BRIAN Clough inspired a fierce loyalty among his players but they all knew that if they let him down they would be shown the door.

"If you didn't do the job you were out," says Rams legend John O'Hare who Cloughie signed three times, beginning the golden era at the Baseball Ground by transferring the young striker in from Sunderland in 1967.

"When Roger Davies replaced me at Derby the team sheet went up, I was dropped and that was it," says O'Hare. "Sympathy only gets you so far in football. He thought I was a decent player, a good player, but if he thought he could get someone better, he would get them.

O'Hare would follow Old Big 'Ead briefly to Leeds and then to European Cup glory with Nottingham Forest.

"At times he was a hard taskmaster but he made training a nice environment and that was one of his gifts, being able to create a great spirit at a football club," says O'Hare.

That was one of the reasons he won the respect of all his players – especially at Derby, the club he loved above all others after taking the Rams from Second Division obscurity to the top of the English Football League.

O'Hare will be remembering those glory days with other Rams legends at Derby Assembly Rooms on July 2.

The tribute night there, Brian Clough's Way, will feature Derby County greats telling tales of those heady times, with actor Colin Tarrant taking on the persona of Brian Clough, as he did to great acclaim at the Nottingham Playhouse in the show Old Big 'Ead: The Spirit of the Man.

Among the players on stage will be Roger Davies, who notched up more than 100 appearances in a Rams shirt under Clough.

"He looked after people," the striker said. "He was a youngish guy but still a father figure to us – he wanted to know your home life was OK, if you had any problems. He knew everything that was going on.

"Of course he could have a go at you at times but woe betide anybody else for doing that. He was brilliant at managing people and making them tick, knowing who to chastise and who to build up.

"I was one of the players who needed to be got at and he could give me a right rollicking at times."

But he also knew when to praise.

"We had so much respect for him as a man and that respect went on after he had left Derby County.

"I drove over to see his team play when he brought Brighton to Walsall and I rang him up for free tickets and I called him 'boss'. He said 'I'm not your boss any more, call me Brian' but I couldn't."

Roy McFarland will join the Assembly Rooms tribute night. He was a Rams favourite in the golden era, being part of two First Division title-winning sides. "We all have our stories and recollections of Brian and Peter Taylor," he said.

Can Roy put his finger on what made Cloughie so great as a manager and so popular with the public?

"As a person he was great to work for."

He said the fact that he was overlooked for the England job made him the people's manager.

"We were very successful at a time when Derby was going through a very bad time with the Rolls Royce collapse and Brian was instrumental in terms of supporting people over that and they remember that. They loved him for it."

Brian Clough's Way is at Derby Assembly Rooms on July 2, starting at 7.30pm. Tickets are £22.50. Call the box office on 01332 255800.