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Forest v Liverpool FA Cup tie offers reminder of another time in Clough era | Jonathan Wilson

The institution of the Cup is widely devalued but Nottingham Forest v Liverpool brings up memories of a more innocent ageEvery year the question is asked: what is the point of the FA Cup, why should we care? This is not the Premier League, with its slick production values, glamorous stars at every turn and sense of dramatic urgency. There’s no great sense that it matters: you lose, you’re out and it has no bearing on the race for fourth. You win the thing and your manager still gets sacked a few days or weeks or months later – between 2012 and 2018, Arsène Wenger was the only FA Cup-winning manager still to be in his job a year later.Yet...

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Nottingham Forest show the rewards of investing in the production line | Daniel Taylor

It is 12 years since Brian Clough died and his philosophy of giving youth a chance is being maintained at the City Ground by Philippe MontanierIt is probably a reflection of Nottingham Forest’s difficulties in the modern era that when they renew acquaintances with Arsenal on Tuesday it will be the first time in the 21st century they have encountered the club who wear the same colours because it was Forest, 130 years ago, who donated a red strip to help set them up.The last occasion the two sides met was in January 1999 when Ron Atkinson had just been appointed as Forest’s manager and infamously began his short, undistinguished spell more like Rowan Atkinson by climbing into the wrong...

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