Sheffield United co-chairman Kevin McCabe has hailed Nigel Clough as a "class" manager.
The 47-year-old was officially unveiled as the Blades' new boss on a two-and-a-half-year contract on Wednesday.
"Look at what he has achieved at a small club like Burton Albion, bringing them through the Conference to Football League, and what he has done at Derby County, who are not a dissimilar club to ourselves with a good academy and youth development system," he told reporters.
"We were looking at all of those ingredients. In some respects he was always on the back of our minds, but he was never available. He is still young and very experienced.
"Football's an industry. As soon as a job is available, there are many applications, but Nigel wasn't one of the applicants. This guy's class."
Clough was sacked by Championship side Derby County last month.
