It was several years ago when I read this book. Thanks to the former England defender’s vivid and honest account, I still remember some of the contents. I was following Manchester United and Blackburn Rovers when both clubs were at the top of their form. That was the time when I noticed the good performance of Graeme Le Saux, particularly the time when he and his teammates put on the British brand Umbro’s England jersey.
He was honest to say in this book that the facilities at Stamford Bridge back then could be improved. At the training ground, he and his teammates usually stopped playing and stood at the field to show respect when a funeral procession was passing by. When Glenn Hoddle was selecting the England 1998 World Cup squad, Paul Gascoigne was left out and the veteran midfielder was very disappointed. Alan Shearer was in his prime years when Blackburn Rovers were competing for league title with Manchester United. That was the time when Chris Sutton, another striker, joined Rovers. Le Saux also revealed that Shearer and Sutton were not on good terms with each other. One mountain cannot hide two tigers, as the Chinese saying goes.
Things went south very quickly after Blackburn Rovers won the 1994/95 English Premier League title. They were eliminated at early stage of European Champions League and Shearer transferred to Newcastle United, while Le Saux headed for Chelsea. Then Blackburn manager Kenny Daglish was playing golf everyday to run away from the pressure of managing a club after winning the title. Le Saux was doing well when playing for Chelsea and England. He tied the knot with his Argentine girlfriend and the couple had a son and a daughter. This refuted the rumour in the football circle that he was homosexual. Le Saux attended university and was known to be a reader of left-leaning The Guardian. To be fair, if I were Le Saux, I would also find myself to be unfitting among players who mostly hadn’t attend university.
A short paragraph was kind of eye-opening for me was that Manchester United was one step away from signing Shearer who was leaving Blackburn. The former England striker decided to join Newcastle United and scored many fantastic goals.
This is not a day-to-day-record type of autobiography. If you want to know more about the 1990s football stories in England, this is the page-turner for you.
讀這本書已經是數年前的事了，但我還是記得一些內容，因為這位前英格蘭國腳的故事是相當坦白、相當真實。以前曼聯與布萊克本如日中天的時期常常看球賽，因此對拿索斯這位後衛有相當印象，尤其記得當時的英格蘭隊是穿著英國品牌 Umbro 的球衣。
他在書中很坦白地說切爾西的斯坦福橋球場的設施可以再加強一些。他跟隊友在切爾西訓練場練球時，附近常常有出殯車隊出列，他們於是停下來佇立以示尊重。他也提到英格蘭經理格倫霍德爾於1998 年世界盃決賽圈沒有將老將保羅加斯科因納入英格蘭陣容，結果那位中場絕望得很。以前布萊克本跟曼聯爭聯賽冠軍之時正值謝勒的巔峰，剛好另一位前鋒瑟頓加盟，其實兩人並不咬弦，正好說明一山不能藏二虎的道理。
布萊克本於1994/95賽季贏得聯賽冠軍之後，球隊的情況馬上急轉直下，歐洲冠軍盃一早出局，謝勒後來轉至紐卡索聯球會，拿索斯也轉會效力切爾西。當年的布萊克本經理達格利許贏得冠軍之後，一直逃避經營球隊的壓力，每天顧著打高爾夫球，拿索斯在書中也不諱言。拿索斯後來在切爾西和英格蘭隊也是表現出色，再加上跟阿根廷女朋友結婚之後生了兒子和女兒，在在粉碎了球壇中有關他是同性戀的謠言。說實在的，以拿索斯曾經讀過大學、平日讀英國左傾的《衛報》，在多數沒上過大學的球員圈中覺得格格不入，換作是我，我也會有相同的感受。
有一點開眼界的段落就是，其實當年英格蘭前鋒謝勒離開布萊克本的時候，曼聯差一點就簽下了他，結果他還是加入了紐卡索，於是我們看到很多他的精彩進球。
這本傳記讀來不是流水帳，若想知道九十年代的英格蘭球壇的故事，確實很值得一讀。