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Book reviews

Reviews from When Saturday Comes. Follow the link to buy the book from Amazon.

Legal aid

The England captain’s defeat in a privacy action has set a worrying precedent for high-profile footballers, says Nick McAleenan

Are footballers “role models”? This question invariably reappears when a player’s behaviour is called into question. Anecdotal experience tells us that on-field antics are frequently copied: the upturned Cantona collar, the (attempted) Ronaldo step-over, the Klinsmann dive, “words” with the ref. Equally, footballers’ off-field activities have always attracted public attention. Step forward Mario Balotelli, firework safety spokesman and Manchester City enigma.

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 - Book reviews

Moral high ground

A controversial exit from Celtic has angered the Scottish club, but Graham Davidson asks if they have the right to feel aggrieved

It has never been unusual for Scottish players to move south at an early age. Denis Law and Billy Bremner never kicked a ball in club football at home, while more recently Darren Fletcher arrived in Manchester before he was a teenager. None of these moves, however, generated the publicity recently given to Islam Feruz’s decision to move from Celtic to Chelsea.

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 - Book reviews

The life of Brian

Harry Pearson reviews the latest biography of Brian Clough, that includes an analysis of the great manager’s approach to tactics

Just as evangelical Christians are supposed to address difficult situations with the words “What would Jesus do?” there is an apparently burgeoning legion of football folk who react to any player-related crisis at a club by asking: “How would Cloughie have handled this?”

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 - Book reviews

Man out of time

Al Needham welcomed Steve McLaren’s appointment at Nottingham Forest, but won’t miss him now he’s gone

After the initial shock and subsequent debate across the city of Nottingham, the appointment of Steve McClaren as Forest manager in the summer made a sort of perverse sense. After all, both club and new manager had a lot to prove. For the former, the opportunity to replace the moaning, awkward Billy Davies with someone who has sat at the right hand of Alex Ferguson was an irresistible punt. For the latter, the opportunity to return to a club seething with the potential to get back to where they seemingly belonged was an obvious shortcut to expunging memories of holding an umbrella and looking helpless. As a friend pointed out: “Forest have gone from having the best manager England never had to the worst manager they did have.”

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 - Book reviews

Soft touch Sven

Leicester City fans have been shaken out of their Sven-Göran Eriksson hypnosis, declares Derek Hammond

Along with most Leicester City fans, I greeted the club’s appointment of Sven-Göran Eriksson with a certain pride. Here was a successful England boss, a celebrity of wealth and distinction. A man who had won league titles in Sweden, Italy and Portugal, led Lazio to the double, the UEFA Super Cup and the Cup-Winners Cup, was now coming to little old Leicester.

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 - Book reviews

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