Nigel Clough announced as new Mansfield Town manager

Nigel Clough, the son of the legendary Brian Clough has been announced as the new Stags manager.

The appointment comes following the sacking of Graham Coughlan two weeks ago.

Clough joins the Amber and Blues on a reported three-year deal and brings with him Gary Crosby as assistant manager and brother, Simon Clough as head of recruitment.

Clough was expected to step aside from managing for some time but has decided to join the Stags instead.

His first role in management came at Burton Albion who he’d spend 11 years with as a player, coach and manager. In October 1998, Clough accepted the role of player/manager at Burton who were then in the Southern Football League Premier Division (Step 7 of English Football).

During his time at Burton as player-manager, Clough was very focussed on the playing side of things which reflected in his managerial style of play. His final appearance for Burton was against Droylsden in Feburary 2008, just a month shy of his 42nd birthday.

His Burton side became famous in January 2006 as they held Manchester United to a 0-0 draw in the Third Round of the FA Cup to give themselves an unexpected replay at Old Trafford. The Brewers were dispatched in the replay 5-0 but got a healthy £600,000 for their efforts against the mighty Red Devils.

Clough won the Conference Premier Manager of the Month for December 2008, after the Burton side won 11 straight games in the division and were 13 points clear at the top of the table.

But at the start of 2009, Clough left Burton and went onto manage his father’s former side Derby County, taking over from Paul Jewell.

The Derby fans were scared that they would be relegated before his appointment, but Clough junior improved the club’s form and guided them to a 18^th place finish. The following year saw them improve on the previous campaign as they finished four places higher.

In 2011/12, he led the Rams to their best start to a season in 106 years, as they began their campaign with four victories from four.

In his four years at the Rams, Clough led them in 233 matches in which he would win 78, draw 54 and lose 101, giving him a win percentage of 33.5%

In October 2013, he moved onto Sheffield United and he’d spend two years managing the Blades.

He took the then third-tier side to the semi-finals of the FA Cup in 2014, beating Premier League opposition in Aston Villa and Fulham in the process. They couldn’t repeat the feat at Wembley as they were beaten 5-3 by Hull City.

The following season saw the Blades embark on another cup run, this time in the League Cup. They reached the semi-finals where they were knocked out by Tottenham Hotspur, 3-2 on aggregate.

In 2015, he returned to the Brewers this time as full-time manager. He lead them to the Championship for the first time in their history in the 2015/16 season as they secured a second-place finish in League One.

The Brewers stuck around the Championship for the next two seasons but were relegated back to League One in May 2018 after a 23rd place finish.

Clough stepped down from being the manager at Burton in May 2020 after the Coronavirus pandemic hit the club hard financially.

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