Nigel Clough has likened Manchester United manager, Jose Mourinho, to his father, Brian.
The Burton manager is reflecting on the 11 years of progress at Burton Albion since their last visit to Manchester United, when the subject of his 2006 squad comes up.
“We were part-time and the players were doing all sorts. Our captain was, and still is, a builder, we had electricians, fitness workers and a driving instructor. I hope we’ve improved since then!”
Burton undoubtedly have, and the fact they are now a Championship club only underlines the remarkable transformation that Clough, and chairman Ben Robinson, have seen over the last decade.
The Brewers will face Jose Mourinho in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night as a Championship club after completing their own fairytale by avoiding relegation with a game to spare last season.
But the memories of the FA Cup meeting with Sir Alex Ferguson’s United are still vivid for Clough, with his squad of waifs and strays facing the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney at his peak.
Burton were 100 places behind United on that January afternoon, operating as a Conference club, but their climb up the football pyramid has been one of the most uplifting stories from the lower leagues in recent times.
They even took United to a replay, after holding them to a 0-0 draw at the Pirelli Stadium, to rake in around £800,000 and kick-start Burton’s makeover. The 5-0 defeat in the rematch barely registers nowadays.
“We’ve been debt-free ever since that replay at Old Trafford,” said Clough. “Our chairman was in tears after the game because he knew at the time what it meant for the club going forward. It was just a massive amount of money for a non-league club.
“He was pleased we didn’t win the first game. I think he has seen (former referee) Howard Webb a few times and Howard says we nearly got a penalty when Gerard Pique handled it.
“Howard says ‘I think it might have been a penalty’ and our chairman says ‘it definitely wasn’t’.”
Burton will head to United on the back of what Clough believes was their finest result in the Championship, Saturday’s 2-1 win over promotion hopefuls Fulham.
But while Clough is expecting Mourinho to drastically shake up his squad, he is predicting a difficult night. He watched just ten minutes of United’s win over Everton on Sunday before switching off in a hurry.
It will be his first meeting with Mourinho, a manager who has been compared to Clough’s legendary father Brian, who lifted two European Cups and league titles at nearby Nottingham Forest and Derby County.
“My dad was complimentary about him but probably thought Jose wasn’t as good looking as him,” he said.
“I think there are similarities in the way they go about it and how they deal with things in such a no-nonsense manner.
“It’s black or it’s white and that’s it. If a player does the job for him he has him in and if he doesn’t that’s it.
“I think all of the signings that Mourinho has made have been very good. We can’t even dream about all the wages, figures and transfer fees that they do.
“Our record transfer fee is half a million and the poor lad [Liam Boyce] is out with a knee injury and they spent £75m on Romelu Lukaku, so that puts it into perspective.
“It’s a dream for just to be playing in the Championship, we are gaining all the time. It’s an added bonus to be playing at United.”