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While Sam's context was a team based meaning, where as a footballer (and Sam's dream of playing professional football was cut short by knee injuries), I take his words "Over the Shoulder" and place them in a context where it might be dangerous to look over your shoulder, for in boxing the boxer gets knocked out by the punch they did not see coming. Yet over our shoulder is someone who is watching us, mentoring us, supporting us or being inspired by us.
In Sam's context "checking who is behind us" is both a defensive and offensive strategy - a quick look over the shoulder and one can see or even sense forward movement from another team player and we act accordingly. In Sam's case injuries to his knees prove what a contact sport that soccer can be and the worst injuries in soccer come from that nasty tackle from behind. Yet in the case of legendary manager Brian Clough, it was what was in front of him that did the most damage, which was a collision with a goalkeeper, but in his case there was also knee problems also.
Brian Clough was difficult for the establishment to deal with, yet his flaws led this greatness and then his flaws led him to lose what was great, because over his shoulder was the influence and role of Peter Taylor. While Peter Taylor was the man over Clough's shoulder, that partnership created one of the greatest stories that professional soccer can tell :
Life is not all roses, we want to hear the most noble form of success and we breath in mythologies which cut away the ugly side that contributed to the success. Brian Clough paid a price for his conflicts such as the football association snubbing him from the England job. For Clough that would have been the filling of a great dream and for the football fans, it was the thoughts of what could have been. After England had won the World Cup in 1966, England keep dreaming of that dream and missteps include not having Clough and Taylor be appointed as a team who had a proven success record.
That success was a collaboration and Clough's experiences with Leeds proved that no one can do something great alone. At Leeds he learned that he had to look over his shoulder for all the wrong reasons, Leeds players who hated him especially for being so direct and outspoken. The documentary about Clough touches upon that. That England never had Brian Clough and Peter Taylor as a double-team leading them, is a tragedy, especially we dig deep into the last song that was utilized when England previously entered the World Cup.
For those who do not understand the significance of Clough and Taylor, it is more than just in taking two very ordinary teams who still now play in the 2nd Tier of British soccer in Derby County and Nottingham Forest, but their impact on the culture of football. That is where Brian Clough is best remembered. Plus that classic moment with Muhammad Ali and that is included in a compilation of quotes from Brian Clough :
Looking over your shoulder is best supported by the idea of standing on the shoulders of the great. That kind of awareness becomes an intelligence when we develop a feel for people who make us or made us better than we would be without their presence. This is what Sam Demma has focused on and it is his message to younger people that he is doing a splendid job wanting to mentor, despite the reality that he is young himself.
When we look over our shoulder we will see in the history of our past, those people who did not serve up good experiences but who became the protagonist that we may not have liked pushing us but whose vision saw greatness in us. Here the legendary coach John Wooden come into focus. He would push his college players to the limit but it is his intent which his players only saw later in life. Wooden was not instilling in them how to be the best basketball team or player, but preparing them for life. Even our protagonists can be reframed over time, giving us things that helped us in ways we cannot dream of when those lessons were being delivered, but people like John Wooden are few and far between, because he had a bigger vision of what success is - and winning was a by-product of that - THE RIGHT WAY TO BE.
Comments
CityVP Manjit
5 years ago#1
Yes, the magic happened because of the combination of both Clough and Taylor. Clough never reached great heights after Taylor left and Taylor could not elevate his managerial success without Clough.