Former Derby County boss Nigel Clough has recalled his surprise at "how poor a state" Nottingham Forest's East Midlands rivals were in when he was appointed manager.
He took the hotseat in January 2009, replacing Paul Jewell after a poor first half of the season. Clough went on to secure Championship survival with Derby, finishing one point and one place above Forest towards the bottom of the table.
He was sacked in September 2013 after a run of three defeats in just eight days. At the time, he was the Rams' longest-serving manager in a decade, a record that has not been beaten since. Clough was replaced at Derby by Steve McClaren.
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“I wouldn’t say it was a dream job – especially when we got in and realised what a state it was in. So no, it wasn’t a dream job at all," Clough told FourFourTwo Magazine.
“I remember being asked at the time if I was surprised at the size of the club, and I said that after living in Derby since the late 1960s, I was under no illusions. The one thing that did surprise me was how poor a state the club was in, from top to bottom.”
Clough is currently in charge of League Two side Mansfield Town. The Stags currently sit eighth in the league but are level on points with those in seventh, sixth, fifth and fourth.
