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The Man in the Middle
The long-awaited autobiography of Howard Webb, the man who refereed the World Cup final. Webb’s first game as a match official came when he was just 18 and his father’s verdict was blunt: ‘Useless – he doesn’t know his arse from his elbow.’ It wasn’t the last time his performance would come under fire. But Webb progressed through the ranks, and his natural calm authority made a good impression on players and administrators alike, and soon he was being offered the top matches and the toughest fixtures. The policeman went on to take charge of some of the most important games, including the 2009 FA Cup final, the 2010 Champions League final and – the biggest of the lot – the 2010 World Cup final. Now, in this superb and frank memoir, Howard Webb reveals what it is like to be at the heart of the action in modern-day football where every decision can be unpicked by television cameras. He explains how he learned to handle some of the game’s superstars. Refereeing is a hard business, but Webb shows just why he enjoyed it so much and provides fascinating insights into how he dealt with the most challenging situations. With his unique perspective, and the characteristic honesty and humour he has displayed as a pundit on BT Sport, Webb has written a book that reveals the game – and the man himself – in a new light. ‘Genuinely fascinating insight into the difficulties of officiating in the modern game, and Webb’s frankness and self-deprecation are to be commended’ When Saturday Comes
₵85.00The Man in the Middle
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Terry Venables: Born to Manage: The Autobiography
After a playing career that spanned more than 15 years, and took in golden spells in the sixties with Chelsea and Spurs, it was almost inevitable that Terry Venables would move into management. Following early success with Crystal Palace and Queens Park Rangers, he was appointed to the plum job of managing Barcelona, one of the biggest clubs in Europe. The Spanish giants had been struggling, but he soon turned them around and brought them trophy success, which inevitably earned him the nickname ‘El Tel’.He returned to England to take charge of Spurs, where he helped save the club from financial troubles, and formed an ill-fated partnership with Alan Sugar. Again there was trophy success, as Venables worked with top England stars such as Paul Gascoigne, Gary Lineker and Chris Waddle, and when the England job fell vacant, he was the obvious choice for the role, leading the nation to the semi-finals of Euro 96 where they lost out on a place in the final after a penalty shoot-out.
After leaving the England job, he has subsequently worked in numerous different roles. A charismatic and gregarious personality, Venables is widely viewed as one of football’s great tacticians and is the most successful English manager of recent years. His story is sure to fascinate and entertain all followers of the game, providing a unique insight based on more than 50 years at the top.
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Diamonds, Gold and War: The Making of South Africa
Southern Africa was once regarded as a worthless jumble of British colonies, Boer republics, and African chiefdoms, a troublesome region of little interest to the outside world. But then prospectors chanced upon the world’s richest deposits of diamonds and gold, setting off a titanic struggle between the British and the Boers for control of the land. The result was the costliest, bloodiest, and most humiliating war that Britain had waged in nearly a century, and the devastation of the Boer republics.
The New Yorker calls this magisterial account of those years “[an] astute history…Meredith expertly shows how the exigencies of the diamond (and then gold) rush laid the foundation for apartheid.”
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