The late great Mr Brian Clough took on players who could do a job. Some unknowns, some questionable signings, not necessarily renowned on a nationwide scale but he made them into good footballers, he moulded them into what they could be and according to him “Should be”. He did things his way and installed a unscrupulous almost cast iron stamped will to win on his players via attractive football.
In 1971 Notts forest signed young Irish midfielder, 19 year old Martin O’Neill from Lisburn Distillery. O’Neill took his time to settle in to the Forest side but It wasn’t until 1975 when Brian Clough was appointed as manager that his Forest career took off. Clough made O’Neill the fulcrum of the Forest midfield, a position O’Neill went onto hold down throughout Forest’s golden era.
Mr Clough arguably hit his managerial peak in 1978-79 and 1979-1980 when the Notts Forest squad became footballing gods, etched in history forever winning the holy grail of club football, twice on the trot.
In 1979-1980 a player in that very European cup winning team was a match fit Martin O’Neill, injured for the 1978-79 final, Martin was eager to put in good performance, and on that night he did as Notts Forest retained the title they won the year before, a feat never matched by a UK club since.
Fast forward 15 years. Influenced and touched by Clough and his management style, O’Neill went into management himself after a prosperous playing career, but it took him a wee while to find his feet starting from the very bottom. After managerial spells at Grantham, Shepshed, Wycombe and Norwich a team took a chance on him.
In 1995 division 1 (Now championship) Leicester City appointed Martin O’Neill as manager and at the first time of asking he got them to the english premier league via the playoffs.
One year later in 1996 he (O’Neill) signed a young Irish battling midfielder from Crewe Alexandra, Neil Lennon. Lennon a defensive midfielder by nature held the Leicester ‘fort’ as such and allowed such players as Muzzy Izzet to get forwards to create chances.
O’Neill was starting to get a reputation as a managerial genius, a great tactician of the game started to emerge, he also installed an unbelievable will to win in his players, he was able to get amazing performances out of players who did not seem capable, exactly like Clough used to years before him. O’Neill and his Leicester side started to turn a few heads only 1 season inside the premier league.
It all peaked at Filbert Street with a top half finish in the premier league and 2 League cup wins in 1997 and 2000. Lennon staying loyal throughout featured in most of the major Leicester matches in O’Neills reign. O’Neill left for Celtic in 2000 and Lennon followed a few months later. O’Neill as we know went on to write himself into the Celtic history books.
Fast forward 11 years. Lennon having finished his playing career at Notts Forest went into management, already prepared due to courses etc he joined Celtics coaching staff in 2008 under Tony Mowbray. The rest is history.
Lennon like O’Neill and Clough, has this similar way about him. He obviously has a will to win and he expects that from his players. He talks to the media and like O’Neill and Clough speaks his mind.
The way I see it things are supposed to happen sometimes. Clough to O’Neill, O’Neill to Lennon. The style and ways from Clough where took on board by O’Neill, and the same from O’Neill to Lennon.
In a way the essence of Clough lives on, in O’Neill and also a little in Lennon. Never say die, never give up, do your duty good cause and prioritise winning.
For me Lennon is a Clough and an O’Neill in waiting. He will bring his own ways and means to Celtic, he understands us, but that winning mentality arguably installed by Clough in O’Neill years before, lives on and breathes in Celtic football club inside Neil Lennon.
Comment as you wish my fair Celts.
Good points made.
This one stood out –
****I have never subscribed to the
theory of“great managers,
producing great young
managers”.****
They do not produce great young managers they are but massive “influencers” in the game. Those players or ordinary persons with a passion and ambition to manage will find a “jesus” in football management to look upto / at to grasp a bit of their persona, tactical style or acheivement milestones to perfect their own management path and find themselves as managers so one day they stand alone, they may draw slight comparisons, but they have become managerial “role models” as such in their own right.
@Brian LMAO! No pic of JL involved, thats what the software brings up when the two big yins are transitioned together.
Lenny’s record so far. Won all last seasons remaining league games when it didn’t matter, the league was already lost, but one game mattered, the Scottish Cup semis against lowly Ross County and we lost. Next season we lost both qualifiers in Europe against lowly opposition so were out Europe and could concentrate on the target of winning the league against a poor pool of rangers players who had the burden of europe to handicap them. Result, failure, 2nd in a 2 horse race. Lost only cup final against rival rangers then won Scottish cup against a very poor Motherwell side. I would say 2 out of 10 for effort so far. That’s hardly success and hardly reflects Clough or O’Neill! Dream on!
Brian Clough was obviously an all time great. To liken Martin O’Niell and Niel Lennon to him is a joke. O’Niells record is not as good say, as Walter Smith. He has achieved nothing in the premiership, his teams were stuffy and dull, but hard to beat. Lennon has got promise but has everything to prove.
I hope you see the irony is denouncing Saint Martin´s EPL ´record´while saying he is not as good as The Myth?
Smith and O’Niell both suffered in the premiership through managing teams with no real financial clout, in relative terms, that is. Smiths SPL record in both phases of his time at Gods Kingdom is far superior.
The truly great, like Clough, lift their teams beyond the place their financial standing would bracket them.