Ferguson’s upbringing is the key to his success, whether he’s right or wrong

The title of the book's abit long ain't it?

Reading football biographies haven’t normally been on my reading list for as long as I can remember, the notion of reading about someone else’s life through the words of a writer who’s probably not been there with that person seems dreary.

It’s as unbelieving when sports stars, celebrities and any other person who is swimming in the pool of public fame that releases an autobiography, but for which most of it has been written by a ghost writer sitting in the plush surroundings of a London office.

But I decided to give it a whirl by picking up The Times’ experienced writer Patrick Barclays’ biography of Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, entitled “Football – Bloody Hell! The biography of Sir Alex Ferguson”. Having seen it a few times on the book shelves of WH Smith’s and not too excited by the prospect of paying £18 for it, I did what any other stingy person who doesn’t buy books – loan it from the library for free.

I had gained some insight into one aspect of Ferguson’s professional life (unfortunately for me, this wasn’t “privileged” access to the great man). But by going through Daniel Taylor’s This Is The One, The Uncut story of Sir Alex Ferguson which looked at interestingly, Ferguson’s relationship with the media since 2005 when he was under pressure from Chelsea’s title winning revolution under the coach who never loses at home (until yesterday) that is Jose Mourinho.

But as to going deeper and analysing Ferguson’s whole life was something I had yet to do although I had read pieces but not in depth views of the DNA which made him into the most successful manager in the British game.

On the face of it, Barclays’ account of Ferguson’s life could be accused on the outset of being a glorified, biased tribute to a person who he has known since the early days of his managerial career. But surprisingly, there are a few moments where he does criticise (not in a rant sort of way) but subtle digs in instances where Ferguson has let himself down.

What I found informative was the personal side of Ferguson rather than the professional parts we know about him already.

Raised by his parents in Govan and the times he was brought up in, the determination, strong will and desire is so evident today but has been drilled into him early on his life.

His dream move to Rangers turned into a disaster with unfortunate views of bigotry by club directors and a lack of a relationship with the manager at the time souring his time there. But he plied his trade at other clubs before the inquisitive and learning side of Ferguson came to the fore and he went into management, to huge levels of success.

It’s safe to say we see on a regular basis his opinionated views on the game (mainly on referees) and his feuds he has had with his ex-Aberdeen players Jim Leighton and Gordon Strachan. Although the former “feud” has remained slightly low key with the goalkeeper (and his wife it seems) unable to forgive the Scotsman for dropping him for a Cup final.

At times, Ferguson has been extremely ruthless and harsh to some of his former players. A prime example is one who formed such a crucial role in his success at Aberdeen, striker Mark McGhee. Two men who shared a close relationship as player-manager, and then manager to manager but who Ferguson, bafflingly, has not talked to for several years for an unspecified reason. This culminating in a frosty scene at Blackburn Rovers’ corporate area, where Ferguson walked past McGhee without an acknowledgement he was there. McGhee had requested advice from Ferguson about leaving Leicester for Wolves, to which the Scot duly advised him to go. Once it was done, the phone lines and any other point of communication went dry.

Any die hard anything but United fan might grudgingly accept and even dare say, come to respect Ferguson’s achievements in the game but throughout his career, has let himself down with some situations which have been handled badly and quite unceremoniously.

But at the key to his success as mentioned throughout the book, is gaining the respect of his father and sticking to the hard-working middle class principles that underpinned his upbringing in Govan.

It is a well written and fair book, neither does it give a full blown drooling of the man and manager but throws in some criticism of him which is only what you’d expect from a biography. I might be tempted to read another biography in future, but again, I stress the word, MIGHT.

P.S. Feel free to pass on any suggestions of good biographies.

Soho Square’s reaction to scandal and controversies are revealed by Davies

Don't expect any new blockbuster revelations but just honesty and passion from Davies

England’s football team has had its fair share of triumph, tragedy and penalty heartaches over the years. With no silverware in the cabinet since the 1966 World Cup win over Germany, since then, the Football Association has been a regular visitor of the sports’ back pages for whatever reason. Former executive director David Davies gives a behind the scenes look inside the governing body, in his book FA Confidential.

Since joining the FA in 1994, Davies has seen the highs and lows of a footballing organisation under constant surveillance by the football community and the media. From England players’ drunken night antics before the European Championships in 1996, to witnessing the revolving door at FA HQ in Soho Square bringing in a new England manager. Working under four England managers (Terry Venables, Glenn Hoddle, Kevin Keegan and Sven Goran Eriksson), Davies was in the midst of fire-fighting on negative stories on England, and trying to move the organisation forward.

Under Eriksson’s reign, the Swedish coach delivered in competitive games and has an excellent record during his five years as England coach. But, Eriksson’s tenure as manager will also be remembered for the scandals, affairs and controversy and one, which drew in an innocent Davies. When his PA, Faria Alam accused the FA of unfair dismissal and sexual harassment by Davies, he was plunged into despair and shockingly, not given any backing by his employers. Always a confident figure in public, Davies fought back resiliently which resulted in Alam’s case being dismissed emphatically. Alam’s behaviour encapsulated what is wrong with Britain’s society today as she made £410,000 in selling her story to newspapers and TV whilst humiliating Davies, who was a caring employer and who was keen to improve women’s roles within the FA.

Most football fans wonder what life is like inside the plush headquarters of English football, and this book reveals the lid on the frantic working in the FA. If you’re expecting a conveyor belt of ‘revelations’ then you might be disappointed. There aren’t any jaw dropping bits of news, but just shows the behind the scenes work of when stories such as scandals and affairs have rocked the FA.

What you don’t get in revelations, Davies’ book delivers on his passion for the game. Having witnessed the World Cup triumph in 1966, and his subsequent love for Manchester United, Davies has a clear footballing passion that shows through as he explains his early life, schooling, meeting his wife and a career in journalism. This lead to a position at the FA, where his face was always associated with the FA.

FA Confidential is a good read for any football fan, to discover how the country’s football body privately dealt with the scandals and stories that stunned the organisation. Davies comes out looking as a very well respected person within the game and who strived to make a difference in the sport which he loved so much.

FA Confidential, David Davies, Simon & Schuster, 347 pages, £17.99

The darker side of Saudi Arabia’s regime besides it’s successes from oil

Sandy Mitchell, was stuck in Saudi jail for two and a half years for a crime he didn't commit

Imagine you’re enjoying the sunshine in a foreign country, when out of the blue, you’re hustled into a car and on the way to a place in a dark and dirty jail cell and accused of a crime you didn’t commit. Then follows an inhumane time of torture, interrogation and beatings. That’s what Scottish anesthetic technican Sandy Mitchell endured in two and a half years in jail in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Babylon: Torture, Corruption and Cover Up In the House of Saud gives a detailed insight into what Mitchell and other Westerners suffered at the hands of sadistic Saudi intelligence officers, keen to show no mercy to the people they had locked up. But it’s not all grim, the book gives an interesting historical story on the origins of Saudi Arabia and it’s huge Royal family.

The middle part of the book is like a movie that has too many sub-plots and the main storyline has left the audience absolutely confused. It goes into detail to describe the make up of the House of Saud and the companies, contracts that the various Prince’s hold control of.

At the same time it’s hugely intriguing the vast amounts of money that the Royal family deals in, some Prince’s have a vast property catalogue that has luxurious houses in Los Angeles and other exotic places in the world. But also big yachts, and millions of dollars of deals taking place. The life of a Saudi prince must so hard with all that money and lavish lifestyle on hand to cater to there every move, isn’t it?

With huge incomings of money can see corruption take place and the book has comments on Prince’s receiving millions of dollars worth of bribes, for their own little piggy bank. While the majority of the Saudi public, most of the mainly young, suffering from unemployment and a lack of job opportunities.

The overriding feeling on the book is the shocking, harrowing and brutally descriptive torture of Mitchell and other Westerners, all of them who were innocent people, charged with crimes they couldn’t have thought of even committing. It was done by the Saudi regime to brush under the carpet the notion of Islamic terrorism in their country and bury themselves into a deep state of denial.

Margeret Dunn, the sister of Mitchell, is left with feelings of anguish and despair as she tries to get her brother released from Saudi Arabia. Here, she comes up against a big, bricked wall in the form of the Foreign Office, who show a serious lack of urgency to help Sandy and are more concerned about upsetting their friends in Saudi.

Saudi Babylon is an informative book as it looks at the history of Saudi Arabia which is keen for it’s deserts and lands filled with oil, but it delves deeper into the darker, dangerous side of the regime that allows torture to innocent people.

Saudi Babylon: Torture, Corruption and Cover Up in the House of Saud, Mainstream Publishing, 239 pages, £15.99

Husain’s journey from an Islamist to his own personal reformation in his religious beliefs

A book I wasnt initially keen on reading at first but was left impressed

“Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” is what the saying goes, something that I did all too quickly when plucking out The Islamist by Ed Husain from a bookshelf in my local library. I made an assumption that I knew what the book about Islamic extremists would include, but after reading, I was left pleasantly surprised.

My initial feelings before reading were that it would be about how Husain went from extremism to a dramatic transformation where he renounced his previous beliefs. The book cover entitled ‘Why I joined radical Islam in Britain, what I saw inside and why I left’ gave me an eerie feeling that my thoughts about the book were correct.  To some degree it was, but it added unique depth into his turn around as he went digging deeper to find some much needed relaxation to him as a person.

Husain reveals the journey he went through from being a 16-year-old and joining radical organisations to his own personal scepticisms of what he was promoting, to undergoing his own deeper investigation into Islam and its different understandings. This involved trips to Syria and then Saudi Arabia, where he continued to show the other side of the country where Islam’s holiest sites are based. It also looks at the cultural differences in the Arab world and the UK, as he tries to understand the view point of different form of Islam such as Wahabbism.

I found myself agreeing with some of Husain’s post-extremism life, especially in the last few chapters as he discusses his return to Britain after a two year spell in Syria and Saudi Arabia. Such as his feelings on the political situation here, and the role of race and religion that played in voting for political party candidates. Something that I have noticed the trend of voting because “We know this guy and he’s Pakistani” or Muslim etc, so lets vote for him. In the local elections this year, I decided to vote for the Liberal Democrats rather than vote for Labour, as some of my family members were as one of the candidates was something who we knew.

Personally, anyone who decides to transform their lives from bad or incorrect ways and genuinely tries to become a better person deserves recognition for being able to realise that they need to make a change.

But in the circles of Islamic extremism, these ‘transformations’ are viewed very cynically as a money making opportunity and a chance to avoid a spell in Her Majesty’s pleasure in a jail cell. An example of this would be ex-extremist Hasan Butt, who I do remember renouncing his ways and was about to start work on a book, so it’s expected to attract thoughts of earning some pounds to their bank balances.

With Husain’s book, I get the feeling he was someone who was impressionable and found himself in a web of mixed emotions. After a student was stabbed to death by a friend of his, it began a long journey of establishing a peaceful soul within himself.

To conclude, it’s easy to have a cynical point of view and say “He did it for the money” which he is entitled to earn a living from his experiences. But as a first time reader of this particular type of book, it was an insight into a world that I fortunately, have never gone and never will go close to.

The Islamist, Ed Hussain, Penguin Books, 286 pages, £8.99

“The King of Sting” reveals all on how the Sheikh has succeeded in the world of tabloid journalism

Mahmood, after years of investigative journalism, has revealed how his big scoops were done

Ever dreamed of what life must be like as a rich, flamboyant Sheikh living in the sunny climates of the Arab world? The News of the World’s investigative journalist Mazher Mahmood became a Sheikh himself, not to take advantage of the plush lifestyle that accompanies the title (He can’t afford it anyway!) but as a disguise to fool the wealthy and prosperous personas in the public eye.

“The King of Sting” reveals all in his book, Confessions Of A Fake Sheik how he fooled some of the world’s biggest personalities into his fake Sheikh persona and get front page splashes for his paper.

Mahmood’s first investigative scoop came back in his home city of Birmingham, where he uncovered the sales of pirate videos being sold. This was the spark that ignited his fire for investigative journalism. After phone calls and discussions with the News of the World, it wasn’t long till he had his desk at the newspaper, the man behind their investigations team.

Thus began a journey filled with exposes of football chairman’s lining their pockets at the expense of their fans, raunchy meetings with porn stars and one who charged a mad $60,000 for just one night of passion and meeting royalty in the form of the Countess of Wessex.

The News of the World, as a entertaining, celebrity driven red top has similar characteristic to Mahmood’s book as it’s written with humour, but also genuine disgust at the people he’s uncovered and successfully brought charges against.

One example is the raiding of a children’s hostel that was owned by Terry Vaivona and his wife Rosemary, a seemingly caring, law abiding couple. After a tip off, Mahmood went undercover and obtained a gruesome video tape that showed the couple abusing young girls and boys. This resulted in one young girl writing to the NoW journalist to thank him for saving her life.

Mahmood does have his critics, which he believes is unjust. Broadsheet writers have attacked the Birmingham-born reporter for his journalistic methods, but Mahmood has strenuously rejected their thoughts.

Investigative journalism is a tool that is needed by journalists to uncover those of wrongdoing, when children are saved from abuse by those who are supposed to be looking after them, Mahmood deserves nothing but praise.

Although admittedly, some of the scoops entailed in his book, I do wonder what the motivation was for them besides an easy front page splash. Did the public really want to know the world’s most expensive hooker wanted $60,000 for a night of sex?

His book is still an enjoyable read for those who wanted the inside track on how Mahmood created the Sheikh after purchasing the costume from an Islamic shop in Birmingham, to laying on parties on expensive yachts and dining in fancy restaurants, all in the name of exposing the rich and famous the things they don’t want you to know.

Confessions of a Fake Sheik by Mazher Mahmood, Harper Collins, 303 pages, £16.99

Book Review: Blood spilled on the sand’s of Saudi Arabia as Frank Gardner’s horrifying ordeal is told

Frank Gardner's book was published in 2006, two years after he was brutally attacked in Riyadh

If you’re not Piers Morgan, or any other journalist-turned-TV star then you’ll know that reporters who spend day in, day out on writing stories that give us our dosage of news, don’t like becoming the news themselves. That can be said for BBC journalist Frank Gardner, who made headlines unintentionally after a trip to Saudi Arabia nearly saw him lose his life, and witness the death of his cameraman Simon Cumbers.

In his book, Blood & Sand, Gardner begins by retelling the horrid story of when he and Cumbers were attacked in Riyadh in 2004. During filming for a TV report, an Arabic gentleman casually walked up and said the traditional Islamic greeting of ‘Assalam-Wa-Alaikum’ (‘Peace be upon you’). Gardner, having travelled all over the Arab world as an intrigued traveller in his teens and as a reporter, returned the Islamic greeting. The Arabic gentleman then pulled out a gun as a frantic Gardner tried in vain to prevent the carnage that was due to occur in the next few moments. Once it was over, the aftermath of the bloodshed was undeniably shocking. Irishman Cumbers was dead and Gardner was sat up, whilst his shirt was soaked in blood and his legs twisted that equalled a nasty scene in sunny Riyadh.

But this book is not all about that attack in Saudi Arabia. It tells Gardner’s story from his encounter with traveller Wilfred Theisger, who planted the seeds of exploration in the journalist’s mind at a young age, to his student travels through the Middle East and the shocking attempt on his life in Riyadh. The consequences of it are grimly written as Gardner reveals the pain, anguish and time spent in hospitals in Saudi Arabia and in London, with constant injections, tubes and treatment given to him at most intervals in a day. His written memoir is hugely uplifting towards the end. Despite knowing he will be stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, he has accepted his fate and does the best he can to move forward in life and resign the nasty memories of Riyadh to the back of his mind.

He’s a man who’s soaked the sights and information on his travels like a sponge, and it shows as he discusses the threat of al-Qaeda and the threat of British Islamic extremism in this country with well constructed opinions.

Gardner’s book is more than bloodshed in Riyadh, it’s a brilliantly written journey of a man who travelled to understand the Islamic faith and it’s complexities. Someone who did not deserve to be on the receiving end of the bullets that day, but who has bravely spent time in rehabilitation, culminating in his receiving of an OBE from the Queen in 2005.

It hasn’t broken Gardner’s resolve to bring the news from the Arab world to our news bulletins, and is publicly showing the consequences of the attack and giving hope to any person in a wheelchair. His bravery shows that life in a wheelchair is not as bad as it may seem as it is better to live and spend cherished time with loved ones, than not see them at all.

Frank Gardner: Blood & Sand, Bantam Press, 374 pages. £18.99