WITH no proper football at the weekend, what are we going to do to amuse ourselves? All right, there is the England game, but despite being pleased for the Everton players who have been called up, does anyone really care about that?

Perhaps a trip to the pictures then – only posh people call it the cinema – to see ‘The Damned United’. Or ‘Carry on Cloughie’ as it’s bound to end up being renamed, judging by the knockabout tone of the trailers anyway.

It’s based on David Peace’s highly-acclaimed book, which imagines the dark inner workings of Brian Clough’s mind during his infamous 44 days in charge of Leeds United in 1974.

The film appears to be anything but a faithful adaptation, which will no doubt irk many, but also come as a bit of a relief to anyone who struggled with the much-hyped but ultimately overwhelming Red Riding trilogy on the telly recently – again based on Peace’s novels.

Clough was always an interesting figure, even if towards the end of his career he became better known for some of his crass outbursts rather than his managerial skills, and his achievements put him up there with the very best the English game has produced.

In fact, many would argue that the fact he won league titles and European Cups with the relatively unglamorous Nottingham Forest and Derby County means that he could even be considered the number one, although most of them probably live in the Midlands.

Very few would be found in Leeds, that’s for sure.

Clough famously alienated everyone at the Yorkshire club, because he made it clear early on that he despised what he saw as Don Revie’s team of cheats and hatchet men. The infamous ‘Dirty Leeds’.

If he couldn’t stand them, the team of Billy Bremner, Norman Hunter and Johnny Giles, what would he have made of the modern day Premier League? In many ways, Clough’s methods now seem almost quaint – his teams always played good football and were under strict instructions not to argue with referees.