Clough hails the new Brian Clough

Jose Mourinho has been hailed as a "young Brian Clough" - by the former Nottingham Forest manager himself in one of his final interviews.

Jose Mourinho has been hailed as a "young Brian Clough" - by the former Nottingham Forest manager himself in one of his final interviews.

Clough, whose death last week led to fulsome tributes from across the game, won two European Cups with Forest despite their lack of spending power. In many ways it was a similar achievement to that of Porto last season, when Mourinho led the Portuguese underdogs to the Champions' League 12 months after lifting the Uefa Cup.

Just like "Old Big 'Ead", Mourinho is not averse to bold public statements, having declared himself to be a "special manager" shortly after his arrival at Stamford Bridge. In a recent interview with the official Champions' League magazine, released this week, Clough said: "I like the look of Mourinho, there's a bit of the young Clough about him. For a start, he's good-looking and, like me, he doesn't believe in the star system. He's consumed with team spirit and discipline.

"The players have to fit in with his vision and pattern of play, which is right. Don't confuse footballers - keep it simple."

He added: "I was very encouraged by Porto and Monaco getting to last season's Champions' League final. They had nowt to play with financially, compared to the big guns like Real Madrid and Manchester United, and they embarrassed the lot.

"I did the same with Nottingham Forest, lifting the European Cup two seasons in a row. And I did it by being a good manager, not waving the cheque book around. When I won the European Cup, a quarter of a century ago, I didn't bankrupt Nottingham Forest to do it."