Sean Dyche might look like he was born a manager but he wasn’t a bad player in his day.
The Nottingham Forest boss made his name at Chesterfield in the 1990s before spells with Bristol City, Luton Town on loan, Millwall, Watford and Northampton Town.
Sean Dyche on the injury that hampered his playing career”I was certainly breaking through into the reserve side at Forest when I did it,” Dyche tells FourFourTwo.
“Now, reserve football will mean very little to some people, but back then it was the pathway into the first team – Cloughie [Forest manager Brian Clough] loved the old Central League and took it very seriously.
Sean Dyche at Nottingham Forest (Image credit: Getty Images)”Brian Laws had been in that reserve team, Mark Crossley was in goal, Garry Parker, Gary Charles and Steve Chettle had played, so to get into the side was difficult.
“I was showing good signs. I’d been a young central midfielder, but a growth spurt that saw me go from 5ft 9in to 6ft meant they put me in at centre-back and I was starting to make some headway.
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“The injury was of course a big blow. My big mate at Forest was Steve Stone and he broke his leg four days after me, so he and I spent a lot of time recuperating together.
“Would I have made it in the top flight without the injury? You never know. Steve broke his leg twice more and he played for England, so I can’t sit here and blame it all on the injury.
“Let’s put it this way: it would have been quite helpful to not have broken my leg. I went on to have a career and it is what it is.”
Sean Dyche, now the manager of Nottingham Forest That kind of outward stoicism is a hallmark of Dyche’s management.
He started out at former club Watford before helping to shape Burnley into a regular Premier League outfit.
After a spell at Everton, he made a return to the City Ground to succeed Ange Postecoglou and lead his first club away from the relegation zone and in the Europa League.
