For a son going into his father's family business, there can be few harder acts to follow in football than Brian Clough.
Darren Ferguson might beg to differ, but the romance of the Clough name was always going to place Nigel's accomplishments as a manager into sharp relief.
And yet, here we are again, marvelling at the success Clough Jnr is enjoying. October marked 20 years since Burton Albion chairman Ben Robinson gave Nigel his first opportunity in the dugout and though there have not been the trophies his dad lifted he has consistently achieved in his own way.
To guide Burton, whose average attendance hovers around 3,000 and whose record transfer fee stands at £500,000, into the Carabao Cup semi-finals requires an incredibly high standard of management. An even better milestone was keeping Burton in the Championship in 2016-17, fighting back week after week against clubs with vastly greater budgets and fan-bases.
Clearly, the Clough magic has been passed from father to son and where some players or managers shy away from talking about their heritage for fear it overshadows their own careers, Nigel is more than happy to reflect. He does so with warmth and an understanding that his upbringing is of great interest to the public, and that it has shaped who he is.
Aside from Burton, he maintained steady stewardship of Derby amid turbulent times, and led Sheffield United to semi-finals in both FA Cup and League Cup while a League One side.
He masterminded a 0-0 draw against Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United in 2006 when Burton were a Conference team but this meeting with Manchester City presents an even bigger chasm because spending at the top has become that much more inflated.
Two legs facing Pep Guardiola's special side is a daunting prospect and victory once 180 minutes or more are done would represent one of the biggest shocks in the game's history.
Nigel lifted this trophy twice as a player under his dad at Nottingham Forest and was a boy in the dressing room in 1978 when the club won it for the first time to spark a period of astonishing success.
Here, Sportsmail looks at what kind of manager the younger Clough is and where his father's influence can be felt.
STYLE OF PLAY
Clough Snr's teams were renowned for attractive football. His Forest side attacked at speed and could pass their way through opponents too. So wedded to the beauty of the game was Clough that he famously, and fatally, told Leeds's title winners to throw their medals in the bin because they were not won fairly.
'It wasn't about winning, it was about the performance as well. It was standards,' Nigel says of his father in a Telegraph interview.
'We played Oldham in the final [in 1990] and won 1-0 but we didn't play very well. We were in the next morning, running. We used to do lengths of the pitch – sides as we used to call them – and it was: "Go and do six sides." Seriously, that's what's happened the morning after the game. No balls to be seen.'
Nigel has needed to be more pragmatic in his brand of football – Burton could not hope to out-skill technically better players – but he still commands a style based on thoughtfulness and creativity.
There is athleticism in his side and patterns of play are readily visible. He coaches understanding between his players and resilience too. Even when competing regularly against teams with far bigger resources, Burton were only rarely beaten by big margins.
For the United game 13 years ago Ferguson even penned a legal letter to back his counterpart in a subsequent court case. A drainage company was suing for payment despite leaving 40 tonnes of sand on the Pirelli Stadium pitch. A lawyer argued they were due a slice of Burton's £800,000 windfall for the replay because the poor surface had hindered United.
Ferguson wrote that it was the way Nigel had prepared his players and nothing to do with the pitch. He said he was so fearful of an upset he brought on Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo with 30 minutes to go. Burton won the case.
TRANSFER POLICY
In an interview with Sportsmail, Ben Robinson, Burton's 73-year-old chairman, explained the club's philosophy. Because balance sheets are tight, qualities searched for are not confined to the pitch.
'Nigel's philosophy with signing players, like his dad, is that the character is important,' Robinson explains. 'We say, "If you come to Burton you'll get a manager who looks after his players, you'll get a club that cares for people as individuals. And you'll get a great training facility at St George's Park".'
For example in 2017 Stephen Warnock, Jake Buxton, and John Brayford all arrived for free with Clough identifying their solid personalities, as well as football abilities, as beneficial to his squad. Even though Burton were subsequently relegated they staged a late season revival, winning three games in a row when the pressure was on, and that illustrated the mental strength within the group.
Burton's club record signing is £500,000 for Liam Boyce. To put that money into context, Clough Snr became the first to spend £1million way back in 1979, when taking Trevor Francis to Forest. Still, he made Francis wait for his debut – even sending him to make a round of brews – because no individual was bigger than the collective. That is a strategy Clough Jnr maintains.
Regarding his own transfers, only Forest in January 2017 have made an approach but Clough said no because the hierarchy at the time failed to appeal. 'People marvel at what Nigel has achieved. Maybe one day one of the big clubs will come in and good luck to them,' says Robinson.
APPROACH TO PLAYERS
Last April Colin Barrett relayed a story to Sportsmail about Clough offering him an alcoholic drink before his debut. Barrett, a full back signed from City, declined and some 40 years on he mused that it was his new manager's way of testing him out. It is unlikely Clough JNr has tried the same tactic in his time but there are undeniable traces of that mischievous manner.
Like his dad, Nigel likes to get to know his players on a human level, to find out what might be going on in their personal lives that could affect the way they play on a Saturday. He speaks honestly, frankly on occasions, but that engenders loyalty.
There is also a story from his first days as a manager that speaks to his thinking on this.
At the time Burton were in the Southern League, the seventh tier of the football ladder, and having earned a good living as a player he owned a Mercedes, having received it as part of his signing-on package at City two years earlier. But the then 32-year-old feared it was too flashy given his new environment, so downgraded to a saloon car.
DEALINGS WITH THE MEDIA
Clough was the first superstar manager. He was grabbing back page headlines for fun before these modern coaching marvels had laced up their first pair of boots. Being namechecked by Muhammad Ali was all part of it. He realised the power of the media for his own profile but also for sending messages to players.
Speak to journalists from that era and they will tell you he would invite them into his office for lengthy chats and, notebooks filled, their editors would be happy for days.
Interactions with managers now are much more regulated but Nigel has carried on that tradition of speaking as you see and giving time graciously.
He might not produce the occasional poetry of his father, or make statements that scream off the page, but he does provide clear and bold opinions, such as admitting the prospect of facing City is 'frightening'.
You could never accuse him of saying something for effect. He is measured in his words, but open to all questions, and has the same twinkle in his eye his father possessed when dropping a jewell of a line into the discussion.