A thread for books about football

I just finished The Nowhere Men by Michael Calvin, as recommended by Swygart upthread. It's fantastic - packing in the detail, never wasting a word is right. I've read four other footy books this year - Bergkamp's, Zlatan's, The Glory Game, Dunphy's autobiography - and they're all good, but this is the best. Highly recommended.

Just finished the Zlatan book. It did nothing to change my firm belief, based on years of fitba biogs, that footballers are mostly arseholes. Ten years of annually collecting league trophies at every country he passes through and it's all agitating for transfers and head-butting team mates and carrying grudges against every cunt who dared to look at him sideways.

It's amazing how in awe of his agent he is. Everything else in life he's the big boss; but when it comes to doing a deal, he's snuggling up to daddy while the grown-ups talk.

Pirlo's book is out in paperback in English translation. Good stuff especially on free kick technique, being tapped up by Pep, torturing gattuso. The gap in behaviour between English pros and European ones not so great judging by his strict Milan training regime of arrive a training for 9am, one hour of FIFA vs Nesta, train for 2 hours then more FIFA until 4pm!

He also p much accuses Depor of doping wrt the game they overturned a 1-4 deficit to knock Milan out of the CL.

His free kick technique is based on Juninho and involves striking the ball with only the last 3 toes iirc.

Just finished Ronald Reng's Matchdays. Really enjoyed it a sort of history of the bundesliga through the playing and management career of Heinz Höher (someone I had never heard of). By the end when he's training Juri Judt by himself and encouraging him it's p sad.

About 1/3 of the way thru Michael Calvin's 'Living On The Volcano'. Between Shaun Derry,Ian Holloway and Mark Hughes there's plenty of good QPR stuff including Julio Cesar advising Derry to buy a helicopter instead of commuting for 2 hours into training. The Martin Ling stuff is scary as is the Brendon Rodgers stuff though for completely different reasons.

He sets the scene in a style worthy of a local garda novel when describing his first meeting with John Still....

"in a rain lashed Portokabin in the garden suburbs of Luton, where a black plastic dustbin asking for donations 'for Africa' contains a solitary football boot."

also chronicles an aside from Sean Dyche - these guys are going to be regarded as rock legends (on Kasabian)

Poch book is really good

revelatory stuff in the p crouch book... james mcclean puts hp sauce on the majority of his meals up to and including rice pudding!