Too Big For Your Boots
Picture this, you’ve just made your goalkeeping debut for Nottingham Forest in the Premier League at the age of seventeen. In your first two games against Liverpool and Newcastle you have been excellent for the side. In game three your first mistake comes in an FA Cup game versus Coventry City but your team still win. You expect that the following day (A Sunday) will be a day off but the manager has other plans for you after he sees you getting complacent with the game. The following morning your manager decides to send you off playing Derbyshire Sunday League Division Five for AC Hunters FC. Believe it or not this actually happened to former Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Mark Crossley under then manager Brian Clough. The story is told below and is well worth a listen. The impressions of Clough and the reason behind sending Crossley to play amateur football is a fascinating insight into the man management of the legendary Brian Clough.