He's British football's philosopher manqué. The most successful England manager we never had and a genuine footballing legend. To many, an outspoken working-class hero. To others—mainly his targets—he was a bolshy northern gobshite. Never less than opinionated, often controversial and always eloquent, here we present Brian Clough, in his very own words...
On himself: 'I wouldn't say I was the best manager in the business. But I was in the top one.'
On Roy Keane: 'I only ever hit Roy once. He got up, so I couldn't have hit him very hard.'
On the FA: 'I'm sure the England selectors thought if they took me on and gave me the job I'd want to run the show. They were shrewd, because that's exactly what I would have done.'
On being nominated for a knighthood: 'I thought it was my next door neighbour, because she thought if I got something like that, I'd have to move.'
On handling players: 'We talk about it for twenty minutes and then we decide I was right.'
On drink: 'Walk on water? I know most people out there will be saying that instead of walking on it, I should have taken more of it with my drinks.'
