Firstly, Brian Clough DID retract his rather ill-considered statement in later life.

Secondly, why would you link one ill-thought comment to making it okay to slur a hard-worked upon tribute to manager?

That is the kind of logic that would say Heysel and Hillsborough were linked, which I imagine wouldn’t please you greatly either.

Will someone be brave enough to let Derby fans now so they can join us in condeming this idiot.

Shameless.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2008/01/26/brian-clough-89520-20298581/

Dear Sir/Madam,

It is with a great deal of disappointment I feel I must contact you to complain about the thoughtless comments that Mr Reade made in your publication today in relation to the statue of Brian Clough that has just been commissioned in the City of Nottingham.

Firstly, his cheap jibe is defamatory to an undisputed football legend, and will undoubtedly prove distressing to his family as it has his thousands of supporters in the game. This is a disgraceful thing for a national newspaper whom I always thought prided itself on it’s sports coverage, I would like to say that it was not expected, but unfortunately I cannot.

Secondly the inaccuracy implied in the piece disregard the huge amount of work that a committee of volunteers went to in order to raise the £70,000 to make this project reality. The article implies the council just “decided” to do this, whereas it has been a concerted campaign over several months – and culminates in a tribute to a legend from the people of the City where he had so much impact, not least the impact he had on the national game.

I would hope to see a full and frank apology from Mr Reade for these despicable comments.

For your reference, the comments had a published date of 26th January 2008. They had their own page on your website which mysteriously disappeared earlier this evening, they appear to still be present here:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/columnists/reade/

The comments I object to, should this link be withdrawn also, are:
“It’s good to see that Nottingham councillors have finally decided on a bronze statue of Brian Clough to grace the city centre, but at a cost of £70,000 it seems a bit steep.

Couldn’t they simply have re-named a bottle bank after him?”
It’s safe to say that if an apology for these remarks is not forthcoming then the Daily Mirror will certainly not be a publication I ever intend on purchasing nor reading again.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Kind regards,

Dear Sunday Mirror

I have loyally bought your paper every week for as long as I can remember – but will not buy again until Brian Reade apologises for his crass, insensitive and more importantly completely factually inaccurate comments about Brian Clough.

To attack a man who is no longer with us to defend himself is despicable – especially for a supposedly experienced journalist. For the record, Nottingham City Council has NOT put up the £70,000 for a statue to football’s greatest ever manager – all the money was donated by football fans all over the world though a series of initiatives.

This simple, basic fact is easily established by visiting http://www.brianclough.com – it would have taken about 30 seconds to do. Making such cheap references to Mr Clough’s (well documented) problems with alcohol is an insult to his family and demeaning to a well respected national newspaper. I expected better from you.

I request that you compel Mr Reade to publish a full, unreserved apology in his next column, and on your website.

Thank you.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/columnists/reade/

Bunch of tossers.