Hey Limey, I watched "The Damned United" the other day. Good film. How did Leeds fall so far from their once-dynastic position to being where they are now? What are the big innacuracies in that film?
Leeds was mismanaged by a fucking retard of an owner who ran them into the ground.
The movie is from the book of the same name by David Peace, who specialises in filling in the blanks around facts, with fiction of his own invention. In this case, the facts about Clough's record (who would've made the English national team a fucking dynasty to rival Brazil, if those spineless bastards had ever given him the job) and the records of the clubs he managed, the fact that he was only Leeds manager for 44 days and his split with Peter Taylor are all true. What Peace fictionalised is the "drama" of the story, i.e. all the internal interactions and shenanigans. I don't know whether Clough and Revie had the televised showdown or not.
It is believed to be true that Clough did tell all the Leeds players to "chuck their winners medals in the bin because they won them by cheating". They were a dirty bunch of cunts, to be sure. The footage of the punch ups during the Charity Shield match with Liverpool is real.
Clough's teams always played with style. They had a sharpness and intelligence about them such that, if they had the ball just outside your penalty area, and the player had a split-second of time to think, my brain would automatically think "Fuck". Three quickfire passes later, and your goalie would be picking the ball out of his net. He was a brilliant coach, and one of the most arrogant fucks the human race has ever produced.
David Peace also penned the "Red Riding" quartet, which I haven't read, but I have seen the
superb 3-part adaptation that's now available via Netflix. It follows the thread of corruption and incompetence exposed within the West Yorkshire Police Force due to their litany of failures and fuck-ups during the
Yorkshire Ripper murders (true). Highly recommended.