Record After Ten Games Played
1. Jose Mourinho at Chelsea: W8 D2 L0
2. Bill Shankly at Liverpool: W6 D1 L3
3. Bobby Robson at Ipswich Town: W5 D4 L1
4. Arsene Wenger at Arsenal: W5 D3 L2
5. Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United: W4 D3 L3
6.

Just watched The Damned United for the second time this weekend - an excellent movie I first saw last fall - and couldn't help but take in some of the great quotes by the brilliant Brian Clough: "If God had meant football to be played in the air he would have put grass on the sky."
So, with about 10 days and 18 hours remaining until the World Cup kicks off, I figured now was as good a time as any to compile a list of some of my favorite football quotes.

Old Trafford was the venue of the 2010 Soccer Aid match which raises money for UNICEF to help children all around the world.

England led by Robbie Williams and managed by Harry Redknapp took on the Rest of the World captained by Michael Sheen (last seen playing Brian Clough in The Damned United) and managed by Kenny Dalglish.

Brian Clough's statue muses on his life and what's happening in the world today... Well, I've seen lots of folk walking about with England shirts on, and the flags and bunting are coming out all over the place. Everyone's full of hope that we can win this World Cup, including me. Sounds to me like Fabio Capello's [.

Why do the media ask every player who is nearing retirement or has recently retired, if they are going to become a manager? Is it because they want another few years to have a pop at them and to make headlines from their failure? Or is it because they naively don't undertstand what it takes to be a manager?

A tribute website founded ten years ago has received a birthday message of support from Brian Clough's widow Barbara.

Since Sunday is Halloween and since I haven't done a soccer video post in a while, I figured I'd do my best to combine soccer & Halloween for a post, here's what I got for you:
Prior to playing Brian Clough in "The Damned United," British actor Michael Sheen appeared in this short film of Saki's classic story "The Open Window:"
Did you miss this past week's Halloween episode of Community on NBC?

Love it or hate it, Fox Soccer Channel is the number source for Premier League matches on U.S. television. Sure it could be better. But I don't believe it's ever going to be Sky Sports or BBC, or even ESPN. But what it does do is provide essential viewing for soccer fans throughout the United States.

Now, I suppose some people out there are still scratching their heads over Burnley's appointment of Brian Laws and I must admit I was a tad taken aback. Anyone without a knowledge of the game outside of the Premiership, and there are plenty of those fans in England, never mind outside the U.

Its difficult when you write a football blog that is specifically about one team. You are thankful for the forum to be able to write for the public and also vent your spleen at will. However you have to be cautious when you write something that many will find unpopular and possibly downright treacherous
Having just watched another lackluster performance against the Brummie boys i was very interested to see what the manager had to say in his post match interview.

Good news for soccer fans in the United States. The Damned United, the brilliant film by Tom Hooper and starring Michael Sheen, will be available in DVD format in the United States beginning February 23, 2010.

The movie which tells the story of the working relationship between Brian Clough and Peter Taylor is one of the finest British soccer movies seen on these shores.

When Chris Whalley was growing up in Retford, Nottinghamshire, in the 1980s and '90s, he learned to play soccer at nearby Nottingham Forest Football Club, where manager Brian Clough was completing his legendary career in England's East Midlands.

At the same time thousands of miles away on Milwaukee's upper East Side, Dan Harris, Bob Gansler and Brian Tompkins were building the UW-Milwaukee into one of the top men's college teams in the Midwest, earning the first three of the program's eight NCAA tournament berths.

By Ollie Irish

Name: Dave Mackay

Nationality: Scottish

Position: Left-half/Sweeper

Why so hard? When old men in the corners of old-men pubs say, "They don't make 'em like that anymore", take it as read that they are referring to Dave Mackay, a real man who never wore gloves, never waved an imaginary card at the ref, never tried to break an opponent's leg, never appeared to feel pain.

Sadly, I'm not referring to someone playing now who can take Ashley Cole's place on that plane to South Africa if the need arises. What I am talking about is this wonderful piece in the guardian today, about Terry Cooper, the Leeds United left back who seemingly defined the modern role.

Cooper was a part of the famous (now infamous) Leeds United team of the 1970s, remembered nowadays as "dirty Leeds", thanks to Brian Clough's view of the team, before during and after his infamous 44 day reign at the club *(Read or see The Damned United, where teh picture to the left comes from for more), which is quite possibly the reason he's a bit forgotten today.

Chidge, AKA ‘The Guvnor' is back from his trip to California to assume complete control over the Chelsea FanCast, and is brought back down to earth by a none too convincing victory over Wolves. But then a win is a win, and getting wins when playing poorly is Championship form.
Chidge gives Chel Tel, Chris, Ross, Stu and of course the Peter Taylor to his Brian Clough (AKA Dr Martin) a big thank you for holding the fort in his absence and then gets down to business to discuss the performance at Wolves and hand out the Man of the Match, Chant of the Match, Guinness and Celery moments!

So today is Oscar day, so like many other people, movies are on my mind. Last year we had a couple of unusally great little football films in Looking for Eric and The Damned United, the latter a biopic of Brian Clough which proved a fascinating insight into the man (albeit in a nicer way [...]

It seems appropriate that, in the week after rumours of his departure from the managerial position at Ipswich Town started to do the rounds, our Video Of The Week should be about one of the more complex characters of the last twenty years or so of English football, Roy Keane. Keane's journey from Cobh Ramblers to Manchester United and the captaince of the Republic of Ireland has been well documented, but this programme tells his story as well as anywhere, including his fractious relationship with Brian Clough at his first club, Nottingham Forest, the inconsistent explanations over that tackle on Alfe-Inge Haaland and his dispute with Mick McCarthy prior to the 2002 World Cup finals, a dispute that ended his international career long before it had run its natural course.

The following book review was originally published in the excellent Scotzine fanzine The 12th Man& Issue 6, available from their website.

Archie Gemmill will always be remembered for ‘that goal' - there is no getting away from it.

However, with a senior career of over 650 league games, 43 International caps for Scotland - over half as captain - and three English league titles, it could be said he should be remembered for more than just ‘that goal' - however what a goal it was, but there is (a lot) more on that later.

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 .

In the first of a new series, Brian Clough's statue muses on his life and what's happening locally... It's a great spot this, right in the middle of the city. Better than the one Robin Hood's got, next to the castle. Well, it's not even a proper castle is it? He's getting a lot of attention mind, [..

Brian Clough's statue muses on his life and what's happening in the world today... Well, I've always been a socialist, and proud of it; never made any secret of it. But, the leaders of the main parties battling to govern this country don't seem to know whether they're red, blue or purple with pink spots on!

The 1994 European Cup Winners' Cup Final was a football match played on 4 May 1994 between Arsenal of England and Parma of Italy. It was the final match of the European Cup Winners' Cup 1993–94 and the 34th European Cup Winners' Cup Final. The final was held at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, and Arsenal won 1–0 with the goal coming from Alan Smith.

The 1979 European Cup is best remembered for Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest defying all expectations and winning Europe's highest honour. In a competition that included the likes of Liverpool, Real Madrid and Juventus, to this day it seems unthinkable that it should be won by a club as unfashionable as Nottingham Forest.

Brian Clough's statue muses on his life and what's happening in the world today... Forget about Maradona's goal against England in 1986. Forget about the one Carlos Alberto scored for Brazil in 1970. For me, the best goal ever scored was by my old mate Archie Gemmill for Scotland in 1978. The way he nut-megged the last [.

Brian Clough's statue muses on his life and what's happening in the world today... You hear a lot of bloody nonsense these days about too many foreign players in the game. I hear it all the time when I'm stood up here on me plinth. I had plenty of foreign players in my day. Most of [...]

What about our young gladiators ?

Running around on the pitch, training hard for three hours a day (!) and then getting photographed coming out of a club looking bleary eyed with a WAG or two on your arm.

Or not.

Supermodels or just models, flash cars, oversized watches, bling, suits, clothes, shoes the lot.

It's all back to The City Ground, then, for the second leg of the Championship play-off, and the people of Nottingham clearly have better thing to do than worry about who will or won't be forming the next government this evening. They've got Blackpool to worry about. Their trip to the seaside at the weekend was some distance from what one might describe as "the Premier League experience".