Comments on: Can you compare Clough and Mourinho?

By: Forest Forest

Forest Forest — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 10:32:49 +0000

Of course, Mourinho hasn’t got anything like the playing stats that Clough has – but then neither have most players since football began…

By: Forest Forest

Forest Forest — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 14:20:23 +0000

Well the short answer is “Yes, you can”, because it seems everybody IS comparing the two. I agree, nffc, it is a bit unfair to CC, since he’s the current “special one” at the City Ground. No one will ever do what Clough did, because time has moved on and the game is now very different. What would be very interesting would be if Mourinho were to take on a Championship club struggling just now, and see if he could turn them round and win promotion in the following season, and then get in Europe the next year. Not as champions – that’s impossible since all the money is in the Big Four, and is going to stay that way with this new deal. In terms of character, you can equate Shankley, Clough, Mourinho, et al, but then it’s down to personal taste.

By: vassilis, athens, greece

vassilis, athens, greece — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 13:46:06 +0000

Well nffc, I think Im more biased than you and certainly believe that BC (RIP) is top since he did not have ultramegamillions to spend (despite the 999,999 pound Francis transfer!). BC had a flair than Murmurinho just doesn’t possess: He took on players on the brink of career catastrophy (ie Robertson, Lloyd or even Burns) and graciously offered them to their national teams (England, Scotland etc.). JM buys a player only when he is already a big name and sometimes he manages to wear him down (the cases of Shevchenko, Mutu, Wright-Phillips et al are characteristic). Moreover, there’s a long string of young players whom Cloughie took from the academies and raised into superstars (Woodcock, Birtles, Webb, Hodge, Clough Jr, Keane, the list goes on forever). Just tell me which player Murmurinho has helped to progress. Lampard, Joe Cole, Terry etc were all established names when he came over. OK, he has won two championship titles, when Arsenal, Man Utd and Pool were all having consistency problems. But could he take i.e. Watford or Reading and make them win the league in the first time of asking? Then win the Champions League in his first appearance as well after eliminating the defending champion in the first round? No way Jose… I also think that the late Brian, a great believer in the qualities of British football, would never accept a Russian chairman over his (big) head or nine foreigners in his starting XI. Bosman or not!!!