Tottenham – The Managing Game
by Norman Giller
208 pages
NMG Publishing
ISBN 978-0-9567711-1-7
Price : £18.95
Available from www.normangillerbooks.com.
Prolific football and Spurs writer Norman Giller comes up with another book, which is an interesting concept and a clever use of the interpretations of the book title.
A book about the managers of the club since the early days, there are a couple of pages on each, telling their stories and their Spurs residence, but for the successful ones, there is a more detailed look at what they achieved. An interesting exercise that details stats of their games/win ratio and a pen picture of the men who have occupied the manager’s office at the Lane.
But then comes an interesting twist in asking internet followers who they would pick in their all time Spurs XI and why. Depending on the age of the contributor, there are some regular selections, while there are also some odd ones … but it proved such a difficult task when Norman asked me to do it, that I ran out of time deciding who would fit into which position from all my years of watching Spurs.
We all like to think we are better than the man in post when we are at the games, but when it comes down to it, we don’t have the pressures they do and even when we have weeks to do it, it is more difficult than you first think.
So Norman leaves a team sheet blank at the back of the book for you to have a go !! Good luck !!
There was one thing that I was not that impressed by and that was the majority of the illustrations in the book. Spurning stock photos of the players and managers featured, a pencil drawing of each appears and some appear straight out of the Hammer Horror films. Ramos resembles a vampire and Jol a Frankenstein. Some are passable images of those they are meant to represent, but the overall effect is to detract from the text.
A novel premise for a book and one which makes for an easily readable and reader friendly experience.
Wyart Lane