Jumpers For Goalposts is a fascinating reflection on the history of British soccer, which examines why the charm, innocence, and good humor has disappeared from today's game, compared to the golden days of yesteryear. Smyth considers everything from the huge wage bills, to players' lack of loyalty to their clubs, and their escapades off the pitch. He concludes that the true beauty of football is when it's at its simplest. Including anecdotes from players, past and present, and other sporting insiders, Jumpers For Goalposts is an exhaustive study of whether football has lost its charm—and, perhaps more importantly, whether it can ever get it back.
A hilarious and heart-warming comedy about football, friendship and finding your way. Luke wants Danny, but Danny's got a secret. Joe's happy in goal but Geoff wants a headline gig. Viv just wants to beat the lesbians to the league title. Game on. "Jumpers for Goalposts"premiered at Watford Palace Theatre in April 2013, before touring the UK. 'The delicate balance between humour and pathos is seldom achieved with such deftness... a stunning piece of writing - fresh, funny, painful, engaging' "The Stage" 'Finds extraordinary beauty in the ordinary lives of its characters' "Financial Times"
John Steinbeck Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner are generally recognized as the most influential American novelists of the 20th century. Their careers paralleled one another in significant ways - two of their fledgling poems coincidentally appeared in the same avant-garde little magazine; they died a year apart, almost to the day; each won the Nobel Prize. It is as much biography as critique, a short, happy reference work that sometimes tells more about the commentators than their subjects. Among the writers on the writers, there is Sherwood Anderson, Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, Conrad Aiken, W. H. Auden, John Dos Passos, Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, and many others. This book is not only a valuable addition to literary scholarship, it is also a unique re-creation of an era in American culture.
WINNER OF THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR WINNER OF THE BRITISH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS FOOTBALL BOOK OF THE YEAR Why does an international footballer with the world at his feet decide to take his own life? On 10 November 2009 the German national goalkeeper, Robert Enke, stepped in front of a passing train. He was thirty-two years old and a devoted husband and father. Enke had played for a string of Europe's top clubs, including Barcelona and Jose Mourinho's Benfica and was destined to become his country's first choice in goal for years to come. But beneath the veneer of success, Enke battled with crippling depression. Award-winning writer Ronald Reng pieces together the puzzle of his friend's life, shedding valuable light on the crushing pressures endured by professional sportsmen and on life at the top clubs. At its heart, Enke's tragedy is a universal story of a man struggling against his demons. ‘It should be on every British football fan's reading list’ Metro
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKS ARE MY BAG READERS AWARDS! We lead increasingly time-poor lifestyles, bombarded 24/7 by petrifying news bulletins, internet trolls and endless noises. Where has the joy and relaxation gone from our daily lives? Scribbles in the Margins offers a glorious antidote to that relentless modern-day information churn. It is here to remind you that books and bookshops can still sing to your heart. Warm, heartfelt and witty, here are fifty short essays of prose poetry dedicated to the simple joy to be found in reading and the rituals around it. These are not wallowing nostalgia; they are things that remain pleasurable and right, that warm our hearts and connect us to books, to reading and to other readers: smells of books, old or new; losing an afternoon organising bookshelves; libraries; watching a child learn to read; reading in bed; impromptu bookmarks; visiting someone's home and inspecting the bookshelves; stains and other reminders of where and when you read a book. An attempt to fondly weigh up what makes a book so much more than paper and ink – and reading so much more than a hobby, a way of passing time or a learning process – these declarations of love demonstrate what books and reading mean to us as individuals, and the cherished part they play in our lives, from the vivid greens and purples of childhood books to the dusty comfort novels we turn to in times of adult flux. Scribbles in the Margins is a love-letter to books and bookshops, rejoicing in the many universal and sometimes odd little ways that reading and the rituals around reading make us happy.
*** THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'A heroic outsider - a pleasure to read.' - The Guardian 'A fulsome evocation of football before the Premier League.' - The i 'Such a good storyteller...joyous.' - Financial Times 'Honest, raw, revealing and very funny. How to live a life and career to the full. Insightful book about the most successful outsider inside football ever...' - Henry Winter, Chief Football Writer, The Times 'Pat is a wonderful one-off...and this is the story of why that is.' - John Murray, Chief Sports Correspondent, BBC Radio 5 Live 'Unusually vibrant and elegant with heroic doses of humour, insight and self-effacement, this is an absolute must-read for the football connoisseur.' - Omid Djalili 'The biggest influence of my professional career both on and off the pitch.' - Graeme Le Saux 'I grew up captivated by Pat Nevin the player. As a man he taught me even more about the beauty of the game. One of football's great mavericks, and Chelsea's greatest players. And he can spin a mean tune too.' - Sam Matterface 'I used to walk miles to see Pat Nevin play football and I'd do the same now to read his thoughts. Always challenging, always entertaining.' - Lord Sebastian Coe 'A refreshingly honest and thought-provoking autobiography. As deftly delivered as some of Pat's ball skills in his 1980's heyday.' - ToffeeWeb Pat Nevin never wanted to be a professional footballer. His future was clear, he'd become a teacher like his brothers. There was only one problem with this - Pat was far too good to avoid attention. Raised in Glasgow's East End, Pat loved the game, playing for hours and obsessively following Celtic. But as he grew up, he also loved Joy Division, wearing his Indie 'gloom boom' coat and going on marches - hardly typical footballer behaviour! Placed firmly in the 80s and 90s, before the advent of the Premier League, and often with racism and violence present, Pat Nevin writes with honesty, insight and wry humour. We are transported vividly to Chelsea and Everton, and colourfully diverted by John Peel, Morrissey and nights out at the Hacienda. The Accidental Footballer is a different kind of football memoir. Capturing all the joys of professional football as well as its contradictions and conflicts, it's about being defined by your actions, not your job, and is the perfect reminder of how life can throw you the most extraordinary surprises, when you least expect it.
And the Leader Is... Gareth Chick's second leadership coaching book, is a critical mentoring guide in business culture, management and organisational behaviour, showing us how to lead effectively with heightened Corporate Emotional Intelligence (CEQ). Drawing on his 40 year experience in every aspect of the Corporate World, from CEO to performance coaching; from manager to trainer, Gareth Chick covers the fundamentals of emotional intelligence coaching to create high performance teams through transformational leadership and authentic change management. In his first book Corporate Emotional Intelligence Gareth provided a compelling analysis of Corporate Psychology; giving us a profound new understanding of how working in the business environment can cause thoroughly decent human beings to behave in unnatural and inhuman ways. The book concluded by outlining the 4 Pillars of Corporate Emotional Intelligence (CEQ), equipping us with personal development strategies to raise our leadership effectiveness. And the Leader Is... completes Gareth's personal corporate life mission to give hard pressed modern managers the practical competencies to be more effective leaders, more fulfilled and more sustainable. While each of his two leadership books stands on its own merits, the combination of the two forms arguably the most important work on corporate leadership since Dr Edwards Demings' writings of the late 20th Century. It is fitting therefore that the Foreword is written by Tony Barnes, the last surviving member of the Deming team that revolutionised Japanese business and manufacturing practices in the 1950s and 1960s. "A bible of common sense; a book that cuts to the core of achieving great business results whilst caring for the people you lead." Fionnuala Meehan, VP EMEA Global Marketing Solutions and Head of Ireland, Google "It's like no other book I've ever experienced. It's intensely personal - the insights, the examples, the honesty. This is much more than a book. It's a deep journey." Alison Platt, Non Executive Director, Tesco Plc "I have read many great books on coaching, leadership and teams. However, this is even greater, with all of these areas more expertly placed in one book". Becky Ivers, People Director - Expansion, Heathrow Airport "I was transported into `And the Leader is....Tina'. Easy to read `brain food' providing simple strategies to unlock human potential. This book is becoming my own personal coach." Tina Jennings, HR Director, Global Consumer Brands, Walgreens Boots Alliance
In "From the Heart", Sandy Clark tells the story of his headline-grabbing career in football as a striker, manager, coach and now much-respected pundit. From his early days with his hometown team Airdrie, Sandy Clark was a prolific scorer and notched more than 100 goals for the Diamonds. He caught the eye of both Sir Alex Ferguson and Celtic who tried to prise him away and was later named PFA Player of the Year before heading south to West Ham to star alongside Trevor Brooking, Billy Bonds and Tony Cottee. Sandy reveals why he then returned to Rangers and how he helped a young Ally McCoist through those difficult early days, before they went on to help the Light Blues to Skol Cup glory. He also reveals the pain and agony of the 1985-86 season when, with Hearts, he missed out on a league and Scottish Cup double. And he relives his Tynecastle memories, from his derby day glories to Wallace Mercer asking him to value all the Hibs players ahead of his controversial attempt to buy their capital rivals.Sandy speaks openly about his own managerial stint at Tynecastle, where he had to controversially sack Justin Fashanu and for the first time he talks about his heartbreak when Chris Robinson showed him the door and why he later turned down the chance to manage Hearts for a second spell. Clark tells all from his time at St Johnstone, where he led them to third spot, a cup final and back into Europe, where they took on the might of Monaco and also lifts the lid on the drugs nightmare with George O'Boyle and Kevin Thomas and how he believes it led to his eventual sacking. He went on to work under Jimmy Calderwood and Jimmy Nicholl at Dunfermline, Kilmarnock and Aberdeen and says why he believes an Aberdeen legend was behind their controversial Pittodrie departure. Controversial, honest and full of brand new anecdotes, "From the Heart" is an unmissable football story.
Gareth Carrol presents a collection of "modern idioms", which have become a part of our vocabulary in the past 50 years or so. In most cases, idioms such as "raining cats and dogs", that colour our everyday communication, are deeply rooted in culture and history. However, just like words, new idioms emerge in language, and many have entered our vocabulary through, TV, movies and the internet. These modern idioms can be dated very precisely. Jumping Sharks and Dropping Mics finds the origins of these idioms, and charts their development.
