Sean Dyche is back where it all began after Nottingham Forest appointed the former City Ground hopeful as their new manager.
The 54-year-old former Everton and Burnley boss becomes the club’s third manager of the season, tasked with picking up the pieces from Ange Postecoglou’s winless 39-day reign and ensuring the club quickly moves out of the bottom three.
Dyche came up through the Forest youth system in the late 1980s when Brian Clough was manager and, although he departed the club in 1990 for Chesterfield without making a first-team appearance, says he learned plenty from the legendary boss.
Sean Dyche on what he learned from Brian Clough
“Nobody could replicate Clough – he was such a one-off,” Dyche tells FourFourTwo when asked what he has taken from the two-time European Cup-winning manager.
“What I do remember from my time with him, and maybe took with me into management, is the fact that he instilled a ‘Forest Way’ into everything we did.
“That can take time, which managers don’t really get any more, but in my nine-and-a-half years at Burnley we certainly tried to have a similar vein running throughout the club.
“Basically, it meant good manners, treating people the right way, and giving opposing teams and fans the utmost respect.
“We used to get loads of great feedback from the hotels we stayed in, and that was something that I took from my time under Brian Clough.”
Dyche’s return to Forest marks the fourth stop of his managerial career, following his first job at Watford, then stints with Burnley and Everton and comes ten months after he was dismissed by the Toffees, an exit that he insists he did not dwell on.
“Oh, I don’t lick any wounds – there’s too much to do,” he says. “I promised my son we’d go for a pint or two, and promised mates that I’d go and see a few bands.
“I’d been at Burnley for over nine years. I had a great time and did a lot of good work, so I wasn’t going to start crying about it.”
