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An Epic Swindle: 44 Months With A Pair Of Cowboys (2011)

by Brian Reade(Favorite Author)

3.9 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0857385992 (ISBN13: 9780857385994)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Quercus

review 1: As a newbie long-distance fan who has very little knowledge and interest of finance, I'm very thankful for Mr Reade who explained our club's saga in common words. Love the inside stories on the lads of SOS as well...I was very moved with the way the supporters come together to save the club. Along with the immense anger and hatred for the cowboys. I knew it was a bad time but now this book pointed out how bad it was.I'm also very relieved because I have more understanding on our hero's, Rafa Benitez's, departure. Maybe Torres as well (doesn't mean that he's forgiven, tho)
review 2: Brian Reade is a journalist with the Daily Mirror and I remember enjoying his columns back when I used to read that paper in the smoking room at Safeways (not that I smoked, but that... more's where everyone sat). I have a vague memory that he wrote a few colums which annoyed me to the extent that I stopped paying him any attention but after rediscovering him via @ourcraig on twitter I thought I should finally check out his take on Liverpool's ownership saga. I'm glad I did.This book didn't really teach me anything I didn't already know, but it added fat to the meat on the bones of my understanding. David Moores was the last of the amateur English chairmen of Liverpool - his era was cloaked in cock-ups and no true Liverpool fan was displeased to see the back of the man associated with the Souness (who sold his story to the S*n on an anniversary of Hillsborough), Evans (Mr. Nice Guy) & Houllier (no Plan B) regimes. His desparation to find a suitable "out" led him from one despicable buyer to the next until he fell for the confidence tricks of Messers Gillett & Hicks. Initially welcomed by naive Liverpool fans who were too keen to separate themselves from the anti-Glazer brigade at Old Trafford, the new ownership took a club which had not long since won the European Cup in heroic circumstances and pushed them toward points deduction and relegation under the stewardship of Fleet St favourite Roy Hodgson.Reade narrates the story from the perspective of a well connected die-hard fan. Interesting snippets include godlike manager Rafael Benitez's despair and paranoia; long-serving players Carragher and Gerrard and their refusal to speak out; and the back story of the passionate campaign by true kopites to kick the cowboys out.The story told in this impressive book could be a case study in any number of other collections - be they analyzing capitalism; confidence tricks; or sports ownership more generally. The overwhelming feeling is that people involved with the sport are too eager to believe the hype surrounding it and those who are able to see through the hype can either achieve amazing success on the field or can take advantage of the blind to make millions. The happy ending (so far) in this story is that our cowboy owners got too greedy and wouldn't let go of the bone until it fell into the water. They are now continuing to try to recoup their losses via the courts. less

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