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A clough act to follow

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho’s ‘no-nonsense’ style is similar to Brian Clough, says Burton boss Nigel

Clough jnr faces the Special One for the first time tonight when he takes his shoestring squad to Old Trafford

NIGEL CLOUGH believes Jose Mourinho’s ‘no-nonsense’ style of management is a throwback to his legendary father Brian.

Clough jnr faces the Special One for the first time tonight when he takes his shoestring Burton squad to Manchester United.

 Jose Mourinho has similarities to Nigel Clough, according to his son Nigel
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Jose Mourinho has similarities to Nigel Clough, according to his son NigelCredit: EPA
 Brian Clough is known as one of the greatest managers ever to grace football
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Brian Clough is known as one of the greatest managers ever to grace footballCredit: PA:Empics Sport

His dad famously won two European Cups with Nottingham Forest and is recognised as one of the game’s greatest-ever bosses.

Clough snr referred to Mourinho in Pat Murphy’s biography, His Way, when he commented: “Reminds me a lot of me when I was his age... but I was better looking!”

And Brewers manager Clough, 51, sees echoes of his late dad in the Old Trafford chief.

Clough said: “It’s just the way he goes about it and deals with things in such a no-nonsense manner.

“It’s black or it’s white and that’s it. If a player does the job for him, he has him in and, if he doesn’t, that’s it.

“I think they look at things in very similar ways. And the way he deals with the media, there are similarities.

 Nigel Clough's Burton take on Jose Mourinho's Manchester United tonight
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Nigel Clough's Burton take on Jose Mourinho's Manchester United tonightCredit: Reuters

“But he’s just no-nonsense and says what he thinks — and that’s the biggest similarity.

“I have spoken to him before but not met him. He did the foreword for the Forest book, I Believe In Miracles.

“So I spoke to him briefly over that. I’m looking forward to it.”

Clough says Burton have United to thank for paying off what they owed on their 12-year-old home ground, the Pirelli Stadium.

The sides met in the FA Cup third round in 2006 when Burton were a non-league side.

It was Clough’s first spell in charge and they managed to get a replay after a 0-0 draw.

That earned Burton around £800,000 and left them debt-free after building their new ground the previous year and going over their budget.

 Nigel Clough knows the game against Manchester United will give them some money
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Nigel Clough knows the game against Manchester United will give them some moneyCredit: Rex Features

Clough says it was a result that left chairman Ben ­Robinson in tears.

The Brewers boss admitted: “We’d probably still be in debt now if it wasn’t for that replay!

“That paid off such a significant sum and it gave us that foundation.

“That replay is singularly the most important development to help the club in their progress in terms of financial rewards.

“We were pleased not to win. The chairman’s seen the ref Howard Webb a few times and he says we nearly got a penalty when Gerard Pique handled it.

“But our chairman says it ­definitely wasn’t!

 Jose Mourinho has turned Manchester United into the team to beat
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Jose Mourinho has turned Manchester United into the team to beatCredit: AP:Associated Press
 Brian Clough was known for being a tough boss who got results
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Brian Clough was known for being a tough boss who got resultsCredit: Getty - Contributor

“It was the replay that made the difference and we’ve been debt-free as a club ever since.

“The chairman was in tears. Seriously. He was crying. He knew what getting that replay meant for the club going forwards.

“It was just a massive amount of money for a non-league club.

“We were over 100 places below United then and now it’s just 37 — but we’re a million miles away in many other areas.

“It’s remarkable in a relatively short space of time and a dream for all of us.

“The new stadium went over ­budget and we got Man United at the absolute perfect time.”

 Manchester United have been on amazing form since the start of the season
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Manchester United have been on amazing form since the start of the seasonCredit: AP:Associated Press

Clough says he will not show his players United’s 4-0 win over Everton as it will scare them — he could only watch ten minutes himself!

He revealed: “My wife said, ‘Do you want to watch it?’, I said, ‘Not really’, so we turned it off.

“We’ll be concentrating on ourselves and not worrying too much about them — because it just ­frightens us!

“I just want the players to relax, enjoy it and hopefully we’ll get out of our half!”

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