Brian Clough is one of the greatest football managers of all time and his influence is still being felt across the game 18 years after his death.
None more so than for Dundee manager Gary Bowyer.
The 51-year-old arrived in Scottish football in July and has already made an impact at Dens Park.
Now he has revealed the direct and indirect influence Clough had on his life – through growing up, his playing career and subsequently as a manager.
Bowyer’s father Ian won two European Cups, a First Division title, a European Super Cup and two League Cups as a key part of Clough’s all-conquering Nottingham Forest side of the late 70s and early 80s.
And Bowyer Jnr would sign for Clough as well in 1990, spending five years at Forest but without making a senior appearance.
‘Such an influence’
Now, though, Bowyer has himself been a manager for nine years since taking full-time charge of Blackburn Rovers in 2013.
Spells in the hotseat at Blackpool, Bradford City and Salford City followed before he arrived in Scotland with Championship promotions hopefuls Dundee.
And he says Clough’s influence goes beyond his personal dealings with the managerial great.
Bowyer said: “I would be stupid not to have learned anything and picked things up.
“To nail me down and ask ‘Well, what are they?’ is a bit difficult to say exactly as there are probably so many that I picked up.
“The man had such an influence on our family.
“My dad played for him for goodness knows how many years and then I was fortunate enough to have two years with him.
“Then I played for Archie Gemmill and John McGovern at Rotherham.
“Obviously they played for him so indirectly he was still having that influence over those two as managers and myself as a player.
“I still speak to Nigel Clough and I had a chat with him the other week.
“His dad was fantastic – a brilliant manager and a brilliant person.
“I am sure there are things people will say, ‘You picked that up from there’.”
Bowyer’s approach at Dens Park has certainly been one of simplicity for his players, similar to that of Clough all those years ago.
“He wanted you to enjoy it, to express yourselves,” Bowyer added.
“He kept the game very simple and didn’t overcomplicate it.
“There was no need to – the objective was to score more than the opposition.”
‘Magnificent’
Clough would no doubt have been delighted to see Nottingham Forest’s recent emotional return to the top flight of English football after 23 years away.
Bowyer certainly was as his old side defeated West Ham in their first home match of the campaign last week, following that up with a 1-1 draw at Everton on Saturday.
The atmosphere at the City Ground was electric as Forest fans flocked to see their side beat The Hammers 1-0.
“Magnificent. I have been a Forest fan all my life,” Bowyer said.
“I managed to squeeze in watching the home game on the telly and it was just brilliant to see the atmosphere inside the ground.
“What you see is a real hunger and desire of a new club in the Premiership and the excitement.
“It is a magnificent football club. Obviously I am biased with my dad and I was there as well.
“The atmosphere that gets generated there with the owners, the management team, what they have done and the connection between the fans and the club now is fantastic.
“They were getting those attendances and those atmospheres in the Championship so they have done it really well – long may that continue.”
Roy Keane, room-mate?
As a youngster Bowyer also lived with a player who would go on to win the European Cup and seven Premier Leagues after a big move to Manchester United.
Roy Keane had signed for Forest in the same summer as Bowyer and would play 154 times for the club before departing for Old Trafford in 1993.
“We had a youth hostel and accommodation was put up for us so we spent a year living together,” Bowyer said.
“It was really good. We were two 19-year-olds.
“He quite quickly got given his debut and never looked back.
“He had a fabulous career. Roy was a different type of player when he first burst on the scene to what he became at Manchester United.
“He was a real box-to-box midfielder at Forest but then his game developed massively in terms of how he controlled the midfield.”
Asked if he was as grumpy back then as he seems now as a pundit on TV, Bowyer cracked back: “He’s not grumpy now! He just tells it straight and is not concerned about political correctness.
“He just tells it how it is.”
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