With Clough, By Taylor

by Peter Thomas Taylor

Brian Clough famously remarked, ‘I’m not equipped to manage successfully without Peter Taylor. I am the shop window and he is the goods in the back.’

Often outrageous and always compelling, Peter Taylor and Brian Clough’s partnership shook the very foundations of the footballing world. They took two peripheral clubs – Derby County and Nottingham Forest – from the sleepy backwaters of East Midlands football to international renown. The first to pay £1 million for a player and the first to win two European Cups and two League Cups in successive seasons, their journey was a whirlwind of trophies, record-breaking transfers, bust-ups and sackings.

In a first-hand account told with immense candour, Taylor reveals the highs and lows of their relationship, and details the events that led to their unprecedented success.

Originally published in 1980 and available now for the first time in forty years, With Clough, By Taylor is the definitive account of the partnership that revolutionised English football and the trade of the football manager.

Genres: Football, Biography, Nonfiction, Sports, Autobiography, Soccer

213 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 24, 2019

About the author

Peter Thomas Taylor

(July 2, 1928 – October 4, 1990), was an English football goalkeeper who played for Port Vale, Coventry City, Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest.

More notably, he was a successful coach at Derby County and Nottingham Forest alongside Brian Clough.

Taylor is most famous for his managerial partnership with Clough. The two first met in 1955 at Middlesbrough, where Taylor was a reserve goalkeeper and Clough an up-and-coming striker. Taylor was among the first to spot Clough's potential as a forward and helped him break into the first team.

While Clough inspired and motivated the team, it was Taylor who had the uncanny ability to spot talent and potential. Clough once said of his colleague: "I'm not equipped to manage successfully without Peter Taylor. I am the shop window and he is the goods in the back." Taylor himself described their partnership as: "We just gelled together, we filled in the gaps...My strength was buying and selecting the right player, then Brian's man management would shape the player."

Reviews

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating read where Peter Taylor reflects on his time with the legendary Brian Clough. Having lived through most of this time growing up with the never ending headlines, it was interesting to hear the facts according to Peter Taylor.
Life was never quiet for this pair, but always interesting so to read about their footballing life together is compelling. Together they led two clubs that were short on success, Derby and Nottingham Forest to the dizzy heights. They were the first to pay £1 million for a player and the first to win two European Cups and two League Cups in successive seasons, their journey was a whirlwind of trophies, record-breaking transfers, bust-ups and sackings. The book covers all these times and also includes the notorious 45 days where Clough managed the then mighty Leeds United only to end it all in tears.
Like I say a fascinating read and probably worth more than the 3 star rating I have given it.

[Pinko Palest · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read. While not quite as controversial as Clough's own autobiography, it is just as fascinating. whereas Clough offered opinions for everything under the sun, Taylor is amazingly forthright about how they worked. His honesty goes so far as to reveal that they were quite dictatorial, or even downright sinnister about doing things. For example, how they wanted to know everything about a player they had playing for them, even his deepest secrets: whether he was a womanizer, a drinker, a gambler, or what have you. All in all, one of the very best footballing autobiographies, and almost on a par with Clough's own.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up with Clough and Taylor at the helm of Nottingham Forest. But I never knew that much about Peter Taylor. For me, in my naive knowledge, Cloughie was the man managing Forest.

… arrogance is an asset in a footballer.

With Clough, by Taylor is the plotted history of the late great Brian Clough told by possibly the person (other than his family) who knew him the best. Peter Taylor was the man behind and beside Cloughie and his success both at Derby County and Nottingham Forest and the journey to get there. They may appear to have been the dream team but they had their differences, which Taylor details with no real holds barred.

… we’re always picking up each other’s thoughts and finishing each other’s sentences; we’re a twosome speaking as one.

Throughout the book, Taylor writes of the turbulent nature of football management in the 70s and 80s. From this side of the pitch, it seems a very different world to the one that plays out on the back pages in the 21st Century. He talks of the ructions with the boards of the club which would have been an interesting thing to witness. This is a time when money wasn’t the big driver it is today; though money was a necessity to keep a club going, it was nowhere near the extent of now. The thought of a manager like Klopp or even the current Forest manager Hughton raising funds within the community to keep a football club afloat is unheard of but at points in their careers, Taylor and Clough needed to.

Taylor’s account of his partnership with Clough is one fascinating read. It gave me more of an insight of the football world that I naively grew up in. Exploring this world was a trip down Memory Lane, as Taylor writes about the various players he dealt with over the years, names I knew from the (more successful) Forest squad of the 80s and names I knew through their notoriety. I have a few other books about this partnership so I’ll definitely be reading more!

[Andrew Hartshorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The closest insight you will ever have about working with, possibly, the most fascinating and influential football manager of all time.

Taylor tells his own story, soap and mud included. Written at the height of their success, the seeds of their permanent fall out are sown in the chapters of this book rereleased and seemingly unedited forty years after it's first run.

Quite rightly, Peter Taylor comfortably acknowledges his role in the success he shared with Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest and Derby County. Having read the majority of all texts ever written about Brian Clough and Peter Taylor this one was unique in perspective and explains where there strengths were in the superhero partnership that was so mightily impressive in the nineteen-seventies and early eighties.

[John Toffee · Rating 3 out of 5]

An update of the 1980's book by Peter Taylor on his working relationship with Brian Clough. It's an interesting read but unfortunately despite this being a new publication containing an up to date forward by Taylor's daughter, the book content is almost forty years old when the pair were still together at Nottingham Forest thereby not including their bust up and subsequently estrangement.
It is an interesting read for anyone interested in football, especially aged 50 or above, covering a fascinating time in English football. Being in this bracket I found it an enjoyable read.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I vaguely recall reading this when it was first published just short of forty years ago so was more than happy to see it back in print this year. It was a pity that Clough fell out with him three years after this was first released as they were always best working together. It is no accident that they had major success as a pair and this autobiography is a trip back in time as well as being a worthwhile read.

Ray Smillie

[Aurel Pasztor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting toughts from one part of a successful football coach duo. Straightforward, fast paced and quite funny at times. A good read even for someone who doesn’t know this era. At times he gets into a bit too much detail on names and prices and other transfer terms but the booknis thoroughly enjoyable.

[Ian Curragh · Rating 4 out of 5]

4stars

An interesting insight into one of the great managerial partnerships in football. Peter Taylor speaks of working with Brian Clough and gives a fascinating account of his successes with teams like Derby and Nottingham Forest.

[PatrickPhaff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the story is wonderfully written. The story takes you to the history of the famous duo and shows all the processes and nuances that the men have been through. Also Taylor reveals some of the ways he identified talent and how to manage talent to stay sharp.

[James Girling · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an avid Forest fan who grew up going to Forest week in week out but well after the time of Clough and Taylor, this book gave such a great insight into that era and the success that the two of them bought to other clubs as well as Forest. Great read!

[bernard pringle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny,honest,brilliant

[Timothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for fans of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor

A great first hand account of the genius that Clough and Taylor brought with them to Derby County and Nottingham Forest.