Brian Clough: Nobody Ever Says Thank You

In this first full, critical biography, Jonathan Wilson draws an intimate and powerful portrait of one of England's greatest football managers, Brian Clough and his right-hand man, Peter Taylor. It was in the unforgiving world of post-war football where their identities and reputations were made - a world where, as Clough and Taylor's mentor Harry Storer once said, 'Nobody ever says thank you.'

Nonetheless, Clough brought the gleam of silverware to the depressed East Midlands of the 1970s. Initial triumph at Derby was followed swiftly by a sudden departure and a traumatic 44 days at Leeds. By the end of a frazzled 1974, Clough was set up for life financially, but also hardened to the realities of football. By the time he was at Forest, Clough's mask was almost permanently donned: a persona based on brashness and conflict. Drink fuelled the controversies and the colourful character; it heightened the razor-sharp wit and was a salve for the highs of football that never lasted quite long enough, and for the lows that inevitably followed. Wilson's account is the definitive portrait of this complex and enduring man.

“The most comprehensive account we have had so far of this remarkable man.”

The most comprehensive account we have had so far of this remarkable man SUNDAY TIMES
-- Rod Liddle THE SUNDAY TIMES

Jonathan Wilson is the football correspondent for the Financial Times and writes for the Sundya Telegraph and Guardian Online. His work has appeared in the Independent, Independent on Sunday, FourFourTwo and When Saturday Comes. He is the critically acclaimed author of a series of sports titles, including INVERTING THE PYRAMID: A HISTORY OF FOOTBALL TACTICS, which won a National Sporting Club Award and was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year.

In this first full, critical biography, Jonathan Wilson draws an intimate and powerful portrait of one of England's greatest football managers, Brian Clough and his right-hand man, Peter Taylor. It was in the unforgiving world of post-war football where their identities and reputations were made - a world where, as Clough and Taylor's mentor Harry Storer once said, 'Nobody ever says thank you.'Nonetheless, Clough brought the gleam of silverware to the depressed East Midlands of the 1970s. Initial triumph at Derby was followed swiftly by a sudden departure and a traumatic 44 days at Leeds. By the end of a frazzled 1974, Clough was set up for life financially, but also hardened to the realities of football. By the time he was at Forest, Clough's mask was almost permanently donned: a persona based on brashness and conflict. Drink fuelled the controversies and the colourful character; it heightened the razor-sharp wit and was a salve for the highs of football that never lasted quite long enough, and for the lows that inevitably followed. Wilson's account is the definitive portrait of this complex and enduring man.

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