Was told several years back by a City fan who happens also to write that he'd been pitching to various publishers in the mid-nineties an idea for a kind of City version of Fever Pitch. Headline, who published Shindler's book, apparently suggested to him that he work in an angle of being in United's shadow and refer to that in the title. So it was a book that was going to get written at some point, and I don't blame him for writing it when someone else would have sooner or later. I happen to think it's a very good book, and I quite enjoyed the thought of numpty Rags in Taunton or Basildon or wherever buying the book completely mistaken as to what they were going to get.
I don't agree with his view of the current situation of the club, but that's a different debate entirely. Had Thaksin stayed, I think there might be some scope for it - I supported his takeover two years ago, but in hindsight he was never a viable long-term owner and the baggage he carried was just too much. However, he did offload us to ADUG, so all's well that ends well. Why Shindler is so hostile to the Arabs, I don't know. (I don't buy the racist angle, I think he's definitely above that kind of thing). What he has to appreciate is that, unfortunately, football these days isn't like it used to be. I miss all kinds of things compared to when I started going in the seventies, but times move on and we need to live with it.
