Customer Reviews
Astonishing achievement - By: J. Richardson-Glen, 26 Nov 2008 
The best football novel ever, also, one of the greatest sporting books. It may be fiction but this vivid portrait of Brian Clough's doomed 44 daysin charge of Leeds United succeedsin capturing the essence of the man far better than so many of his biographers. Meticulously researched & ingeniously constructed it's a brilliant studyin obsession, paranoia, & genius.
This guy deserves a prize. An amazing book - By: Richard Salt, 18 Nov 2008 Quite the most astonishing book anyone let alone a sports fan will read. The way the 2 stories overlap & finally meet upin the harshness of the early seventies is awesome. Its edge of your seat stuff, even if you know ( & most do) the outcome. The writer captures the Clough years excellently & to wrap it upin to such a fine story is quite brilliant. Buy it for a football fan, or anyone with a passion for life.
Peace far from his best - By: Making Hay, 10 Nov 2008 
I've been a fan of David Peace for some time, & with the level of interest that this book has created over the last couple of years, I managed to put off reading it until now.
Its not a bad novel... its just not great. Peace's style that has been so vibrantin its creation of atmosphere & tensionin his other works seems to getin the way of character here, & Clough & Giles come accross as two dimensional charicatures. Peace's brilliant evocation of timepiece Leeds that we saw through 1974, 1977 et al without sticky nostalgia is also lacking here. The plot, albiet one based on fact, is still enough to carry the book. It isin fact very disappointing, because I know Peace can do so much better, much like the Clough character within these pages infact. Therfore, lets hope that Peace himself can emulate Cloughiein some respects & that this book is indeed his Leeds United, that the Red Riding Quartet is his Derby County, & the Tokyo Trilogy will be his Nottingham Forest.
BRILLIANT - By: Easily Me, 25 Oct 2008 Love football, don't usually read books connected with it: it's a spectator sport, & most books are either pointless biographies or something else poorly written by some second-rate hack.
Love Nottingham Forest & love the man, Clough, for obvious reasons.
Love the novel inspired by the man & his term at Leeds United. Fantastically written - by a writer - that really gets you inside the head of the character.
Great stuff!!!
Greatest Sports Book Ever - By: DONJAUN, 13 Oct 2008 This IS the greatest book about sport ever.The story is so amazing you couldnt make it up.It tells the story of Brian Cloughs 44 days at Leeds as well as the end of his playing career through injury to his turbulent time at Derby.Clough hated everything about Don Revie & Leeds yet somehow Leeds offered him the managers job when Revie left to manage England & Clough excepted.The Leeds players hated Clough & he hated them.His famous quote when he had his first meeting with them was"Throw your medalsin the bin you won none of them fairly" 34 years later you have to ask the question what possesed the Leeds board to offer him the job.
There are no winnersin this amazing story.Clough,the Leeds players & the Leeds board all dont come out with any credit.It was a match madein hell that was always going to endin disaster.
The amazing thing is Clough went on to manage Nottingham Forest to the title & the trophy Revie & Leeds so much wanted to win the European cup.You could not make it up
