The Damned United: Damn the makers of the film...and the Board at Nottingham Forest

Football Food For Thought / Paul Moon / 03 April 2009 / 3

" class="free_bet_btn" rel="external" onclick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/G4/inline-freebet');" target="_blank">

Never a website to leave any football stone unturned, betting.betfair.com sent Paul Moon to go and watch "The Damned United" and give us his verdict on that, pus the current situation at Nottingham Forest... just for good measure.

Despite reservations, morbid curiosity challenged me to watch the film 'The Damned United'. Sadness quickly turned to nausea upon seeing my idol Brian Clough (Michael Sheen) depicted alongside a Fatty Arbuckle look-alike (Timothy Spall) in a caricature that insulted his memory.

The theme of the film sought to denigrate in a masked adaptation. It foolishly perpetrated a type of love affair between the two leads based on reliance, leaving both Brian Clough and Peter Taylor looking inadequate! I refute Michael Sheen's claim that the film was an 'affectionate and respectful look at Brian'. It was blatant disrespect and a vehicle to make money.

The casting for the film was a disaster (the Don Revie and Sam Longson characters apart). The skinny legs of the actors that purported to be footballers from Leeds and Derby went a long way to removing all credibility. The worst piece of casting was reserved for the Billy Bremner actor who waddled like a duck whilst balancing a curly wig on his head.

I nearly missed the end of the film. As I was about to leave in silent protest it found a new depth of absurdity. I hope I do not spoil the ending but it shows Cloughie on his knees propounding his love for Peter Taylor while he pottered about in the garden.

Brian Clough's managerial achievements surpassed those of any other manager, alive or dead. His transformation of corner shop clubs has never, nor ever will be, equalled. Words cannot explain this phenomenon.

Though the Clough and Taylor glory years left a cloud of unrealistic expectation hovering over the City Ground, it was rank bad administration from the board that made them the first ever European champions to drop so low in their domestic competition. Confusion reigns to this day!

David Platt was the single worst Nottingham Forest appointment! In 103 matches, he lost 41 and drew 25. He was what I call a 'design manager' and proved to be all about packaging with no substance. In 1999 this wretched man squandered £15m buying ageing sub-standard Italians on huge wages.

The club never recovered its balance from his awful tenure and has since evolved a depressive cycle of fear. A blame culture engulfs Forest with former players reminding supporters of the hopelessness and this self-fulfilling prophecy in turn causes more anxiety. The manager's revolving door policy creates more panic hence more bad results. It's a vicious cycle.

Bizarrely, current manager Billy Davies wages war with the players and fans alike and appears to be losing sight of the core objective - avoiding impending relegation. His aggressive image is over the top and I am not convinced that is enough to keep Forest up! My son and I, both huge Forest fans, want to be proved wrong.

Meanwhile, paid football consultant David Pleat prances around Europe instead of Hull and Grimsby doing everything bar bringing good young players to Nottingham. It seems that no one quite understands what his job is and clarification would be a good idea with next season in mind.

Looking at Betfair prices for relegation from the Championship makes depressing reading for Forest supporters. Charlton are virtually down but it is very tight for the other two places. It appears to be between Southampton ([1.35]) Nottingham Forest ([2.3]) Plymouth ([2.9]) Norwich ([3.8]) Barnsley ([5.5]) Blackpool ([6.4]).

Incidentally, Southampton represent a fantastic lay bet. They have a game in hand above those and that is home to Charlton. You can lay now and lock in profit if they win on Saturday, which I expect them to do. They have a relatively good run in and finish the season by playing, guess who... Nottingham Forest.

East Midland rivals Derby County have been stabilised by Nigel Clough Jr. His calmness is in direct contrast to his father but he shares his intelligence. Frank Clark should have stayed boss until Clough Jr was ready. Missing out on this appointment could hurt Forest even more in years to come.

I am fascinated to see what Nigel Clough does at Pride Park over the close season and I look forward to seeing his thoughts and strategy develop. I am sure that had he been appointed manager of Forest a wave of optimism would have filled the veins thus enabling the team to stay up! But I guess we'll never know.

'.$sign_up['title'].'

'; } } ?>

(3)

Peter Jones | 03 April 2009

What a pleasure to read such a well written article.Mr Moon has such a wealth of Knowledge on so many Sports,long may he write articles for Betfair.

Southampton down for a win?Lets hope so,lost the family silver on the last bet I did,so dont put any money on it!
cloughiefan1 | 04 April 2009

Whoa. A damning read if you will. I haven't seen the film, but i did watch the Clough documentary this week, and in it Barbara and the family were disgusted by the film. Claiming it was a poor, inaccurate portrayal of the great Brian Clough. Im 27, so the European Cup victories were a bit before my time, but i've seen enough and heard enough to know that successive European cup wins are extraordinary. So for a team who were promoted so soon before, reflects the unbelievable job Clough and his boys did. A true legend of football who deserves every 'real' football fans' upmost respect.
I agree vehemently that David platt is responsible for Forests downfall. Too many inadequate foreigners brought in to allegedly improve us, many of them on very high wages, which we couldn't really afford.
To see my beloved Forest battling to stay in the championship hurts me tremendously. I sincerely hope Billy Davies can keep us up, cause i fear for us if we go down.
A.C | 07 April 2009

Pablo I have not watched the film of the Damned United but have heard a lot of bad press .It does not portray Clough as he should be remembered .Love him or loathe him what he achieved with so called second rate sides will never ever be repeated .It has been said with all who played with him he was a truly great manager and even Johnny Giles although they did not see eye to eye had great respect for what he had achieved and also stated this .
On a sadder note i have done my homework and feel that the relegation battle in the championship will be as follows . Charlton are down even though they may win one of their 4 home games against Blackpool .= Birmingham / Cardiff / Norwich will be draws and they will lose the two away games at Coventry and Derby this gives them 38 points . Southampton are also going to go down they will draw at Watford and at home to Burnley and Crystal Palace and lose to Sheff wed and wolves / their game at forest will be crucial which I think Forest will win this takes their tally to 43 points not good enough the final place will be between Forest and Norwich . Forest will beat Saints but feel they will draw at home to Bristol city and Coventry they will lose at Sheff utd their total will be 48 points .Norwich will beat Watford at home but draw at home with Reading and away at Charlton they will get beat at Ipswich and Swansea this also gives them 48 points but they have a better goal difference than Forest . If Forest or Norwich can get 49 or 50 points then i believe they will be safe .What odds do betfair offer for Forest to escape the drop .sorry Pablo .