THE
BACKLINE
To put his and the club’s achievements in
perspective, the current crop of fans must
look at these facts - Coaches like Arsene
Wenger, Manuel Pellgrini, Roberto Mancini
haven’t ever won a Champions League,
Arsenal and Manchester City have yet to
taste Champions League glory and
Chelsea has won only once.
No club has won back-to-back European
Cups/Champions
League
since
the
legendary side of Milan (1988-89 & 198990). And before that? Yes, you guessed it
right! Nottingham Forest.
The only twist in this perfectly written
script is a tragic one. Both the club and
the coach failed to realise the right time
to say goodbye. By the time Clough
stepped down in 1993, his workaholic &
alcoholic body was not in great shape
and Nottingham Forest was relegated to
the second tier of English Football.
Today, they have come full circle. They
are on the brink of getting back into
Premier League, sitting at the top of the
Championship. And the man driving this
push is Stuart Pearce, the captain of
Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest team.
The list of these fallen Giants is long: Reims (France), Mechelen (Belgium), Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia), Leeds United (England) etc.
These clubs were big in an era when football trumped everything, even money. As these clubs struggle to survive, their fans refuse to
get over the hangover of nostalgia. This is where the conflict exists. A fairy tale comeback is always in the hearts of the fans, but
never in the club’s plans.
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Photo Credit: Soumick Nag