Nigel Clough, complex man, football man through and through, generally 'serious' mainly 'surly' and seemingly always 'on the defensive'.
Had a bigger opportunity before Wilder had later and blew it - got too political, power conscious, exceeded his authorities. The whole entity of SUFC was there for him to lead, control and nurture for years to come and he lost the eye for the main objective and fought and lost his battles at lower levels.
Good 'backs against the wall' manager, seige mentality, grab a goal and defend for your lives.
Poor in the transfer market, relied too much on his brother. Any manager is on;y as good as his management of his budget.
No 'big vision', no 'big picture', more 'here and now'.
When he was appointed he was from a different pedigree than we ever hoped for or expected. Maybe it all came too early for him after his Derby shock.
In simple terms he was not a big enough leader to understand the size of the task or the incremental stages needed. He did stage 1 superbly but Stage 2 was so obviously destined for failure. Then he splashed the cash and set us back a couple of years.
Maybe not a racist, but didn't sign enough black players at Derby or here. Every team needs black players, it's so obvious. He seems to have learned his lesson since he left us.
A manager like Clough - serious, negative, miserable, cautious - needs a different type of personality at No.2. It was Garner I never liked and would never trust and he was twice as dire than Clough was. Clough needs an 'upper' as No.2, just like Wilder needs the steady eddy bloke who complements him rather than exaggerates his weaknesses.
