The £145k Nottingham Forest signing who Peter Taylor thought would be the next Bobby Moore

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Brian Clough had a sensational reputation for being one of the best man-managers that the game of football has ever seen.

It’s a little-known fact, however, that right-hand man and his trusted sidekick, Peter Taylor, was often his eyes and ears when it came to recruiting for the legendary Forest manager.

Silverware came to the City Ground on a regular basis under the stewardship of Clough and Taylor and he’s one of the best managers to have ever existed.

The great man was unique. Clough never liked to focus on the opposition and instead instilled the belief in every single one of his players to perform to their maximum every week.

Some of his signings really caught the eye. Clough famously signed Garry Birtles as a carpet-fitter from Long Eaton United FC and he went on to become a European Cup winner.

Stuart Pearce had a personal vendetta with Clough at one period but he was another player plucked from the lower echelons of football to become a Forest legend.

Signing players was Taylor’s thing and with one particular signing he hit the jackpot, even if he didn’t quite become as good as initially thought he might.

• READ MORE: Player who celebrated in front of Brian Clough after he rejected him

Kenny Burns was backed to become the Nottingham Forest version of Bobby Moore

Burns was scoring goals for Birmingham City when Forest chose to take a chance on him in 1977, signing him for £145,000.

The Blues didn’t fancy him given that he was out of shape, unwilling to get fit and seemingly offered very little to the team

Cited in the book ‘With Clough by Taylor’, the former Forest assistant manager explained why he saw something in the striker that suggested he could do a job defensively for Forest.

He explained: “Burns was our first signing to strengthen the team for the First Division. It surprised everyone, especially when it was announced that, despite nineteen goals as a striker in the previous season for Birmingham, he would play for us as a sweeper!

“Perhaps it sounded insane to switch a goalscorer into defence, but there was a good reason for our madness. I suspected Burns didn’t relish life up front; the running didn’t suit his lazy nature.

“What’s more, we desperately needed a sweeper alongside Larry Lloyd, and I visualised Burns turning into a Scottish Bobby Moore, because he’s as skillful as Moore and certainly more ruthless.”

What Kenny Burns said about Brian Clough

The rest as they say is history. Burns might not have had the same level of success on the international stage as Moore, but boy did he win some trophies at Forest.

Burns was forever indebted to Clough. He was going nowhere in a hurry at Birmingham, with the Blues happy to snap Forest’s hand off when they offered such a transfer fee in those days.

Clough’s man-management was never in question with any of his players, epitomised by a heartwarming anecdote from Burns to The Scotsman.

He said in 2015: “I didn’t have a dad so I was very happy Cloughie saw me as his daft laddie who he would try to keep on the straight and narrow.”

What Kenny Burns won at Nottingham Forest

Moving to play for Forest clearly changed the life of Burns and Clough made him a better footballer.

Alongside Lloyd he struck up a brilliant partnership and in 2016 he was named alongside Des Walker in the Greatest Nottingham Forest XI Ever compiled by the fans as part of the 150th year celebrations.

He was an absolute stalwart for the football club and made 137 appearances for the club during a four-year spell on Trentside.

Burns is forever remembered by the Forest fan base and Taylor persuading Clough to sign a striker to play centre-back is just something that is unheard of in the modern game.