Provided You Don't Kiss Me: 20 Years with Brian Clough - Duncan Hamilton

Duncan Hamilton was a journalist at the Nottingham Evening Post for over twenty years. He was to gain access to Brian Clough's Nottingham office on his very first day at the newspaper as a nervous sixteen year-old journalist. Brian Clough was one of the self-proclaimed giants of the English game who brought unlikely success to two of the most unfashionable English football clubs: Derby County and Nottingham Forest. Hamilton would become an integral ...
...journalists who would gain his trust. As such Hamilton was fortunate to have access to every aspect of the club, and he does a good job of painting a vivid portrait of Clough's eccentric personality and draws some light on his seemingly innate capacity as a manager who was always ready to put down his critics in the media and the boardroom. Hamilton was able to record all the successes, the misfortunes, the arguments and the drink that eventually ... more

Duncan Hamilton was a journalist at the Nottingham Evening Post for over twenty years. He was to gain access to Brian Clough's Nottingham office on his very first day at the newspaper as a nervous sixteen year-old journalist. Brian Clough was one of the self-proclaimed giants of the English game who brought unlikely success to two of the most unfashionable English football clubs: Derby County and Nottingham Forest. Hamilton would become an integral part of Clough's world, and eventually one of the few journalists who would gain his trust. As such Hamilton was fortunate to have access to every aspect of the club, and he does a good job of painting a vivid portrait of Clough's eccentric personality and draws some light on his seemingly innate capacity as a manager who was always ready to put down his critics in the media and the boardroom. Hamilton was able to record all the successes, the misfortunes, the arguments and the drink that eventually led to Brian Clough's demise as one of Britain's greatest football managers. Given Hamilton's location and work on the local Nottingham newspaper, the book focuses on the time when Clough was at Forest and less on his earlier period and initial success at Derby County.

The story seems a fairly accurate and honest character portrayal of Brian Clough. It is especially poignant in describing Clough's downfall as an alcoholic whilst at the same time transmitting the sense of affection held by the author for his subject. This is a book that provides an analyses of Clough's personality and character rather than a chronological account of his successes as a football club manager. We learn about the importance of his partnership with Peter Taylor, his co-manager and joint founder of success at Derby County and Nottingham Forest, and how he struggled without him after their bust up. We also see the warmth of the man as he sticks a few twenty pound notes into the hand of a hard-up fan for his young son.

Hamilton's story portrays a different football era, before the over hyped media controlled and TV obsessed present age with its routine interview protocol after every game. In Clough's time there was no live football, few matches were recorded, not every referee decision was scrutinised not every manager's comment was analysed. One of the questions the book raises is whether Clough could have fitted in or lasted long in the current set up. He spoke his mind and didn't like rules except his own. Clough had little respect for directors of football clubs who he considered were merely businessmen without any knowledge of the game. He probably wouldn't have lasted long with some of the present club owners as he always liked to be in control.

The book is full of stories that portray Brian Cloughs eccentric style of management. Hamilton tells of how Clough believed in the important details that could win matches even before a football was kicked. In 1979 when Forest were due to meet Southampton in the League Cup final, Clough noticed his players were extremely anxious on the coach down to London. On arriving at the hotel in the evening he invited all the players into a private room and ordered a stack of champagne bottles. "No one leaves until you've drunk that lot" he tells them before locking them in the room. There were lots of bleary eyes the following morning, but the players were all relaxed and went on to win the final 3.2 that afternoon.

From his first day on the job sitting in Clough's office Hamilton presents an intimate portrait of one of the unforgettable characters of English football, through the incredible league triumph and double European cup victories, and on into the desperate period of the mid-eighties through which Clough's love of the bottle would play an evermore damaging role. It is also the author's story of his own coming of age in the football world as he is educated and guided along by 'old big head' himself.

The book at 260 pages is not too long and is fairly accessible to read. I guess this is understandable given the fact that it was written by a journalist of a local newspaper. It probably is a book solely for football aficionados. Even taking into account the poor literary reading level of your average football supporter, most should be able to get through it, although Chelsea supporters may struggle.

Some Famous Cloughy Quotes:

On his own success:
"I wouldn't say I was the best manager in the business. But I was in the top one."

On dealing with players who disagree with him:
"We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right."

On not getting the England manager's job:
"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."

Referring to Sir Alex Ferguson's failure to win two successive European Cup:
For all his horses, knighthoods and championships, he hasn't got two of what I've got. And I don't mean balls."

On the importance of passing the ball to feet:
"If God had wanted us to play football in the clouds, he'd have put grass up there."

Published price: £14.99
Present Amazon price: £8.94 

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