Billy Davies has amazingly and inexplicably accused Nigel Clough of deliberately kneeing him in the back during a scuffle between players and staff late in Saturdays match.

Although Davies was mostly convivial and accepting (sarcastic at worst) of the defeat after the match, fans and media have focused on the lack of a handshake between both managers at full time. The childish way in which Davies and his assistant manager avoided Clough seemed bizarre and that of bad sportsmanship.

It seems Billy decided to wait till he was out of the ground before making his explosive allegations. Some would say once the press had turned their attention to Billys reaction to Clough and his hand, he then realised that a distraction may be in order.

If that is the case then he definitely came up with a good one as now rumors of a full FA enquiry is on the way, wee Billy has opened a wee nasty can of worms.

On Sunday ‘The Sun’ reported the following:

Nottingham Forest boss Davies alleges Derby manager Clough HIT him from behind, then KNEED him in the back of a leg in the East Midlands derby at Pride Park on Saturday.

Pint-sized Davies, 45, was making his first return to the club that sacked him two years ago - just a few months after he led them into the Premier League.

Forest lost 1-0 - their first defeat in 20 Championship games - but Davies insisted: "What really hurts me is that Nigel Clough behaved so badly.

"What he did was cowardly and I don't understand it. We used to get on so well together.

"There was a big bust-up between most of the players on the touchline right in front of the dugouts. Management and backroom staff from both teams got involved. "Nigel hit me from behind in the struggle, and bashed his knee into the back of my leg.

"He tried to claim it was accidental but I think it was deliberate.

"So if Nigel wants to know why I didn't shake hands at the final whistle then I'm telling him. It's a pity we have come to this."

Nigel was much more reserved in his response and sensibly was not baited by the press driven tirade.

"Thanks, but I've absolutely no comment to make on the matter."

Now Billy has laid out his cards, questions have to be asked such as:

Why did Billy stay quiet till after his official commitments on Saturday?

Why did he then speak to the rag tag tabloid press instead of the media covering the game?

Did he report the incident to the match referee?

Why would a man like Nigel, with no history of violent outbursts, suddenly decide to attack a fellow manager in plain view of everyone?

The report is mind boggling and even if true is a reflection of a man not comfortable in his own skin.

A professional would deal with these issues in the appropriate way and then release a press statement. Not start making potentially slanderous comments, airing his dirty laundry to the ‘fish paper’ press.

It definitely has shifted focus from the loss his team suffered but from early reaction it seems to be working even more negatively against Davies. Even Forest fans seem to be struggling to swallow this report as they too know the nature of Nigel and this is far from it.

This report truly has legs because every possible outcome has massive repercussions.

If proven untrue will come back to bite Billy in a big way and if I was Nigel I would think about employing the services of a good lawyer to issue slander proceedings.

If there is any truth in the allegations then Nigel could face serious action from the FA and in turn destabilise his position at Derby.

To date, if anything it has united the fans behind Nigel more than ever as it seems most if not 100% of reaction has been in favor of Clough. People simply do not believe Davies and his version of events.

Plus with more rumors surfacing along the lines of Billy Davies appearing before the game in the Rams rooms to taunt his opposition, it seems there is much more to this one than meets the eye.

Not that it is a surprise. Davies has a history at all three of his clubs of major vocal blunders that incense fans and rivals. His inability to gauge how comments and opinions will be taken is only matched by the way in which he seems to believe the majority are on his side, even when they blatantly are not.

Perhaps Nigel did lose his cool; perhaps he got white line fever as soon as he went to break up the scuffle. If he did then I will apologise for my skepticism of this ‘cowardly attack’ but I doubt I will have to draft such an apology any time soon, if past form is anything to go by.

Whatever your opinion on this one, it makes the Savage and Tyson incidents look like a drop in the ocean. By the time the dust settles, the next local derby will be one of the most anticipated in history, especially if the same opposite numbers are in charge.

Here’s hoping!

We want to know what you think about this explosive development  so let us know your opinion in the RamZone forum.

Photo: Action Images

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