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Not a lot of people know this, but Brian Clough never managed the England football team. Despite winning two Bigger Cups, a league title and a few Milk Cups, Clough was overlooked for Big Job, largely because the prevailing blazers were terrified of his unyielding attitude regarding the administration of home truths. Clough as England manager is one of football’s great what-ifs. We’ll never know, no matter how many times it comes up on the Stick to Football podcast, but Thomas Tuchel is starting to give us a glimpse into what it might have been like.
We know these are different times. Tuchel will never rock a green jumper, and we’re not expecting him to stroll on to the field and start panelling his own fans like Clough once did. But he shares Clough’s disdain for the veneers and unchallenged horse pucky that are fundamental to the preservation of football’s warped self-image. And he has a powerful urge to say the unsayable. Never mind empowering the Three Lions; so far Tuchel has spent his time slaying sacred cows. Not content with calling out – and leaving out – many of his star players, or challenging the media on their sometimes infantile interpretation on his decisions, Tuchel turned his attention to England’s supporters after Thursday’s 3-0 win over Wales.
