Clark, who had won the European Cup with Forest as a player, was Leyton Orient’s chief executive when he got the call to replace his former boss after the club had been relegated.
Star players Roy Keane and Nigel Clough left for Manchester United and Liverpool, but Clark brought in Stan Collymore and Jason Lee to add firepower, and Colin Cooper was added to strengthen their leaky defence.
Goalkeeper Mark Crossley remembers that Clark didn’t make any radical changes.
“There were loads of names being bandied around but not Frank’s,” he said.
“He only had £4m to spend and didn’t change the squad a lot. Everyone thought we would have a hangover from Cloughie leaving.
“But it was totally the opposite. We were superb that season, we kept the same formation, 4-4-2 never changed it. Frank just gave us license to go out and play.
“Forest was family and Frank kept everything the way it was. Some people come in and try to change things too quickly.
“He signed a top drawer striker in Stan Collymore from Southend that nobody would touch, and obviously, we all know how good he was,” said Crossley.
Despite only losing one of their last 21 games, Forest had to settle for second place, seven points behind champions Crystal Palace.
They clinched an immediate return to the top flight with a thrilling 3-2 win at Peterborough with two games to spare.
“We went 2-0 down after only about seven minutes. Then Collymore decided to put his boots on and rip up the Peterborough defence.
This story is from the May 09, 2021 edition of The Football League Paper.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 09, 2021 edition of The Football League Paper.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
NUNEZ SPARKS ROUT OF IN-FORM TIGERS
NORWICH City boss Johannes Hoff Thorup was delighted with his side’s performance as they made it four wins in six games to maintain their climb up the table after a slow start.
SHAUN RUES SOFT LATICS' BORE DRAW
WIGAN manager Shaun Maloney had mixed emotions after his side drew at Stockport to make it six games unbeaten.
Bielik's words are own goal for Blues
IN MY early days at Brighton, we won back-to-back promotions and were practically unstoppable.
CLAIMS OF RACISM TO ASSISTANT MAR DRAW
PORTSMOUTH boss John Mousinho apologised to assistant referee Bhupinder Singh Gill for alleged discriminatory comments made from the stands during the draw with Oxford United.
WILDER'S PUSH FOR BIRTHDAY BOY RAK-SAKYI IS PAYING OFF
Hatters in slump as loan star hits brace
ARGYLE STUN ROVERS AFTER WAYNE SEES RED
PLYMOUTH assistant head coach Pete Shuttleworth praised Argyle’s never say-die attitude as the greens secured a last-minute win over high-flying Blackburn.
Former teen star is now real deal
FAMOUSLY, Karamoko Dembele was just 13 when he made his debut for Celtic’s under-20 side in 2016.
DERBY DATE SO VITAL FOR OMER
Interim boss has chance to boost bid
LINDSEY LINK-UP LIFTS LAURENCE!
LAURENCE Maguire has been reunited with Scott Lindsey at MK Dons - and believes his old boss is the right man to propel them into the League Two promotion shake-up.
I WANT TO ADD MORE ELLIOT
NEW Crawley Town boss Rob Elliot has promised evolution not revolution after stepping into the huge shoes vacated by Scott Lindsey.