Post by QPR Report on Jan 31, 2010 22:43:41 GMT
Guardian/Daniel Taylor
Nigel Clough faces FA investigation over Billy Davies assault claim• Forest manager claims Clough kneed him from behind
• 'He knows as well as I know that it was no accident'
Derby County's manager Nigel Clough is facing a Football Association investigation after he allegedly assaulted his Nottingham Forest counterpart, Billy Davies, during a tempestuous east Midlands derby that will see both clubs fined and threatens serious damage to Clough's reputation as one of the game's more courteous and well-mannered characters.
The FA has requested a copy of the match video to study a mass confrontation in which Davies was trying to pull away his players when he alleges Clough ran over and kneed him from behind. Davies refused to shake Clough's hand at the end of the match, a 1-0 win for Derby, and accused him of being "cowardly" as well as questioning whether "his head went" because of the "poison" surrounding the fixture.
"I told him I wouldn't have minded him doing it to my face but to do it when my back was turned was cowardly," an incensed Davies said. "That's why I never shook his hand at the end. I said to him on the touchline he was out of order because when I was in the middle of that scrum he came from behind and kneed me in the back of the leg. I felt the blow on the back of my right leg and it was deliberate.
"He tried to claim it was an accident but he knows, as well as I know, that it was no accident. He was trying to be clever and he did exactly what he was trying to do, but to do it behind my back was a bit cowardly and that was my disappointment."
Davies, the former Derby manager, went on to joke that he was "just a wee Scot" and that Clough, who spent the majority of his playing career at Forest, is "a strapping lad and should pick on someone his own size", but the FA will not see the funny side as it launches an inquiry into the latest incident to damage relations between the clubs.
Forest were fined £15,000 and Derby £10,000 after both were charged with failing to control their players when they met at the City Ground in August. The FA now plans to invoke suspended fines of £10,000 on each club and will be compelled to investigate any allegation of a manager physically assaulting another.
"If he's happy to sit on an electric chair and tell a truth or a lie, then I'm happy to sit on an electric chair and we'll see what the outcome is, because I've got no doubt in my mind what happened," Davies said. "Hence the reason I did not shake the hand of the opposition manager because his were cowardly actions. I've no doubt what happened, and he knows what happened. My Tuchusistant manager [David Kelly] saw it and knows what happened. We all know what happened.
"I used to get on really well with Nigel but obviously there's a lot of poison in and around this fixture. I've played in Old Firm games and I've never come across anything like it – not what happens on the field but the stuff that goes around it. The Old Firm game is the worst in the world but what goes on here is petty ... the last game, this game, now this stuff. I've been involved in Old Firm games that have never had this kind of pettiness and I'm quite surprised, to be honest.
"I've got great respect for the guy and got on very well with him before he became Derby manager but something has changed and it may be the pettiness of Forest-Derby and what goes around it. I thought he was a great lad prior to this nonsense. I've still got great respect for him but sometimes your head goes in certain games and maybe his head went."
Nathan Tyson, the Forest forward, was fined £5,000 after sparking the confrontation in August because of the manner he celebrated his side's 3-2 win, waving a corner flag and running provocatively in front of the Derby fans. He was left out of their squad for Saturday's game and Davies said: "I thought it was sensible to try to defuse the situation. I said to the boy, 'Go away with your family, spend the weekend somewhere else, because I'm not going to put you in this situation.' I thought it was good management."
Clough is aware of the allegation but refused to comment, saying: "Thanks for the opportunity but I have nothing to say." He did not attend the post-match press conference, sending the first-team coach, Johnny Metgod, instead. "Probably a wise move," Davies said, "bearing in mind the question that would have been put to him, if he was willing to tell the truth."
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jan/31/nigel-clough-billy-davies-fa