Remembering Brian Clough ten years on

"I wouldn't say I was the best manager in the business, but i was in the top one."

Ten years has passed incredibly quickly since football lost one of its biggest ever characters and my club Nottingham Forest lost the man who undoubtedly put it on the map.

Many Forest supporters will probably be able to tell you exactly where they were at the moment they heard the news of Brian Clough's passing on the 20th September 2004. I certainly can. I had just started at university. I had been in Leeds a matter of days, and a fairly insignificant welcome session ended with me recieving a text message telling me the news. I remember nothing at all about the hour in the room which preceded it, but I will take that feeling of reading that text to the grave. I could take you to that room now. My biggest regret to this day as a Forest fan was that I couldn't get back to Nottingham for the game against West Ham, the first at the City Ground since Clough's death. I watched the game on television in a Horsforth pub, with tears in my eyes at the significance of the moment. We won that match, but just eight more wins all season meant that we were relegated at the end of the season. Those were dark days for the team but we seem to be finally back on track; top of the Sky Bet Championship on the tenth anniversary of that sad day.

Last Sunday the club began its period of marking the anniversary with the game against Derby County. It seemed fitting that the fixture gods had brought together the two clubs with which Clough will always be most associated. He is arguably the reason why the rivalry is so fierce between the two sides of the stretch of the A52 which now bears his name. The game itself wasn't particuarly memorable, they rarely are, apart from a few flashpoints, but the afternoon was never going to be about 90 minutes of football. The minute's applause after ten minutes was observed by fans of both the clubs which Clough loved so much, and save for the three idiots that invaded the pitch during the second half, all in attendance behaved themselves and respected the man and the occasion. It was a timely reminder that while Nottingham Forest and Derby are rivals, we're not enemies. I am glad I was there to pay my respects.

You don't need me to tell you about Clough. We all have our stories and memories of him, even those of us who never met him or even saw any of his Forest teams play. My Dad once asked him for a handshake at East Midlands Airport following a European away game. Clough replied "course you can, big fella". I must have heard the story a thousand times, but the enthusiasm is still there when my dad tells anyone who will listen as if it made his life.

There will never be another manager like him. There will certainly never be an opportunity for a club like Nottingham Forest to rule Europe twice, certainly not without billions of pounds of investment.

Stuart Pearce has led us to the top of the table, and although we're only seven games into the league season, it's difficult not to think of how fitting it would be to mark such a significant year - it's also the club's 150th anniversary in 2015 - with promotion back into the top flight. There's a long way to go, but you just never know.

Sky Bet Championship prediction 2014-15

The new season is back and so is Behind The Goal. It's the third season of your favourite football blog. Thank you for reading my posts last season, or if you are a new reader, welcome aboard.

The Sky Bet Football League kicks off this weekend, and as always, the race for promotion should be hotly contested. No fewer than 18 of the 24 clubs have played in the Premier League at some point, and a similar number will head into the campaign with genuine hopes of troubling at least the play-off places in the spring.

The three teams relegated last season are all in pole position to bounce straight back, with none of those sides having to make drastic changes. Fulham, Cardiff City and Norwich City will be in the mix and ought to finish in the play-off places with little fuss. All three of them will fully expect that they can bounce straight back via automatic promotion.

But of those, it is Fulham who are most proving that the parachute payments from the drop can now fund a promotion campaign rather than protect a club against further demotions, as has been the case in the past. Felix Magath's men will now be led by last season's Championship top scorer Ross McCormack, who moves to Craven Cottage for a second-tier record £11 million. He threw goals in for fun last year in an average Leeds United team, and he should continue where he left off, and my opinion, help the Cottagers bounce straight back to the Premier League in style.

Of last May's beaten play-off teams, Wigan Athletic are best placed to challenge again, although Derby County and Brighton and Hove Albion also have retained the squads needed to go close. After last season's poor start, not helped by their Europa League campaign, Wigan rallied to a top-six finish, and were unlucky not to beat Queens Park Rangers in the semi-finals. A better start, and maybe Uwe Rosler will get the Latics back this time.

As for my club, Nottingham Forest, to say this last week before the big kick-off has been a rollercoaster ride is somewhat of an understatement, and possibly worth a blog post longer than this one all by itself. In a nutshell, the controversial sales (and loans back) of Jamaal Lascelles and Karl Darlow to Newcastle United paid for the transfer fees of Michail Antonio from Sheffield Wednesday, and Britt Assombalonga from Peterborough United, the latter for a club record fee of in excess of £5 million.

Those additions, plus the recruitments of the likes of Matt Fryatt, Michael Mancienne, Lars Veldwijk and Chris Burke make us far stronger in depth than last year, when we limped home in a disappointing 11th place. Wishful thinking maybe, but a play-off place is the least I expect this season. I will play safe and not put us any higher than 6th though. I daren't predict we will finish above Derby County, although there will be very little separating both teams this time around. I'll be at the City Ground on Saturday  for Stuart Pearce's first game as manager against Blackpool; needless to say the atmosphere will be something special as a genuine club legend returns.

At the bottom, I am hardly going out on a limb in tipping Blackpool for the drop. What has been allowed to happen at Bloomfield Road is a disgrace, and the fans deserve better than to enter a league season with barely more than eleven players to play in it. Newly promoted Brentford may find the step up one too far, and can Charlton Athletic defy the odds with another late season revival? Possibly not, given their manager Jose Riga left, ironically to Blackpool, and they have a newcomer to English football in charge in the shape of Bob Peeters. Their young squad may just lack the quality to get over the line this year.

Last season I correctly called two of the relegation places, and I was right in predicting Queens Park Rangers' promotion, although I did think it would be automatic. In the interest of fairness I should also point out that I had runners-up Burnley down in 18th place before a ball had been kicked, so it's not all doom and gloom if I put your team towards the bottom.

Here is the BTG Championship table prediction:

1. Fulham

2. Wigan Athletic
3. Cardiff City
4. Norwich City
5. Derby County
6. Nottingham Forest
7. Ipswich Town
8. Blackburn Rovers
9. Brighton and Hove Albion
10. Middlesbrough
11. Reading
12. Wolverhampton Wanderers
13. AFC Bournemouth
14. Bolton Wanderers
15. Watford
16. Birmingham City
17. Leeds United
18. Rotherham United
19. Huddersfield Town
20. Sheffield Wednesday
21. Millwall
22. Charlton Athletic
23. Brentford
24. Blackpool

Where do you think your team will finish? Have I got your boys in the right place? Whether you agree or disagree leave a message or Tweet me @adamgray50

TWIF 2.05: Moyes and Davies under Derby day pressure

This Week In Football I look at two managers facing battles to save their jobs following, or ahead of, derby day fixtures.

Manchester United's 3-0 home defeat to Liverpool was a shocking new low in what has been a horrendous season for the Barclays Premier League champions. Shocking in that Liverpool only managed to score three goals. Two penalties from captain Steven Gerrard and a goal from Luis Suarez gave Brendan Rodgers' side an unbelievably easy victory. Liverpool would have been disappointed it wasn't six or seven. What would have hurt the home fans the most would have been the players' lack of urgency, fight, and ultimately discipline. To concede three penalties is pretty shameful, and to be honest, referee Mark Clattenburg could, maybe even should, have given Liverpool five. United were getting overrun in midfield; it looked like 12 men against ten at times. Juan Mata was out of position again. If you don't play him in the No.10 role, you may as well put him in goal. The gulf between the two old rivals was apparent for all to see, and it proved that David Moyes, despite his defiance in press conferences before and since, is on borrowed time at Old Trafford. If United are knocked out of the Champions League by Olympiacos and then lose at home to Manchester City in the Premier League, I am reasonably confident that the United hierarchy will act. We all expected a transitional season, but 7th in the table is an absolute failure.

Speaking of managers who may be up against it, Billy Davies is allegedly facing a battle to hang on to the Nottingham Forest hot seat after a poor run of results and an FA charge, which has brought a touchline ban, subject to appeal. It gives me no pleasure as a fan of his and of the club to see his position brought under threat by an increasing band of supporters who have had enough of his antics and percieved lack of tactical nouse. In all fairness, find me another team in the Sky Bet Championship who wouldn't struggle to maintain a good run of results with almost their entire starting XI out with not insignificant injuries. The Billy Out Brigade will point to the fact that the club is in no better position now than a year ago, when they ultimately missed out on a play-off place on the final day, but he needs to be given the chance to see out the season. If Davies isn't the manager, who will be? Last time he left, he was followed by Steve McClaren, Steve Cotterill, Sean O'Driscoll and Alex McLeish, a glorious period in the club's history it wasn't. On Saturday Forest travel to the iPro Stadium to face local rivals Derby County. Needless to say, the Reds fans aren't all that confident, illustrated by their struggle to sell out their ticket allocation for the match. Following the reverse fixture at the City Ground in September in which Forest won 1-0, Derby sacked Nigel Clough. I am just hoping that the roles aren't reversed on Saturday afternoon.

TWIF 5 - McManaman madness, Rio out, Forest on the up

Sunday afternoon's game at the DW Stadium saw Wigan Athletic beat Newcastle United 2-1 to boost their hopes of Barclays Premier League survival, but the Latics' crucial victory was overshadowed by a horrendous tackle by Callum McManaman on Massadio Haidara, which left the Newcastle player in hospital. McManaman caught the Frenchman halfway up the leg and left him with suspected ligament damage. We got the usual 'he's not that type of player' defence of a man who was making his first Premier League start, but whether he is or not is irrelevant. It was quite possibly the worst foul I have ever seen in English football, and one which 99 times out of 100 would be punished by a red card and at least a three-game ban. Except this was the one time it wasn't. Referee Mark Halsey didn't even give a free kick. His view must have been blocked by the Newcastle player between himself and the incident. Lets hope that's the case, because due to our FA's outdated laws, only unseen acts can be dealt with retrospectively. Hopefully McManaman gets the punishment he deserves. As for Dave Whelan, I'm not sure what he was thinking in coming out in defence of what he called a 'fair tackle'. Speaking as someone who had his own career ended in similar fashion, he ought to have thought before he spoke, although that's something the Wigan chairman finds difficult. No doubt had the shoe been on the other foot, he would have been at the front of the queue to condemn Haidara. I have said before, and I'll say again, I would bring back diving to get rid of coward's tackles like this. It makes me so mad to see careers threatened like this, and as for the Wigan supporters who cheered McManaman off when he was substitued, grow up.

Rio Ferdinand finally got his long-awaited recall to the England squad this week, only for the Manchester United defender to pull out. Ferdinand claims that his personal medical programme means that he cannot join up with the national squad for the World Cup qualifying matches against San Marino and Montenegro. No doubt Ferdinand would have had words put in his ear by his club manager Sir Alex Ferguson, which is more than can be said for England chief Roy Hodgson. It is clear in my view that there has been little or no communication between the two managers. I'm not sure Ferdinand has pulled out due to Hodgson leaving him out of the European Championship, and I'm very sure that it has nothing to do with his situation with Ashley Cole. If he had pulled out for either of those reasons, he would have been cutting his nose off to spite his face. Ferdinand has made it clear that he wants to put the Three Lions shirt on again, and it would have been a very tough call to withdraw. I just hope that he can be considered again by Hodgson. Despite what some people think, his selection wouldn't be a backward step. He is still among the best central defenders we have got, and our squad is stronger with him than without him.

Nottingham Forest continued their excellent form under returning boss Billy Davies on Saturday with a vital 2-1 win away at fellow promotion contenders Hull City at the KC Stadium. Second-half goals from Darius Henderson and Lewis McGugan earned the Reds their sixth consecutive win in the npower Championship - one shy of the club record - and cemented Forest's position in the top six with eight games to go this season. As a fan, I have written about Forest's trials and tribulations a couple of times before on Behind The Goal, and I couldn't foresee the incredible turnaround in fortunes at the club. Since Billy Davies took over from Alex McLeish, Forest have amassed 19 points from a possible 21. Just as well they have; had they lost those six instead of won them, they would be second from bottom of the table. It just goes to show how vital Davies' appointment was. If only it had been done a few weeks earlier, and they may even be realistically challenging for automatic promotion. Forest and the play-offs have never really got on well, but we as fans would all be delighted to give them another go!

TWIF 4 - Offside or onside?; All change at Forest; Blackburn circus continues.

Boxing Day in the Premier League saw one of the more talked-about goals of recent weeks. In the game between Manchester United and Newcastle United at Old Trafford, Jonny Evans diverted Danny Simpson's cross into his own net to hand the visitors a surprise 2-1 lead. The problem was that Papiss Demba Cisse was in an offside position in the six-yard box, but didn't play the ball at any point. After much deliberation the own goal was eventually - and correctly - given. Cisse did not touch the ball so was technically not offside, yet there's the problem with the law. How can a striker inside the six-yard box be not interfering with play? He was close enough to David De Gea for the goalkeeper to worry about, and close enough to Evans for him to feel he had to take defensive action. Referee Mike Dean got it right according to the laws of the game, but the rule is surely wrong in this instance. In the six-yard box at least, offside should mean offside. That doesn't excuse Sir Alex Ferguson's behaviour though. He should know better at his age and his experience. It's no surprise he won't face any action over it; his reputation has saved him for years.

Nottingham Forest are in a decent position in the npower Championship, just a point off the play-off places, helped by a terrific 4-2 win over Leeds United on Boxing Day. There was much surprise then, that the owners, the Al Hasawi family, decided to sack manager Sean O'Driscoll just hours after the game. There had been rumours in and around Nottingham for a while that O'Driscoll was on borrowed time, and there was a suggestion that he would be out with a defeat, but to get the chop after a win was very strange timing. O'Driscoll paid the price for new chairman Fawaz Al Hasawi moving the goalposts mid-season. The start of the campaign brought talk of a three-year plan and a year of consolidation, but now it seems like it's promotion or bust. There was a collective sigh amongst the City Ground fans when his successor was named as Alex McLeish. It hardly excites the faithful on Trentside. He has a particular style of football which isn't really the Forest way, and of course there are the two most recent sackings at Birmingham City and Aston Villa which stick in the memory. To say he has to hit the ground running is an understatement if he is to win the fans over and the club's owners are to find out that the grass is greener on the other side.

Speaking of which, I assume the Blackburn Rovers hierarchy thought they would be going places after finally getting rid of Steve Kean and replacing him with Henning Berg, a former title-winner with the club as a player. Despite being hated by the fans, Kean left Ewood Park with the club in 3rd place, after a fairly respectable start to the Championship season. The Venky's group, which owns the club, had the plan for Berg to come in and steer them towards a return to the top flight. Following one win in ten games, the Norwegian is out of a job after just eight weeks in the hot seat with Rovers plummeting to 17th in the table. The fans were desperate for Kean to go for months and months; I bet there may even now be some who would have him back. Talk about 'Be careful what you wish for'!

Finally I will sign off by saying thank you for your support and for reading Behind The Goal in the first half of the season. Happy New Year, and I hope you and your club has a successful 2013.

TWIF 3 - United, England, Forest

Before a ball had been kicked this season I predicted that Manchester United would win the Barclays Premier League, and although Chelsea made a fast start, and Manchester City continue to pick up points without hitting top gear, I haven't changed my mind, and this past Saturday evening's game against Aston Villa just showed why they are once again favourites. (Ladbrokes have them at just 10/11 for the title now.) United's record at Villa Park - unbeaten there since 1995 - meant that we all assumed that three points would be theirs. Nobody expected then that they would fall 2-0 behind. Yet even at that point there was a feeling that Sir Alex Ferguson's team could fight back. We have seen it enough times. Like the Reading v Arsenal game a couple of weeks ago, all it took was that first goal back for the ball to start rolling. Ferguson has the league's top scorer in Robin van Persie, and England's best player in Wayne Rooney leading his line, yet it was Javier Hernandez who would prove the match winner with two goals and a big part in the third, which went down as an own goal. Chicharito may be further down the pecking order than he would like, but he remains one of the league's deadliest finishers when given a chance. That and his own and his team's never-say-die attitude in adversity looks like being the key to another title tilt.

England head to Sweden on Wednesday night for a friendly which, if I'm being honest, I'm not eagerly anticipating. The next World Cup qualifier is not until March, so I'm not too sure what Roy Hodsgon can learn from it in terms of tactics and systems. The fact that Wayne Rooney, Theo Walcott, Jonjo Shelvey, Kyle Walker and Aaron Lennon have all pulled out due to injuries suggests that their club managers don't want their players going out for a meaningless game. I wonder how many of those five will be back in club shirts this weekend? It does however open the door for a couple of others to make their mark. Carl Jenkinson deserves an opportunity after showing remarkable improvement in his form this season for Arsenal, and Wilfried Zaha of Crystal Palace, who no doubt will be a top player in the future, has a very early chance to show why most of the Premier League wants him when the transfer window opens. Even if they do make their England debuts, they're not fully committed to the Three Lions though, as it's only a friendly. Jenkinson has represented Finland at youth level, and Zaha could still play for Ivory Coast. The idea of selecting your nationality has got to stop. In my opinion, they are both English and should play for England. Teams shouldn't be allowed to bring in ringers. It hasn't got Scotland very far, has it!

My team Nottingham Forest continued their solid progress in the npower Championship with a hard-earned point at local rivals Leicester City on Saturday. The home side had every right to feel aggrieved with Forest's penalty which made the final score 2-2 - replays suggested that the defender took the ball - yet even so, their profligacy in front of goal meant that they didn't deserve more than what they got. Besides, we were due a piece of luck; that was our first spot kick awarded to us for 60 games! Forest have drawn more times(8) than any other team in the league, and if they are going to achieve more than their current mid-table position, they need to start turning some of those into wins. They have only lost three times however, and arguably they could have got results in two of those. Maybe we aren't as high in the table as we should be, but I was disappointed to read Paul Taylor's piece in the Nottingham Post which implored the owners to keep faith in manager Sean O'Driscoll. There is no suggestion that his job is under threat. The Al-Hasawis know that the task of making Forest great again is a long term plan, and to suggest otherwise is making smoke without fire.