The legacy of Brian Clough lives on in 2 young Sunderland fans

I found myself in a strange situation last week. I have been to Nottingham to carry out some research for a new book and to write a blog or maybe two about football in the city. I always enter into situations like tis with a completely blank piece of paper. While walking through the city with my kids, we came across a statue of Brian Clough. They are 9 and 11, so don't have a great deal of knowledge about the man. They asked me who he was. I started to explain.

As a Sunderland supporter, Cloughie means something different to me as a pose to what he means in the city of Nottingham. He was a great player for my club and would no doubt in my mind, have gone on to have scored the most goals for England. His record was 251 goals from 274 appearances for Sunderland and Middlesbrough before injury brought his career to a close.

There are all manner of stories about the legend that is Brian Clough. He was know to speak his mind and had his own way of dealing with players. But the Brian Clough I wanted my kids to know about was the serial winner.

So, what did Brian Clough actually achieve?

There is a lot of focus in the media about his days (and they were only days) as Leeds United manager. But his success came as manager of two unfashionable teams. He took over Derby County when they were in what we now know as the Championship. He and his Assistant Manager Peter Taylor took the team up, won the league and got to the semi-finals of the European Cup. Taking a team like this as far as he did is an amazing achievement. But it wasn't over. After falling out with the Derby board, Clough  had stints at Brighton and the ill-fated time at Leeds before taking over at Notts Forest - and earning the statue in the middle of the city that me and the kids were looking at in wonder.

This was another unfancied team, another team in the Second Division. Just as he did with Derby, he took them up and then won the league. These are feats that are akin to the famous Leicester City Premier League win a season or two ago. Teams just don't break the monopoly any more. But Brian Clough was not finished. That's why the Leicester story resonates, even through the owners can't seem to get it out of their head and have been through too many managers since.

The European Cup, what we now call the Champions League was in his sights. Not only did they emulate the Derby County record of getting to the semi-finals, they won it - two years in a row! Now my older readers will already know this, but those that are as young as my kids will never have seen anything like this in their life. It is uncharted territory. Leicester couldn't manage what Clough did - and he triumphed with not one, but two unfashionable teams.

My youngest, particularly found it fascinating. The fact that a team in a similar position to ours went on a journey that ended up with 2 Champions League wins has him excited about Sunderland's future. I think he's probably the only one.

What the Manchester derby told us about the state of the game in Manchester

It was derby time in Manchester last night. I have spent the week in the city looking at the state of the game here and how the future looks for the two clubs. It could be looked at as a game in the middle of a crisis in the footballing city.Going into the game there has been much criticism-

• Manchester United lost 4-0 to Chelsea on Sunday after a poor showing at Liverpool the week before
• Jose Mourinho has spoken about his unhappiness living in the city
• Pep Guardiola's City went into the match on a streak of 5 games without a win
• The old guard of Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero seem to be out of favour

But in and around the city of Manchester you couldn't sense any panic or even much frustration towards the clubs or the players.These are generally proper football fans that love their club, are happy with the success that they have had but don't feel as though they are entitled to it. Contrast that to the glory-hunting Manchester United fan from other parts of the country and the globe. The fact that the United fans were still out-singing the Chelsea home support while being 4-0 down in Sunday shows that these are people who know their football and love their club.

Near the Old Trafford stadium I spoke to Mike, a United fan that sees a future that doesn't look as rosy as the recent past but will still support the club all the same.

"I can see us going down the same route as Liverpool did after their domination. Football goes in cycles and they have not really been near to winning the title again in over 25 years. I'd like to see them up there challenging for titles with us, but losing out to us every time! We have a future where we could go down the same road. I see Mourinho as a manager that could go one way or another. He could stay for 15 years and we could go on a run of winning trophies every year again or he could end up braking the club. It is a bit of a crossroads," said Mike.

The game does move on and it would be difficult to reliably predict what the future holds for the club. The longer they are out of the Champions League then the more they have to spend in wages to attract the big starts and the less likely it is that they will get another Cristiano Ronaldo or even another David De Gea.Mourinho is a gamble that the Glazers thought they just had to make after the failures of David Moyes and Louis van Gaal. Where the club goes from here is in his hands.

On the other side of the divide is the light blue half of Manchester. The game last night ended in defeat so Pep Guardiola is facing probably his worst managerial crisis - six games without a win. After the amazing start to the season not many would have predicted this but it is happening. In the club shop on Market Street they are selling those detested half-and-half scarves and training tops with the Champions League logo alongside merchandise from their sister clubs in New York, Yokohama and Melbourne. This is big business.

But without the players to enact his tactical game, and in possible the wrong league and conditions to do it, Pep is fining managerial life tough for probably the first time. It is not a full-blown crisis and it won't cost him his job but clearly there is work to do.

I spoke to Peter who lives and works in the city. He didn't buy into the Guardiola project but backs the club to get it right, "It will take time. He can't turn all of these Premier League players into La Liga players overnight. It looks like tactically he knows what he wants but the players aren't quite there yet. Maybe in a few months we will look back on this as part of the transition. I certainly hope so."

That was before the match. That was before the defeat in the derby. Although it was 'only' the EFL Cup and there were run outs for some players that were not in the usual first team it will still hurt. Manchester City's owners have bankrolled the club to deliver success and this current run of form and a tame loss to their neighbours isn't part of the blueprint.

What happens next really is down to Pep.

See why this could be the costliest transfer window yet

The transfer window has opened again and I expect there to be a flurry of signings. It's a massive season for staying in the Premier League - the new television deal next year ramps up the income levels again. There are things at the top and the bottom of the league at play this season that will affect who spends, and how much they spend.

Top of the league

It's all up for grabs. Not just the title, but the Champions League places, that could go to any of a number of clubs. Even Chelsea will fancy putting on a great run and snatching a European place this season. I think that the title could still be won by Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Leicester City or Tottenham Hotspur. This means that all of these teams could invest in their squad. Louis van Gaal has said he needs a striker, Spurs need backup for Harry Kane, Leicester will look for quality and Man City can always spend big. There's plenty of legs in the title race and while that's a possibility, teams will try to influence it with their chequebooks.

European places
It's not over for the likes of Liverpool, Everton or even Chelsea, so there's European football to play for right down to the bottom third of the league. The Europa League had been a bit of a poisoned chalice in recent seasons but I think that Tottenham this year have shown it doesn't have to be. Teams will always prefer the Champions League but the Europa League can be a money-spinner, a chance to use the squad and an opportunity to blood youngsters. Teams will spend to get there, but not excessively.

Relegation
The relegation battle will be the fiercest ever, with the money at stake. Consequently the money spend will hit a new high, in my opinion. The following teams could still go down


Aston Villa
Sunderland
Newcastle United
Norwich City
Swansea City
Bournemouth
And even Chelsea

The activity could be intense because all of these teams have some major flaws that need to be addressed. Sunderland need a new defence (and Newcastle need help in this area too) whilst Bournemouth have lost some of their major attacking players to long-term injuries. You have to speculate to accumulate.

Has the Champions League started to disappear? Read where it's gone to!

The Champions League in England and English football is going through a little bit of an identity crisis at the moment. The relative lack of success of English teams in the last few editions is a major factor. After the successes of the years 2005 to 2009 when we had six finalists (and two winners) in five years, there have only been two finalists since.

Manchester City have really struggled with the competition ever with the money they have spent, the stars at their disposal and their success domestically. Yaya Toure, David Silva and Sergio Aguero have not had an impact.

Last season Liverpool were a huge disappointment and this season has seen some very mixed results in the early group stages. There seems to be a real threat to our fourth place in the competition from Italy.

But it's not just the drop in results that is affectng the competition. It happened with the FA Cup when coverage left the terrestrial channels for a more obscure channel. It was one of the reasons that the competition lost some prestige and excitement.

Now that the Champions League has moved from ITV and Sky completely, the competition has lost some visibility. I feel that the newspapers cover it less, the sports news on the BBC and ITV pay it less attention and it disappears from view a bit more. The little erosion of visibility makes a big difference. I don't always watch the group games with great vigour but I'm not really watching much at all this year. When the knockout starts I might feel differently but the fate of English clubs will have a bearing on that.

The two Manchester clubs is rate about 50-50 before this weeks games, with Chelsea at 60-40 and Arsenal currently at 40-60 after the first three rounds. The problem can be with qualifying second in the group and a horrible Round of 16 draw. I love to see English clubs test themselves against European greats such as Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. But meeting these teams too early in the competition has been part of out relative failure since the last English winner - Chelsea in 2012.

Let's look forward to a successful and exciting Champions League this season and some good progress for the English clubs.

Fantasy FC...Merse meets Gazza

I'm just watching the above programme on Sky Sports 3 and I must say it's an absolute pleasure to watch. I used to go to Spurs home games in my youth as the nearest top flight team to my home in Essex. It started with Glenn Hoddle, Chris Waddle, Gary Lineker and Gazza. I thoroughly enjoyed watching these iconic players and feel privileged to have seen Gazza play before his injuries and other problems.

The programme has got me wondering about which players from the current Premier League I will look back at with similar fondness in 10 or 15 years time. Over the last few seasons at the Stadium of Light I've seen the following players-

• Sergio Aguero
• Vincent Kompany
• Yaya Toure
• Eden Hazard
• Cesc Fabregas
• Didier Drogba
• Fernando Torres
• Wayne Rooney
• Robin van Persie
• Gareth Bale

Of these, I think that Eden Hazard and Sergio Aguero are the two that I came away from the stadium and raved about. in both the games I saw them play they were electric. I think I watched the individual players more than I watched the match.

Eden Hazard took the game by the scruff of the neck as his teammates didn't step up to the plate. The final score was Sunderland 3 - Chelsea 4 and every time Sunderland threatened to get back into the match, he was there providing another assist by going on a solo run and destroying the entire Sunderland back line.

The match where I saw Aguero play was another occasion Sunderland concede four, but with only a single Connor Whickam goal in reply. Aguero looked absolutely bored with the game. He looked around the stands, eyed the bench, watched others play and run until he saw an opportunity to score. Then he came alive. He scored two great goals and inspired an insipid City to walk over Sunderland.

Who am I looking forward to seeing?

I can't think of too many players in the current Premier League season that I'm desperate to see, with the obvious exception of Aguero and Hazard again. I think that I'm excited about seeing Memphis Depay for the player he could eventually become. The one player that I've missed and really want to be able to see is Alexis Sanchez of Arsenal. I think he is a phenomenal player and works so hard at his game.

I think that the Premier League is missing the top, top stars of other leagues. For me, the biggest draws in world football are playing in Spain and for Bayern Munich or PSG. The lifestyle in Spain and the obvious attraction of playing for one of the El Clasico teams or the money from PSG make it difficult for the English clubs to compete, as their showing in the last couple of Champions League seasons shows.

The future for protected international fixture dates

This is a short blog post today, after the International break to look at what the break does for players of the top clubs as they return. The new Euro qualifiers have changed somewhat, and the games are now spread over several days - I suspect to make the most of the television opportunities. And it wasn't until I watched some of the Wales v Israel game that I thought about the impact it has on the players and their clubs. The commentator stated that Wales had the worst of it, because they played away on the first day of games, so had little time to prepare their players and then played again soon after - this time at home. Now. I'm not one of these people that thinks that players should just play and not complain. I've seen and heard people argue that when players are paid so much, they should just get on with it. I, however, think that when a club pays millions upon millions for a player, they want them to perform to their best. And this involves having them rested at certain points, and playing every 3 or 4 days at other points of the season. And there is always (in this modern world) the business side of things to consider. The players are seen as assets, appearing on the balance sheets and many players are discarded for a fee in the last year of their contract, rather than let it run down and they go for free.

So, where does that leave international teams, international fixtures and the fans of the national teams? I'd consider myself a mild England fan. I've not been to an England match for years, I don't watch England friendlies on TV. I don't hold out much hope for us as we enter the big tournaments. But I'd dearly miss the national team if they disappeared. The nuances of players having loyalties to clubs and countries is a major part of the modern game. Sir Alex Ferguson's "rotation" system where he would only let a certain proportion of his squad go on international duty at the same time epitomises the feeling a that clubs have towards national sides. The World Cup is still the pinnacle of the game and stands above the Champions League. But the gap between them is getting smaller every year (or every four years.)

As a club manager, having your players potentially returning from international duty in different days, and in different states of fitness must be a major headache. Players travelling back from the four corners of the earth having played only 24 or 48 hours before can disrupt the best laid plans. Add in the knocks and injuries that players pick up and you have to assess your whole squad in no time at all to establish your best eleven for the next match.

But football is relentless - as is the demand from the broadcasters. I've read somewhere that when the draw was made and the teams were sorted into groups, that the groups with seven teams in were protected so that they had to contain the big nations - Germany, Spain and England. And this was so they didn't end up in the smaller groups, playing less games, having less games on television.

I can't reconcile this in my mind. The big clubs pay huge transfer fees and cashes for the best players and then lose their services for many weeks of the year. The players will want to finish their career with as many World Cups under their belts as possible. The national teams want their best players representing them at the peak of their fitness.

Champions League Final tonight

It's the Champions League Final tonight and I think that football needs a real boost after the recent (and ongoing) FIFA scandals. I'd love to think that the two teams could think about the image of the game but with the likes of Luis Suarez on the pitch I'm not so sure…

It's not the final I would have chosen at the start of the season but by beating Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in the semi-finals, these teams have really earned their place in this final.

Juventus do play in a traditionally Italian way, and have great defensive qualities. They attack sporadically in the Champions League but have real quality when they do. Carlos Tevez seems timeless, Arturo Vidal has great drive and Paul Pogba is being courted by the biggest clubs in the game.

I'd love to see a Juve win as I want to see variety, but I can't see past this Barcelona team as the champions.

The grief that Barcelona have gone to bringing in Neymar and Suarez has paid off. The front three are frighteningly good (with Neymar being clearly the weaker of the three) and attack with real pace, especially at the breakdown. It's what Pep Guardiola calls the transition and being able to attack the opposition before they have set up their formation makes a huge difference to your ability to score goals. As a former central defender I think that modern standards of defending are a long way down from my youth across the game and even with the big teams - particularly in Spain. But with an attack like this, Barcelona don't need to worry about their defence as much.

I think it will be one-sided and I also think that Barça will go all out for an early goal to force Juventus in to the front foot. This will be Juve's downfall.

There's something seriously wrong at Man Utd

I'm just watching the end of the Manchester United and Arsenal FA Cup tie and there's something really wrong about this club at the moment. I'm not one of these people that knocks Man Utd at any opportunity but I think that it's time to look objectively about how far this club has dropped in less than 2 seasons.

No Champions League this year and I'm really not sure that there will be any next year. The only competition left open to them this season is the league, and there is fierce competition for a top four finish. Liverpool, Arsenal, Southampton and Tottenham are all fighting for the places behind Chelsea and Man City. I'd put Arsenal and Liverpool at the front of the queue based in current form.

So where is it going wrong?

Well, I think that throwing money at the problem hasn't worked. A manager that can review the strengths and weaknesses of the current squad and review what they need. It's not Radamel Falcao, it's not another number 10, it's not more wingers in a formation that doesn't use wingers. The squad STILL needs an overhaul but most of it is related to who they need to ship out before they look at who to being in.

I'd keep-

De Gea

Valencia (but not at fullback)

Rojo

Blind

Fellaini

Carrick

Rooney

Di Maria

Van Persie

Mata

Herrera

Young

Shaw

And of get rid of-

Jones

Smalling

Rafael

Anderson

Evans

Januzaj

Falcao

For me, this leaves then needing both fullbacks and a new centre back. Another striker will help, but one with more movement than Falcao - he just doesn't seem interested.

I'm shocked about how far the club has fallen since Sir Alex Ferguson left and there's still so far to go to get back anywhere near that level again.