IT’S all happening in the East Midlands!

Fresh from talking about my old boss David Pleat’s departure from Nottingham Forest, where he had been working in a consultancy role, Steve McClaren departed.

The former England boss had been there for just 112 days and 10 Championship games, the last a 3-1 home defeat by Birmingham.

And now the search is on for a new manager at the City Ground, with Forest, having reached the play-offs under Billy Davies last season, third-bottom this time.

One of the more intriguing names mentioned is that of Nigel Clough, who only recently led Derby County to a 2-1 win at Forest.

A move would complete an intriguing double, of course, because Brian Clough had successful spells at both clubs, and some would say every manager since has had to live in his shadow.

Who better to do that than his own son, and while the pair share the same surname, they are very different characters.

Nigel, of course, played for Forest, and I got to know him quite well when he came on loan to Sheffield Wednesday.

He was a good player and a good bloke, different from his dad in that he seemed to shun the spotlight, but very determined in his own way.

You could tell he had the makings of a manager.

And I like the way he learned his trade at Burton Albion, initially as player-boss, when they were a non-league club.

Nigel had left for Derby by the time Burton eventually made it into League II, but it’s fair to say he laid the foundations for that promotion.

It’s taken him a while to sort things out at Pride Park – it was early in 2009 when he went there – but Derby stuck with him and it seems to be paying off because they are third in the table.

Both Derby and Forest have bags of potential, but just at the moment, life seems far rosier for the former, while the latter need to get their managerial appointment right.

THE form of the three promoted sides is making an interesting sub-plot to the Premier League campaign.

Norwich are ninth, Swansea 10th and QPR 11th ahead of the resumption of domestic action following the international break.

Here at Town, we have reasons to be interested in all three.

It’s not long since we were playing both Swansea and Norwich, while the Canaries have Anthony Pilkington up and running at opposition defences following his transfer and recovery from injury.

And our old manager Neil Warnock is at QPR – I can imagine what that dressing room was like in the wake of their 6-0 derby defeat by Fulham!

The term roller-coaster hardly does justice to what the last year must have been like for Rangers supporters, with last season’s title triumph coming under threat because of a possible points deduction, then the uncertainty of the close-season, when transfer funds seemed hard to come by.

Now the ownership has changed and Neil has been able to bring in some additions to the squad, and what Rangers really need is a period of stability.

Norwich are playing some impressive stuff under Paul Lambert while Swansea’s recent 2-0 win over a tough Stoke team suggests they are starting to find their feet under Brendan Rodgers.