Throughout the course of The Damned United the narrator and protagonist, Brian Clough, is consistently compared to and consistently resists being compared to his rival and predecessor, Don Revie. Revie is the classic corrupt coach who encourages his players to cheat and focuses on winning games and championships through superstition and foul play. Clough considers himself the opposite: a coach driven to win through hard work, fair play, and a love of the game. I agree with Clough in that the two are opposites in their coaching style, however, through his need for repetition in his recruiting style, I believe Clough is more similar to Revie than he thinks.
Clough first disassociates himself from Revie's coaching style in the press conference on his first day as manager of Leeds United. When asked what he will do for the team Clough states, "I want to bring a little bit more warmth and a little bit more honesty and a little bit more of me to the set-up… I can win it better. You just watch me" (15). Clough immediately wants to end the corruption and cheating habits of Leeds United. He wants to prove that he can lead the team to victory without using the dirty plays Revie allowed. During that same press conference, Clough is asked how he will follow Revie's legacy, which included the ritual of wearing a special suit on game days to ensure good luck. He responds saying he would throw the suit away if it had been in his office when he walked in, and the reporter responds, "'You're not a superstitious man then, Brian?' 'No, Austin, I'm not… I'm a socialist'" (16). Clough purposefully denounces superstition knowing that it is a staple in Revie's tactics. Clough is an extremely blunt man, and he uses his roughness to make it clear that he is not going to be a coach like Revie. As the situation at Leeds United deteriorates, Clough consistently describes the team as "his team" or "his players" referring to Revie. When the Leeds players are purposefully playing dirty and the team is losing its rank, Clough refuses to relate to them, describing them as, "[n]ot my team. Never. Not mine. Never. Not this team. Never- They are not Derby County and I am not Donald Revie" (324). Clough refuses to be anything like Revie when he deals with the players of Leeds United, and he purposefully goes into the job without compromise, creating an abrupt change. When this tactic does not work, Clough disassociates himself from the team and further distances himself from Revie.
Though they are polar opposites in their coaching tactics, I believe that Clough is slightly similar to Revie in his need for repetition when recruiting and his affect on the soccer community. When Clough receives the England's Manager of the Month award, the speaker references Revie saying, "'[h]is Derby County team is probably the first side since Ipswich under Alf Ramsey or Leeds under Don Revie to make such an immediate impact on the First Division'" (95). Clough has a very successful career, similar to Revie. Though his tactics are different, if not better, the resulting is still similar to Revie's. In addition, the tactics that Clough and Peter (his assistant) use for recruiting new players is very repetitive. Peter finds players on other teams that seem valuable and Clough goes in and makes them an offer they cannot refuse. He describes the process saying, "Observe. Expose. Replace. Observe. Expose. Replace" (112). This description is extremely repetitive, as is the process. Clough relies on that process to create a winning team for Derby. Though he denies the need for repetition, Clough indeed relies on it, and therefore is more similar to Revie than he believes.
One of the main sticking points for Clough throughout the book is being different and ultimately a better coach than Revie, and I think that mindset brings his downfall as much as any other factor. Almost every setback that happens while at Leeds is blamed on the way Revie did something, how Clough is different than Revie or how the players like Revie better. In reality, Clough causes many of the problems through his determination to do things his own way and he never acknowledges that possibly, Revie acted a certain way because it worked.
ReplyDeleteFrom the very start, Clough states that Leeds can expect “I want to bring a little bit more warmth and a little bit more honesty and little bit more of me into the set-up”(15). While Clough is right in that Leeds doesn’t always play fair and he is justified to want to change that, he goes far beyond. He doesn’t want to warm up with the players in the locker room, get to know them or form relationships with his team, all things that Revie did. Clough is too blinded by his hatred for Revie to see that these actions would help, not harm the team. There’s no way for Clough to be better than Revie if he can’t acknowledge that he’s a good manager for a reason and has been successful with Leeds for a reason.
Throughout the novel, The Damned Utd, the relationship between Don Revie and Brian Clough is consistently changing. When looking at it chronologically, when the two managers first meet, it seems as though Clough is a fan of Revie’s. However, as soon as Revie ignores him, Clough’s perspective is forever changed. He goes from being offended to a combination of jealous and angry throughout the rest of the novel.
ReplyDeleteAs Caroline stated above, it is very interesting to see how determined Clough is to prove that not only is he very different from Revie, but he is actually much better. However, it must be considered that Revie and Clough have very similar roots. Even Clough points it out when he first starts playing Revie and the Leeds team. Before Derby County and Clough have their first big match-up against Leeds, the reader gains insight on Clough’s thoughts as he considers how similar he is to Revie: “Don Revie was also born in Middlesbrough. Just like you – Peas in a pod, you and Don, peas in a pod - born just seven years and some streets apart….Just like you” (48). Based on these thoughts Clough has, the reader can see how Clough struggles with his feelings toward Revie, especially with the repetition. It becomes quite clear that Clough is conflicted on whether or not he should respect Revie or if he should try to emulate him. So no matter how hard Clough may have tried to distinguish himself from Revie, he would not have ever found success since he himself was finding similarities between the two of them. That in combination with the negative and heavy emotions led to a tumultuous relationship between the two managers, at least from Clough’s perspective.