There's no denying that Brian Clough was a managerial genius. After all, his resume is outstanding.
Although he enjoyed an excellent nine-year career as a striker at Middlesbrough and Sunderland, he is best known for his work in the dugout. Taking Derby County from the Second Division to First Division champions, his subsequent 18-year stint at Nottingham Forest has been described by Jamie Carragher as the best story in English football.
At the City Ground, he led the club into the First Division during the 1976/77 term, before immediately coaching them to the league title the following season. Forest's two consecutive European Cups were an even more impressive achievement, underlining Clough's credentials as an elite manager.
Clough's success, though, was only made possible thanks to the talented players at his disposal. But when it came to his favourite, one individual stood out to him.
Clough's Favourite Player
Graeme Souness called him "underrated"
MixCollage-09-Nov-2024-01-57-PM-2888
The likes of Peter Shilton, Stuart Pearce and Roy Keane all played under the Englishman, but none of them compared, at least in Clough's eyes, to what John Robertson brought to Forest. Named by Graeme Souness as "the most underrated player" of his generation, the winger is a legend of the City Ground.
Robertson was the difference maker in both of Forest's European Cup triumphs. In 1979, he assisted Trevor Francis for the only goal of the final against Malmo. And in 1980, he turned from provider to goalscorer as Forest triumphed over Hamburg.
Over the years, it's been inferred that the Scotland international was Clough's favourite player, with Francis saying that sentiment also applied to every member of the squad. His manager was certainly a fan of his talents on the pitch, calling him an artist and describing him as "the Picasso of our game."
Jimmy Gordon, Robertson's coach at Forest, stated that he was a combination of Sir Stanley Matthews and Sir Tom Finney, two of England's finest players ever. His speed and talent when on the ball made him a handful for defenders, with neat passing and dribbling on full display for his goal in the 1980 European Cup final.
It's those qualities which led teammate John McGovern to compare him to Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs. But in his eyes, the Scotsman was even better.
"John Robertson was like Ryan Giggs but with two good feet, not one. He had more ability than Giggs, his ratio of creating goals was better and, overall, he was the superior footballer."
"In those European Cup finals, without John producing something out of the ordinary, we don’t win them," McGovern added in a separate interview with BBC Sport. "You could always rely upon him in situations like that."
Robertson was Nearly Sold by Forest
Winger had fallen out with former manager Allan Brown
Queens Park Rangers and John Robertson - Nottingham Forest
Despite the reverence which is used by Robertson's former teammates and coaches, his career could have turned out differently had Clough not arrived at the City Ground. Prior to February 1975, the Scot had been playing as a central-midfielder and had fallen out with former manager Allan Brown.
Robertson revealed that the pair got off on the wrong foot, with his absence from the first team a result of poor training. He said: "It started badly with Allan. He said: ‘How you doing, Jimmy?’ I said, ‘It’s John.’ That was me finished with him.
"He didn’t rate me as a player and he didn’t think I worked hard enough. He was right. I was feeling sorry for myself. It took Clough and Taylor to come in for me to realise my talent."
Brown had tried to sell Robertson to Scottish side Partick Thistle before Clough replaced him in the dugout. And yet, one shift from the engine room to left-wing is all it took for him to go from outcast to Forest's greatest player ever.