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| Nigel Clough interview | Page One - Page Two |
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| Friday
23rd October 1998 was, for Burton Albion Football Club, 'Year Zero'. This
otherwise forgettable, damp Autumn afternoon was the day when the club, like
the proud mother of a newborn child, unveiled former Liverpool, Nottingham
Forest and England star Nigel Clough as it's new manager.. The Brewers have never looked back. If there's anyone who doubts the success of Clough's time at Eton Park, consider this - until his arrival, the highest league position Albion had ever attained was third - once during Neil Warnock's stewardship in the Northern Premier League, and twice (and both times thanks to a freak end-of-season surge) in the Dr. Martens League during John Barton's reign. |
| Only those
with long memories could recall an Albion team which had genuinely challenged
for the league title, and in these days the Birmingham Senior Cup and Dr.
Martens League Cup was the closest the Brewers got to silverware. Having arrived two months into the 1998-99 season, Clough managed to guide the detritus of Barton's squad to a respectable mid-table finish in the Dr. Martens Premier Division, in a season when relegation had once looked a real possibility, before clinching a club record second place behind Boston United in his first full season as manager. A year later, the Brewers again had to settle for runners-up spot, agonisingly missing out on the championship to Margate by just three points, before finally booking their passage into the Nationwide Conference last season via an alternative route, by winning the UniBond League championship with a record-breaking 104 point, 106 goal haul last season. Average attendances have doubled since his arrival at the club, while Clough's relentless schedule of public appearances, charity work and supermarket openings has done untold good in raising the club's profile to a previously apathetic Burton public. The fact that Nigel's father was one of the most successful and certainly the most controversial manager in English football history made this story ripe for the media plucking, and in Clough's three and a half years at Eton Park, the club have received more national newspaper column inches, and more television and radio exposure, than in probably the entire half century of it's existence put together, lazy and cliched though much of it might be. With this in mind, brewersnet caught up with the man who transformed Burton Albion as he limbered up for the final training session before Albion's first ever match in the Nationwide Conference, having made a firm mental note not to ask the question 'Does your Dad pick the team for you'.... |
| With
the new season now just days away, how is the build-up going, and are you
happy with the way the pre-season matches went? "Yes, very happy with the pre-season matches. [We picked up a] couple of knocks and injuries which we could do without, but that's part of football at this time of the season. But we've had some good matches playing in the Bass Charity Vase, and the Wolves friendly. It's gone pretty well." Do you see pre-season games as just a chance to asses fitness and blood some new players, or are they a serious indicator of form? |
|
| "No... The main criteria
is to get fit for the start of the season, and that's why we play them. If
we were playing particularly badly, then we would be worried, but we've
had some good games and some good performances." What's the latest news on the injured players? "Daren Wassall's definitely out [for the first match], Craig Dudley's not fit from Oldham yet, Darren Stride is very doubtful and Colin Hoyle is doubtful as well." Can we expect to see any new additions to the squad? "You'll have to wait and see on that. If we need any cover we can take a loan [signing] or whatever, but we're always on the lookout if anybody special becomes available." Should we read anything into your decision to give up the number 10 shirt this season, in terms of you perhaps playing less? "No, we asked the lads if there was any particular number they wanted or didn't want, and they all said 'no', so we just allocated them accordingly. It's the eleven that are out on the field that are important, not what numbers they've got on." You've played, and beaten, a lot of Conference sides in cup competitions, but it will obviously be different when you have to play them every week. How much of a gap do you think there is between the UniBond and the Conference, and what kind of differences do you expect to see? "Physically it's a big step up, never mind the quality. What we found last season having played Conference sides in the cups was.. it took us longer to recover, because we had to work harder in those games than in the regular league games. I think that's going to be the biggest difference but you can only get used to it by playing them week-in, week-out. "[There's] the full-time aspect as well, with Chester, Doncaster and people like that - if we're playing against full-time sides every couple of weeks, which we will be, it's a big step-up for the lads." Do you think you'll be at a disadvantage still being part-time in a league where there are several full-time teams? "Yes. I think it tells over the whole season. In cup games we've beaten a few full-time sides, but week-in week-out it will make a difference over the season - the full-time lads will be fitter and stronger." Do you see a time when we might have to go full-time in order to compete at this level? "We haven't seriously looked at that option yet. Financially it's not viable for us. In the last few seasons though, Kidderminster have gone up [when they were] part-time, [and] Dagenham went very close and they're part-time." Presumably the introduction of play-offs in the Conference this season will give part-time sides a better chance of promotion. "If you're looking to win it, I would think your odds on are for a full-time side, but [with the play-offs] if you can sneak into the top five, you've got a chance." Do you have a league position in your mind that you'd be happy to finish in come the end of the season? "Survival is the main aim, but we aim higher than that. We've set ourselves a mini-target of being top of the part timers. There's about eight or nine full-time sides, so if we can finish top of the part-timers or somewhere near, it will be a very good season for us." Are there any teams in particular that you expect to see challenging for the Conference title this season? "Yes, I think there will be the big four of Chester, Yeovil, Doncaster and Barnet. Dagenham could also be up there, but I can't really see beyond those. I think Chester will be particularly strong - a good outside bet." Are you happy to have avoided the favourites in the first few matches? "Yes we are, but then again it's a double-edged sword because if we don't pick some points up and then we've got to start playing them, then we could be in trouble, so it's important to get off to a good start." Albion supporters have become accustomed to watching their team winning every week and challenging for the title in recent years. Do you think it's important that they don't expect too much straight away? "Yes... I think they're realistic enough to understand that it's taken us fifty years to get in the Conference as a club, so now we're there we're probably not going to go storming straight through it, although we'd like to. So it's going to be another case of maybe being patient for a season or two, and getting the squad together to challenge for a Football League place." How much of a difference does vocal support from the terraces actually make to the players? "[It makes] an incredible difference. Away from home as well - the numbers we were taking last season - 400-500 away from home meant that we had the majority of the crowd at most of the league games. That gives you a tremendous lift when you run out and there's four or five hundred Burton fans cheering you on." Click here for Part Two of the Nigel Clough interview... |
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