Clough had a mssive impact

It was shortly after Clough, who died aged 69 yesterday, had taken over as Albion manager in November, 1973.

Vinicombe was The Argus Albion reporter for 32 years and he knew if someone was trying to pull a fast one. He sensed that that was exactly what Clough was trying to do.

Clough told Vinicombe how hard he had been working up at the training ground and that it had been a tiring day.

Clough's caustic image had players, chairmen and the media running scared, but Vinicombe decided to challenge him.

He told one of the game's greatest ever managers, who was known for his short temper: "You haven't been at the training ground, I can see the soles of your shoes and there's no mud or grass on them."

Clough laughed and told Vinicombe: "You're a clever so and so, aren't you?"

Our man retorted: "It takes one to know one."

There began a fond nine-month relationship which ended when Clough departed for an ill-fated 44-day stay at Leeds.

It was Vinicombe who got the exclusive on Clough arriving at the Goldstone after leading Derby to the First Division championship.

He said: "It was half-time during a match at Hereford and I was using the toilet. Coincidentally Harry Bloom, the vice-chairman, was standing next to me.

"He whispered to me that he and chairman Mike Bamber were seeing Cloughie and Peter Taylor at the Waldorf Hotel in London that night. I was straight on the phone to The Argus and it was front page news in our late edition.

"Many thought it was a wind-up after what they had achieved at Derby.

"Cloughie came because he was given top money and complete carte blanche by Mike Bamber, one of the first entrepreneur chairmen. Clough always said that Bamber was the best chairman he had worked for and that was not surprising given the freedom he had.

"Bamber let Clough go off to New York to watch Ali fight and also be interviewed for the Iran manager's job. He even allowed his son Nigel to sit on the bench listening to all the foul language!

"You wouldn't see him in Brighton until the Thursday before a game and his silver Mercedes would head out of the Goldstone at 5.30 on the Saturday night. Most of his club business was conducted from the Midland Hotel in Derby and I used to have to go up there for stories.

"He was the greatest PR man football has ever had. At his first home game in charge against York the whole ground roared. It was hysteria.

"He wasn't here long before he quit for Leeds (34 games) because, I believe, of the money he was offered by Leeds and he didn't get Albion out of the Third Division.

"But he had a massive impact. The club needed a revolution and he supplied it. He swiftly cleared out the deadwood and replaced it.

"I remember Albion player Eddie Spearitt who was soon on his way out after Cloughie found he'd packed a tuxedo for a pre-season trip. It showed him Eddie was more of a lover than a fighter.

"He would think nothing of signing three players in one day, which he did when Ian Mellor, Steve Govier and Andy Rollings came from Norwich. He made snap decisions and they were usually right.

"He could be scathing with the players. Early on Brighton were beaten 4-0 at home by non-league Walton and Hersham and a little later 8-2 by Bristol Rovers. He was incandescent.

"He went out for a meal at a hotel in Lewes with the players and spotted them pinching the bums of the waitresses. The next day he made them all have haircuts as punishment.

"Butch Howell scored a hat-trick at Charlton and a radio man asked Clough if he could interview Butch. Cloughie told him where to go and added 'he's only scored three goals, so what?'

"He didn't want his players getting carried away and cut people down to size. He was brilliant at spotting a phoney and terrorised people. He was the Mr Nasty and Taylor Mr Nice in a double act."

But Vinicombe knew a little of the man behind the front.

He said: "I wouldn't claim I really knew him well because he was an intensely private person.

"But we got on. He was a socialist to his fingertips and we saw eye-to-eye politically. We had discussions and I gave him books to read on the subject.

"I went round to the Courtlands Hotel, his Brighton and Hove base, where he held court with manager Joe Messina supplying the drinks. People called him Old Big 'Ead but I never thought of him like that.

"I remember when I went into the dressing room at a freezing Walsall one night and seeing him trying to undo the laces of his players' boots because their fingers were so cold. He even offered me a night at the hotel with the players because it was a long drive back in difficult conditions.

"He liked a glass but that was his affair. I won't have a bad word said about him. I'll never forget him."

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has also praised Clough's unique style.

Wenger's Arsenal side have currently gone 46 games unbeaten in the top flight of English football after breaking the record of 42 set by Clough's Forest side.

Wenger said: "He was a manager with so many great qualities, which is perfectly illustrated by the fact that he led a club the size of Nottingham Forest to back-to-back European Cup titles, which is an absolutely remarkable achievement.

"I know he was a very special man with very special methods of managing.

"I remember watching his teams play and I would say that the Nottingham Forest side of the late 1970s will go down in history as one of the all-time greats.

"We must also not forget that he won the English Championship twice - once with Nottingham Forest and once with Derby County. These sides consistently triumphed over the traditional powers of the English game by playing stylish and powerful football."