In the book The Damned United, David Pearce looks at the life of Brian Clough through the prism of perhaps his greatest moment of failure: the famous 44 days he was in charge of Leeds United before being sacked ignominiously. Reading the book is like being trapped inside the head of an alcholic, bent on global domination and a thoroughly good read it is too. The recently releaseed film turns Clough’s hatred outwards and fixates on the relationship he had with Don Revie, the previous Leeds manager; a man who Cloughie considered a cheat.
Colm Meaney does a brilliant version of Revie as the cold-hearted, corporate dullard, letting his wafting syrup do most of the talking. He’s the villain of the piece, the major crime being his midweek hatchett job on Derby County before they play Juventus in the European Cup. In the film this epic battle looks just like it was ripped from another adaptation of a Dave Pearce book, Red Riding, which focuses on violent crime in Yorkshire during the 1970s. Derby went on to lose to Juventus 3-1 in Turin.
Boo. Leeds. Boo. Revie. Hiss.
So well done, Richard Corbett MEP for choosing this as the time to set up a petition to have the Cup Winners Cup Final of that very year handed to Leeds despite the fact that they were beaten 1-0 in the final by AC Milan, because, he says, the ref was dodgy. “Few doubt Milan bribed the Greek official,” he says on his website. Not the best of timings. I wasn’t even born when this happened but the people of that generation I’ve spoken to say Leeds and Revie had it coming. And given the fact that the team he’s championing have just been presented as the biggest villains even in British football, I don’t fancy his chances much.
Check the video above. One dodgy penalty decision seems to be the main cause of complaint. Nice use of Zorba the Greek music.
