I came across a new TV documentary this evening that I hadn’t seen before about Brian Clough.

It’s from 1969-70. Uniquely, the TV documentary starts off by asking then Derby County manager Brian Clough what his expectations are for the season. He goes through his entire squad and offers his critique of each player, what they can contribute and how he thinks his just-promoted side will do.

Then in the second half of the interview, the same interviewer goes back to Brian Clough at Derby and reviews how well (or not) his predictions did, as well as discussing how the season went.

A few things jumped out at me while watching the video. One, how cocky and confident he was even in this early stage of his managerial career. Two, how Leeds United is a common thread (and threat) in his discussions. And three, how awful the condition of the pitches were.

Feel free to post your own observations from this rare video in the comments section below.

In the meantime, in this month’s book discussion, we’ve chosen the brilliant Brian Clough biography by Jonathan Wilson entitled Nobody Ever Says Thank You. Join the discussion!