The female Brian Clough: How no-nonsense Hayes is inspiring Chelsea towards success

When Chelsea beat Manchester United in the Continental Cup semi-finals, Emma Hayes was quick to tell it how it was.

“Terrible” was how she described the game that, believe it or not, her team actually won.

Nonetheless, there was a lot of praise for her team’s character as they reached the Conti Cup semi-final.

This is the one competition that has eluded Hayes throughout a trophy-laden spell with the Blues and, on Saturday, she has another chance at rectifying that.

But the thing the 43-year-old was most excited about was the venue of the final: Nottingham Forest’s City Ground.

“I’m a huge fan of Brian Clough. I might be his female equivalent, but I’m quite happy with that!” she laughed.

“I love Brian Clough. I grew up in a household that loved Brian Clough so to go to his home will honestly be a really special moment for me as a manager.”

It wasn’t what the mixed zone was perhaps expecting from Hayes that night, but, then again, no one can ever predict what the Chelsea boss is going to say.

And learning that the late Clough had been an inspiration for her since she was young made perfect sense.

An outspoken personality, Hayes’ recently called Tranmere Rovers’ pitch, home to Liverpool’s women’s team, “a stain on the club”.

And after beating Arsenal at home back in October, she said quite simply of her game-changing substitutions: “If you get it right you’re an unbelievable manager, if you don’t you’re a pile of sh*te.”

Like Clough – whose tactical advice included “you get the ball, you pass it to a red shirt” – Hayes is not one for complexity.

After that win over the Gunners, Chelsea’s turnaround was explained as so: “One pressed, the other pressed. It’s not difficult. Football is not complicated.”

But it’s not just the mannerisms that suggest that allude to Clough’s impact on the Chelsea boss.

To start, Hayes’ winning formula is almost identical to that which the former Forest coach used in an illustrious career, which included back-to-back European Cup wins.

The two centre-backs are impassable, the full-backs bomb forward and there’s a solid holding midfielder to link defence to attack, where creative wingers support a front two in a counter-attacking approach.

The only difference is that Hayes will often switch between a 4-1-3-2 formation and Clough’s preferred 4-4-2.

Garry Birtles, the focal point of his attack at Forest, described his former coach as “a master at man management”, while John McGovern, his holding midfielder, simply explained: “He had that knack of saying the right things, in the right way.”

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The put people first mantra is also a huge part of Hayes’ beliefs.

Earlier this year, amidst injuries, she fired a warning shot to England, demanding they look after Fran Kirby, the Chelsea forward once described by former Lionesses boss Mark Sampson as his team’s “mini Messi”.

And when it was revealed that Kirby has been suffering with illness over the last few months, Hayes’ morals as a coach, and a person, shone through again.

"While winning football matches is important, it is not more important than her health," she told the club's website.

"Good health is the priority in our culture, and her good health matters above and beyond anything else."

Kirby’s success at Chelsea so far is further evidence of the similarities.

The 26-year-old is just one of many to be recruited from lesser divisions to shine under the Hayes in the Women’s Super League.

It was something Clough got right so often in his career, renowned not just for his ability to sign the right players, but developing youngsters too – with Roy Keane a perfect example of both.

In Hayes’ current squad, as well as Kirby from Reading, Millie Bright and Beth England both came from Doncaster, while Erin Cuthbert arrived from Glasgow City. All were unproven at the top level and are now among the best in the WSL.

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Hannah Blundell is one of many in-house success stories too, while 16-year-old Emily Murphy, who has scored two senior goals for the Blues this year, promises to be another.

How does Hayes do it? Just like Clough did: by pumping them full of confidence.

Back in 1986, he told the Netherlands’ coaching team that John Metgod, a set piece specialist and a true fan favourite at Forest, should be in their squad for that year’s World Cup.

In January, after Sophie Ingle’s masterclass away at Arsenal in January, Hayes’ simply declared: "She's so clever, such a great leader and - I've said it before - Team GB should be building a team around her."

Such opinionated figures will not always be popular with everyone.

“They say I’ve got chips on my shoulder,” Clough once said. “But I just believe in giving my opinions.”

When Hayes called for the FA to scrap the Conti Cup, a competition she is yet to win, people said the same.

“Why are we diluting our product?” she ranted. “This competition, that competition… Boom! One f*cking league. It’s not difficult.”

But the fact of the matter is, she’ll stand by that opinion even if she wins on Sunday. Clough would do the same.