Can Nigel Clough inspire Burton Albion to promotion in his second spell?

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As of writing this piece, Burton Albion sit second in League One of the Football League. A short while ago – mid-March in fact – they were 8 points clear of the field and seemingly running away with it. But a run of 6 games without a win has seen that cushion disappear. There’s a very familiar face at the helm once more, one that helped lay the foundations for their journey of ongoing success and financial prudence. But, in order to look at where Burton Albion are, we first need to understand where they’ve been.

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It was October 1998 when Nigel Clough started his managerial career at the tender age of 32, joining non-league Burton Albion in a player/manager role. With contemporaries such as Teddy Sheringham, Rob Lee and Tony Adams “fresh” from plying their trade that summer at the highest level in France ’98, Mr Clough dropped from the second tier of English football to the sixth. For some of those Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool fans, wondering what’s out there beyond the comforting confines of the Premier League, that would be the Southern Football League Premier Division. A million miles away from the goldfish bowl of top flight football, but a damn sight closer to the heart of the game.

Going on to make 227 appearances – second only to his time at Nottingham Forest – he steered a moderately successful non-league outfit to the brink of full Football League status. Overseeing financial prudence when it came to player recruitment; helping to lay the foundations for a move into a brand new stadium and in doing so, allowing the only surviving team in Burton-on-Trent to dream of bigger and better things. A first couple of years of consolidation were followed by a realignment of League status and a sideways move to the Northern Premier League, where Burton swept all aside to see themselves promoted to the Football Conference (now known as the Conference Premier) – one step away from League status.

Those seven subsequent seasons saw a steady, but continued progress within the Conference. A move from their ground of 45 years – Eton Park – to the brand new Pirelli Stadium in 2005 allowed Burton to expand their financial affairs beyond the pitch, which in turn gave Mr Clough the backing he needed to push for promotion. Finishes of 9th, 6th and 5th in the first 3 seasons at their new home backed up the statements of intent and  seemingly justified the move. Defeat in the play-off semi-final to Cambridge United spurred Burton on to prove they could be the best team in the division. Mr Clough’s final season saw him leave in January 2009, but not before steering his side to a 13 point cushion at the top of the table and in the capable hands of Roy McFarland, who saw out the rest of the season in charge. After 59 years as a member of the Football League, Burton Albion had finally made it to the promised land.

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And it hasn’t stopped there either. Burton have been something of a proving ground for young managerial talent in the intervening years. Aside from Paul Peschisolido making Burton his one and only time as “The Gaffer”, the role-call of managerial youth is somewhat impressive. After Mr Clough departed for Championship side Derby County, Mr Peschisolido’s assistant, the fresh-faced Gary Rowett, took Burton to two League Two play-offs in successive seasons before departing for Championship side Birmingham City in October 2014. Having left them in the fairly nice position of third in the table – 2 points from top spot – another managerial hopeful stepped forward in the form of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. Burton had lost 5 of their first 15 games that season. They would go on to lose 3 in their next 31, take the League Two title by 5 points and march further up the Football League pyramid. Burton seemed to have another quality manager on their hands.

But the opportunity of career enhancement came calling and Mr Hasselbaink left to join Championship side Queen’s Park Rangers on 4th December 2015 with Burton 2 points clear at the top of League One – in their first season. They say “football’s a funny old game”. They also say you should never go back. But there’s something poetic about Nigel Clough’s return to where it all began. Having formerly been announced as their new manager on 7th December 2015, Mr Clough has been in charge now for 23 matches. While some will point to a squandering of an 8 point cushion a little over 4 weeks ago, Burton’s record when comparing their first 20 games under Mr Clough and their first 20 of the season under Mr Hasselbaink are very similar. Both have/ had lost 5 games, both have/had a goal difference of +8 and those first 20 games saw Burton keep 9 clean sheets, while the second 20 saw them keep 10.

From a statistical point of view, Burton’s performances at home make for some nice reading too. The footstats.co.uk website will tell you that, on average per game, they have more corners than their opposition; have more shots and more shots on target than their opposition; score more goals than their opposition and commit less fouls than their opposition. When combined with their away stats, during their 43 games so far this season Burton are also better than their opposition in all of the aforementioned areas of the game.

Clearly, cold hard data does not truly reflect the beautiful game. This is borne out by Burton’s standing on the “goals scored” front. While they may be better than their opposition in the number of shots per game, they are a relatively lowly 15th in the table when it comes to goals scored. This, however, is offset by being top of the table when it comes to goals conceded, clearly helped but the 20 cleans sheets in 43 games for regular shot-stopper Jon McLaughlin. It should also be pointed out he currently equals or betters the clean sheet record for an entire League One season for 6 of the last 10 full seasons and should he keep a couple more that would increase to 9 of the last 10 full seasons.

Burton’s 3 remaining games are against 1 team in the top 6 and 2 in the bottom 3. With Walsall 3 points behind and a game in hand there’s still all to play for. Four draws and 2 losses in their last 4 games, with only 2 goals scored, may point to a bit of a crisis; although it should be noted their last game was a draw against the juggernaut that is Wigan – a team that have lost only once since 12th December 2015. The prospect of being promoted to the Championship may be weighing heavily on a few players who (perhaps) could only dream of carrying out their chosen profession on such a lofty stage; and that’s not to say they won’t be capable of holding their own or to bring into question their quality.

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