Ian Herbert

I've read a book or 2 already about Paisley, and plenty about Liverpool, being a lifelong fan. But this is by far the best book on him and finally gets beneath the surface a little bit of the "quaint, quiet mumbly guy who somehow won so much". That he did it by not necessarily being as nice as he appeared in photos is probably not a surprise. But the book gets into how he worked, how the team was managed, how he handled players - or didn't handle them, sometimes - without flinching.

That a number of former players didn't want to be interviewed for the book says almost as much as the players who did. He wasn't universally popular, or liked, he had favourites and he ignored some altogether - his shyness a barrier to feeling comfortable with people he felt he had little in common with.

But he was also modest, more than happy to not be in the limelight and let others take the glory. He never grew an ego, it seems; he just got on with his job.

This is an excellently researched and written book; the definitive work on a sometimes forgotten and often under appreciated manager. No-one has ever won as much as he did, in so short a period of time. That he's not much remembered for that, probably wouldn't bother him a jot.… (más)