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| Mick Rathbone: The Smell Of Football | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 30 2011, 12:28 AM (247 Views) | |
| Cartoni | Oct 30 2011, 12:28 AM Post #1 |
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Garry Pendrey
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Interesting article in The Mirror about former Blues player Mick Rathbone and his new book The Smell Of Football. Mick was a childhood Blues fan who eventually played with his idol Trevor, under Sir Alf. However Mick, by his own admission wasn't very good, but his story, especially his time at Blues under Sir Alf is said to be hilarious and one of the best books about the game for ages. Mick is now one of the game's top physio's, currently with Everton. :blues: |
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| Deleted User | Oct 31 2011, 06:57 PM Post #2 |
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Did you see M.R play? |
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| Cartoni | Oct 31 2011, 09:12 PM Post #3 |
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Garry Pendrey
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Yes I did. Even though I was only a kid at the time I seem to remember him being a pretty useful player. Unfortunately he felt he was too much in awe of actually playing alongside Trevor and asked Sir Alf to drop him from the team and Ramsey duly obliged. Review Rathbone's autobiography is a superb read - Five Stars --FourFourTwo magazine, July 1 2011 A fantastic insight into the real world of football- a cracking read. --Oliver Holt, The Daily Mirror, July 11 2011 You can almost smell the liniment as you turn the pages of Mick Rathbone's unique take on life. --Shaun Custis, The Sun, July 12 2011 `Bazil' Rathbone's book is like a great football match. It has drama, humour, tribulations and triumphs. --Gordon Taylor, July 13 2011 When Mick Rathbone signed for Birmingham City as a 16 year-old apprentice he was living every schoolboy's dream. But when he discovered he was so nervous he was unable to speak, let alone pass the ball, in the presence of his boyhood hero and City star Trevor Francis he realised that a career in football might not be everything he had imagined. The Smell of Football is the brutally honest and utterly unputdownable story of how 'Baz' conquered his personal demons to build a life in the game - from the terrified teenager who purposely tried to get injured in training rather than get picked for the first team, to the experienced pro who became Head of Medicine at Premier League Everton FC in charge of the treatment of the likes of Wayne Rooney, Louis Saha and Tim Cahill. Brilliantly written and packed with hilarious tales featuring a football 'who's who' cast of characters - from Sir Alf Ramsey and 'Big Sam' Allardyce to David Moyes, Duncan Ferguson and Rooney himself - The Smell of Football is an engrossing and moving memoir that covers every aspect of the professional game and gives an unprecedented insight into what life is really like at football's coalface |
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| Deleted User | Oct 31 2011, 11:14 PM Post #4 |
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Thats cool, lets go with your own eyes, yet you still qoute from the book. Rathbone was a fish out of water- but was given the chance, and when asked the question he couldnt deliver, thats football. In the early 70's Ian Osbourne was a better fullback/defender but alas more experienced players got the shirt. At the time of Rathebone, Blues had messrs Page and Calderwood who could play fullback - Mick was given a chance but in supporters eyes AT THAT TIME - was no Jeff Hall/RayMartin or a future Mark Dennis/ David Langan thats the level supporters looked at in those days...... :kro: |
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| Cartoni | Oct 31 2011, 11:34 PM Post #5 |
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Garry Pendrey
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I didn't particularly intend the thread to be about Rathbone's ability or lack of it rather than about a former players memories of Blues at an interesting time. As I was only 8 or 9 when he was playing I suspect my impressions of him are pretty vague now, as frankly I would have been concentrating on TF. The only reason I quote the blurb from Amazon is to give a bit more background about the book to fellow Bluenoses as it sounds like an entertaining read. :blues: |
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| Deleted User | Nov 2 2011, 08:33 PM Post #6 |
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Hindsight is so lovable. Alice through the looking glass is also a great book... As a 8/9 yr old you should have memories though not possibly constructive. |
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| shakespeare38 | Jan 15 2012, 07:38 PM Post #7 |
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Garry Pendrey
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Great book , brilliant read not only the bit about the old blues days but just the insight into pro football and the views from a player /manager and how the crowd can affect their confidence and effectively ruin their performance. |
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2:37 PM Jul 11