The Podium

November’s Book: The Nowhere Men

By: Ronan

11-11-2013

The Nowhere Men - Micheal Calvin

This month The Podium will read The Nowhere Men: The Unknown Story of Football’s True Talent Spotters by Michael Calvin.

The results broke down as follows: The Nowhere Men 80%, The Boys in the Boat & The Sports Gene 8% and The Ashes: Cricket’s Greatest Rivalry 4%. It’s the second time that an author’s fanbase has got behind them on twitter and it has had an effect on the results. The first time was when Graham Hunter had a landslide victory with his book Barca.

Morning all. Thanks to everyone who voted The Nowhere Men @PodiumBooks book of the month for November. Quietly chuffed.

— Michael Calvin (@CalvinBook) November 3, 2013

In a world where every man and his dog have an opinion on football (soccer) and the constant flow of statistics and performance analysis, The Nowhere Men tells the story of the hidden tribe of football scouts. The men who are always on the road, writing reports and spotting new talent.

Book Description

A teenaged boy plays football in a suburban park. His name is Raheem Sterling.
The call is made: “Get down here quick. This is something special”.

Another boy is 8, going on 28. His name is Jack Wilshere. The referee, an Arsenal scout, spirits him away from Luton Town.

A young goalkeeper struggles on loan at Cheltenham Town in League Two. His name is Jack Butland. Within months he will be playing for England.

Welcome to football’s hidden tribe. Scouts are everywhere yet nowhere, faceless and nameless, despite making the informed decisions worth millions.

Award-winning sportswriter Michael Calvin opens up their hidden world, examining their disconnected lifestyles, petty betrayals and unconsidered professionalism of men who spend long, lonely hours on the road.

As an avid football fan (of Liverpool FC), I’m interested in seeing how the mix of old school and new school has changed the scouting/football landscape. The Nowhere Men: The Unknown Story of Football’s True Talent Spotters by Michael Calvin is sure to be a fascinating and entertaining read for those modern day fans who want more about what’s actually happening behind closed doors in today’s English game.

Listen to NewsTalk’s Ger Gilroy interviewing Michael Calvin back in August.
http://www.newstalk.ie/Off-The-Ball-look-into-the-scouting-industry

Book Details

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Century (8 Aug 2013)
ISBN-10: 1780891075
Available on ebook: Yes

June’s Book: Behind the Lions

By: Ronan

03-06-2013

Selected Books

Behind the Lions: Playing Rugby for the British & Irish Lions

Our book for June is Behind the Lions: Playing Rugby for the British & Irish Lions by Stephen Jones, Tom English, Nick Cain and David Barnes.

The results were as follows in our poll: Behind the Lions 56%, Inverting the Pyramid 33%, Bobby’s Open 11%, sadly Days of Grace and Secretariat received no votes.

May’s Book: Crashed and Byrned

By: Ronan

05-05-2013

Selected Books

Crash and Byrned

April has been a hectic month for me. I tried to cut a few corners and ended up leaving myself a mountain of work to do. I’m just catching up with The Podium backlog now and I am excited to annouce May’s book of the month.

This month’s book (with a unanimous vote of one!) is Crashed and Byrned – The Greatest Racing Driver You Never Saw by Tommy Byrne and Mark Hughes.

On the 26th May the F1 calendar goes to the beautiful Monte Carlo, without doubt the most picturesque circuit in F1. To pay hommage to that circuit I have hand picked this great book, which was also the William Hill Irish Sports Book of the Year for 2008.

March’s Book: A Season on the Brink

By: Ronan

07-03-2013

Selected Books

The Book for March is A Season on the Brink: A Year with Bob Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers by John Feinstein.

The results were spread out as follows: A Season on the Brink 36%, Senna Versus Prost 25% and Ruby, Inside Edge and The Club all received 13%.

I’ve been looking forward to reading this book, it’s an American Sports classic afterrall. After publication, the National Collegiate Athletic Association passed a rule banning media from being in a team’s locker room before or during a game. There was one exception; if one member of the media gained access, then the locker room was opened up to all members of the media.

February’s Book: Barca

By: Ronan

04-02-2013

Selected Books

Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World by Graham Hunter is The Podium’s book for February.

The results are as follows: Barca with 83%, When Pride Still Mattered with 9%, Beware of the Dog with 5%, Bode with 2%, West By West with 1%.

A friend of mine told me recently that he’d read a few chapters of Barca and his verdict was that Graham Hunter was ‘in love with Barcelona’.

Hunter moved to Barcelona in 2001, he speaks fluent Spanish and Catalonian, and, more importantly, he is the only English speaking journalist to have interviewed Pep Guardiola during his time as Barcelona coach. It’s quite clear from the breadth of work produced by Hunter about Barcelona that he’s got the inside scoop.

At the moment Barca are at the top of the La Liga on 59 points, 9 points clear of Atletico Madrid in 2nd place and 16 points clear of their primary Spanish rival Real Madrid. On 20th of February Barcelona play AC Milan in the Champions League. It seems as though even after the departure of Guardiola, business has continued as normal for the unstoppable club.

Are Barcelona are the greatest football team in the world? Is Graham Hunter right? Let’s find out together. I hope you enjoy The Podium’s February Book, Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World.

I will be reading the updated edition which includes the departure of Pep Guardiola and Spain’s victory at Euro 2012.

Here’s Graham talking about Barca

January’s Book: The Secret Race

By: Ronan

07-01-2013

Selected Books

William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2012

Left to Right: John Inverdale, Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle at the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2012.

The people have voted and the results are in. The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-ups, and Winning at All Costs by Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle is the first book selected for The Podium.

The Results were as following: The Secret Race – 40%, Feet of the Chameleon – 30% and Resurrection, Twirlymen and Open receiving 10% of the vote.

You can read the introduction to The Secret Race here (click Look Inside). From the very first page, Coyle (who wrote a book on Lance Armstrong called Lance Armstrong: Tour de Force in 2009) draws you with his own fascination with Lance Armstrong and the cycling world.

So what we have here is one of the most talked about cycling books ever. My understanding is Hamilton doesn’t attack Lance Armstrong, it’s the doping culture and the professional cycling world he wants to expose. Hamilton also talks about how he first started taking performance enhancing drugs, his struggle with depression and his famed pain threshold. ‘I’m good at pain. I know that sounds strange, but it’s true. In every other area of my life, I’m an average person.’

That’s it from me, no more to discuss on The Secret Race until we’ve all read it. Head on down to your local bookstore and pick up a copy now. Let’s join together on the road in our first peloton. Also, remember to check out The Tour Down Under which runs 20-27 January. http://www.tourdownunder.com.au/

— The Podium

November’s Book: The Nowhere Men

Book Description

Book Details

June’s Book: Behind the Lions

May’s Book: Crashed and Byrned

March’s Book: A Season on the Brink

February’s Book: Barca

Here’s Graham talking about Barca

January’s Book: The Secret Race

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