Clough's War [Hardcover]

During his six years at the helm of Derby County, Brian Clough transformed the club from Second Division no-hopers into one of the strongest and most feared in Europe. Behind the scenes, however, all was not well. Clough's War documents the deterioration of the relationship between manager and employer - chairman Sam Longson in particular - as well as the fallout from Clough's bitter resignation in October 1973.

In his foreword, author Don Shaw (who instigated 'The Campaign' to have Clough reinstated, and was its nominal head) intimates that he has tried to somehow 'right the wrongs' of David Peace's The Damned Utd, the controversial 2006 novel which caused such deep upset to the late Clough's family.

Perceived wisdom is that The Damned Utd was a 'hatchet job', but beneath its unremittingly grim exterior it painted a warmer picture of its subject than the copious effing, blinding, drinking and smoking might suggest. Granted, Peace took creative liberties and blew up Clough's demons to grotesque and almost satirical proportions, but he never neglected to acknowledge that Clough was a ferociously driven and charismatic man, as well as a brilliant manager with a peerless ability to motivate and get the best out of players.

Even so, Clough's faults were often as manifest as his strengths. Shaw recognises this dichotomy, as well as the fact that the line between them was at times so fine as to make them almost indistinguishable. In so doing, he manages largely to avoid sentimentality and remain objective, but a surprisingly large proportion of Clough's War is devoted to events prior to The Campaign, and very little in Shaw's first-hand account comes as any great surprise or revelation. So Clough was vain, arrogant, paranoid and a control freak, was he? Stop the press.

It is also unclear what Shaw's motivations are, both in writing Clough's War (other than as an attempted counter-balance) and, indeed, throughout The Campaign itself (beyond being a Derby fan). Despite being at the front line, he frequently expresses uncertainty as to the purpose of The Campaign, suddenly questioning the point of continuing, only to just as quickly backtrack. Arguably, this diffidence was less his fault than that of the ex-manager, but Clough's War consequently never manages to wholly convince or achieve the right focus.

A couple of other minor points. As noted by the previous reviewer, there are several factual errors and inconsistencies, mostly trivial but occasionally glaring. For instance, we are told how Len Shackleton - upset at the lack of recognition for tipping Derby off about Clough - never speaks to Sam Longson again; yet, shortly after, the two are conversing over the telephone. More curiously, by taking a non-linear form and through its use of 'imagined' conversations, the structure of Clough's War at times seems almost to mimic that of The Damned Utd - this in spite of the two being ostensibly chalk and cheese (or more pertinently, Fact and Fiction Based On Fact).

I had hoped that Clough's War might, if nothing else, fill any gaps in the story of Old Big 'Ead. In this regard, it singularly fails, maybe because there are no gaps left to fill, but it ultimately feels frustratingly insubstantial, and as such is perhaps of interest more to the casual reader than to a student of one of English football's greatest ever characters.

Don Shaw's "Clough's War" is the best book I've ever read in terms of providing the real inside story of Clough & Taylor's magical six year spell at Derby County from 1967 - 1973.

The book is a thriller, a rollercoaster of a read. A compelling page turner, revealing the true genius of Brian Clough.

What makes the book so good is that it is not blinkered to Brian Clough's faults. It shows that Brian Clough's pride was as much a source of weakness for him as it was his strength. Secret meetings are revealed between the author and Brian Clough and the constant struggle that went on, in relation to figuring out how the mind of a genius works.

What Don Shaw has written does more than anything to bring back the 'People's Hero' to his adoring public.

The main story revolves around the actions of Brian Clough, his players and a group of people led by Don Shaw who tried their best to get Brian Clough back at Derby County.

A complex character is revealed, but one who always surprises you. Don Shaw has shown the great man as he really was, a man who always tried his best, a man with impeccable standards and values.

Read "Clough's War" and relive those traumatic days in 1973. You will not be disappointed.

Brian Clough may have lost his battle but in the end he won the war.

A fascinating counterpoint to The Damned United. The structure is very similar; this time the story told in parallel to Clough's career up to his resignation as Derby manager is not his inglorious 44 days at Leeds, but the equally ill-fated "Protest Movement" to reinstate him at Derby. Shaw, as one of the leaders of the campaign, is well-qualified to write the story. His thesis is that Clough (being Clough) was himself most responsible for the failure of the protest, due to his reluctance to relinquish control over it, and in particular to his utter refusal for anyone else to organise, or even communicate with, "his" players. Shaw argues a very convincing case, based on numerous meetings with Clough and the Derby team. There are several sections where the narrative is less credible, as it is based on hearsay, some times on Clough quoting what other people have told him. (There may be corroboration in the sources Shaw lists in his foreword, but these aren't referenced in a detailed manner.) Shaw freely admits that, in such cases, he is using dramatic license, but the result is an uneasy mixture. To put this in perspective, there are some incidents with a ring of truth about the relationship between Clough and Shaw:
-When Shaw accuses Clough of being Machiavellian, Clough does not know what this means (or deliberately feigns ignorance).
-When challenged by Clough, Shaw denies that he is writing a book about the campaign. (So, in a way, he gets gentle revenge by publishing this book long after the event!)
Peter Taylor comes off better in this account than in The Damned United. Curiously, although Shaw sometimes quotes what Taylor said when he (Shaw) was present, there is no instance where Shaw talks to Taylor. Either there is nothing (or nothing worth) quoting on this, or perhaps Clough didn' t want Shaw to talk to Taylor either.
On a personal level, Shaw was clearly, like so many, equally entranced, bewildered and exasperated by the mercurial Clough; as a lifelong Rams supporter, Shaw is obviously grateful to Clough for Derby's greatest football period. While not concealing Clough's drinking, Shaw does - at Barbara Clough's request - state that Clough never swore, contrary to the portrayal in The Damned United.
I was unaware that it was Len Shackleton who recommended Clough to Longson for the job at Derby. In view of Shackleton's opinion of "The Average Director's Knowledge of Football", a well-known chapter of his autobiography, and the claim (attributed to Clough by Shaw) that Longson showed his appreciation to Shackleton by giving him a box of biscuits, Shackleton may have derived sardonic from the dance that Clough led Longson and his fellow-directors!
Younger readers may wonder what this book, and the continuing fascination with Clough, is all about, but (as Shaw points out in his conclusion) it is not just that Clough was one of a kind, but that the modern Premiership structure is so different that "the chance of another Clough arising is nil".