Been sent a preview copy of the book, but haven't had chance to read it yet. Will hopefully get a review up on the site before it's released. Don't think Conn is quite the City apologist that Shindler is, but he does have a tendency to pander to his Guardian paymasters who are generally anti-City. Will be interesting to see the tone of his book.
David Conn book - Richer Than God: Manchester City.....
- Thread starter Mad Eyed Screamer
- Start date
01282 said:
he's also full of shit, the ground wasn't converted at the public's expense, it was City who paid £23 million to convert it from a white elephant athletics stadia into a football ground and we who have helped cover the councils outlay and some! the mans a bullshitting wanker who should have his nuts kicked into his crainium. Not that I'm suggesting anything.
Had a quick flick through this today and was surprised to see in the blurb that "years of meticulous research" had gone into the book when, as noted from the extract, Conn has got the financial details on the stadium so wrong, with no mention of Maine Road or the hundreds of millions we will pay in rent over our tenure. Hardly a "gift" as he claims. He also uses terms such as "the stadium built by Manchester City Council" - very odd for a City fan when we know how Rags refer to it.
Then he states the club was founded by Anna Connell - don't tell Gary James!
I gave up when, after spending pages setting the scene of Manchester being the most impoverished and deprived city in England, he started talking about the number of empty seats at the Napoli game being a sign of our limited fan base and how we will never grow into the global force the owners desire because.... wait for it.... "they (City) are not Manchester United". WTF?
And if he was using the attendance for a clubs debut in the Champions League as a barometer of future potential, it is a pretty poor comparison to use the Rags. He would have found 35,718 fans watched their first ever CL game against Honved on 29 September 1993 - four days after 44,583 watched them beat Swindon Town in the Premier League. And this was the season they had just become Champions, not finished third as was our final position 2010/11.
Then he states the club was founded by Anna Connell - don't tell Gary James!
I gave up when, after spending pages setting the scene of Manchester being the most impoverished and deprived city in England, he started talking about the number of empty seats at the Napoli game being a sign of our limited fan base and how we will never grow into the global force the owners desire because.... wait for it.... "they (City) are not Manchester United". WTF?
And if he was using the attendance for a clubs debut in the Champions League as a barometer of future potential, it is a pretty poor comparison to use the Rags. He would have found 35,718 fans watched their first ever CL game against Honved on 29 September 1993 - four days after 44,583 watched them beat Swindon Town in the Premier League. And this was the season they had just become Champions, not finished third as was our final position 2010/11.
Walkbustaxi
Well-Known Member
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David Conn's previous book 'The Beautiful Game' was a genuine eye opener to me as a football supporter. So the combination of investigative journalist also a City fan made me pre order this book. I read it this week and tbh it left me disappointed, bewildered and angry.
In my opinion Conn has taken too much on in this book. As the title implies, the book is a potted history of City, an exposé on the 'business' of modern football and an account of being a City fan rolled into one. These three strands are enough to follow without him throwing in Government cuts, poverty, human rights (of Thailand and Abu Dhabi) etc let alone Engels, Thatcher, and Boris Yeltsin! I know the author would say these are integral to the background of the story but even he would admit the linking Chesterfield FC and the miners strike was a tenuous one. It's instances like this that result in the book being nearly 450 pages long.
He repeats himself on a number of occasions throughout the book and this gives a feeling that you are not reading separate chapters of one book but different previously published columns or stories. This leads to him often attacking the same issue just from a different angle and makes the book feel stop start at times. Some chapters I enjoyed while others were a struggle to get through.
Conn does brings up many key City moments from wherever he was at the time and captures the parks and fields of Greater Manchester perfectly for anyone who's ever dared to play football on them. He also reminded me of forgotten sights, sounds and smells from around Maine road that only a City fan from that era could. However in the books latter parts, where you can see he has fell out of love with City, does the author have to become involved with FC United of all clubs let alone as mentioned in the previous post, say we are being overestimated by our owners to become a global force because simply we are not Manchester United.
However I'll save my biggest issue till last. FACTS! David Conn is an investigative journalist, has a degree and on top of this is a qualified lawyer. Again as mentioned before, he gets it wrong on 'the council house' deal as well as Anna Connell but the two biggest mistakes I read were that we beat Charlton 4-1 in 1985 and that it rained on our 1999 Play Off Winners parade. For me, the Charlton and Gillingham games constituted the only success I saw as a fan between the Luton relegation and the FA Cup final last year (I didn't go to Bradford or Blackburn). To get facts about both of them wrong is unforgivable to me.
In the end, other than Guardian readers, I don't know who the book is aimed at as it's neither a City book nor a real eye opener like his previous work. Simply the worlds a bad place, some people are poor, some people are rich, people own companies and companies own things. Our club was a company in a poor area owned by a succession of dodgy characters that was purchased by a rich 'owner', who then proceeded to spend money on people and facilities and this has so far led to winning the FA Cup and Premier League. And on top of that his chairman and board are professional and seem to understand the club, fans and former players better than anyone previous. Damn them to hell, 'tis an outrage.
In my opinion Conn has taken too much on in this book. As the title implies, the book is a potted history of City, an exposé on the 'business' of modern football and an account of being a City fan rolled into one. These three strands are enough to follow without him throwing in Government cuts, poverty, human rights (of Thailand and Abu Dhabi) etc let alone Engels, Thatcher, and Boris Yeltsin! I know the author would say these are integral to the background of the story but even he would admit the linking Chesterfield FC and the miners strike was a tenuous one. It's instances like this that result in the book being nearly 450 pages long.
He repeats himself on a number of occasions throughout the book and this gives a feeling that you are not reading separate chapters of one book but different previously published columns or stories. This leads to him often attacking the same issue just from a different angle and makes the book feel stop start at times. Some chapters I enjoyed while others were a struggle to get through.
Conn does brings up many key City moments from wherever he was at the time and captures the parks and fields of Greater Manchester perfectly for anyone who's ever dared to play football on them. He also reminded me of forgotten sights, sounds and smells from around Maine road that only a City fan from that era could. However in the books latter parts, where you can see he has fell out of love with City, does the author have to become involved with FC United of all clubs let alone as mentioned in the previous post, say we are being overestimated by our owners to become a global force because simply we are not Manchester United.
However I'll save my biggest issue till last. FACTS! David Conn is an investigative journalist, has a degree and on top of this is a qualified lawyer. Again as mentioned before, he gets it wrong on 'the council house' deal as well as Anna Connell but the two biggest mistakes I read were that we beat Charlton 4-1 in 1985 and that it rained on our 1999 Play Off Winners parade. For me, the Charlton and Gillingham games constituted the only success I saw as a fan between the Luton relegation and the FA Cup final last year (I didn't go to Bradford or Blackburn). To get facts about both of them wrong is unforgivable to me.
In the end, other than Guardian readers, I don't know who the book is aimed at as it's neither a City book nor a real eye opener like his previous work. Simply the worlds a bad place, some people are poor, some people are rich, people own companies and companies own things. Our club was a company in a poor area owned by a succession of dodgy characters that was purchased by a rich 'owner', who then proceeded to spend money on people and facilities and this has so far led to winning the FA Cup and Premier League. And on top of that his chairman and board are professional and seem to understand the club, fans and former players better than anyone previous. Damn them to hell, 'tis an outrage.
simonk
Well-Known Member
Blue82 said:
It was Hattenstone who wrote to say he was looking for a new club. Then had a 2 page article about the end of this season according to him as a lifelong fan.
I did email him at the time about that statement but he didnt respond.
The one thing that's really pissed me off with David Conn and this book is that at every media gathering he mentions being stood at Blackpool in the third division and how profound it all was... yet never fucking mentions that I was with him!
Twat. ;-)
Twat. ;-)
Heard him on the radio the other day, was very complimentary about the professionalism of the people in charge of the club, and their commitment to maintaining the traditions and history of the club.
Have also heard/seen him wax lyrical about FCUM, I think he is a member there which I don't understand of any blue.<br /><br />-- Mon Jun 18, 2012 10:35 am --<br /><br />The references to £1bn winds me up in that Guardian article. Totally misleading when it ignores any income the club has earned, and the increase in the value of the club since the takeover.
Have also heard/seen him wax lyrical about FCUM, I think he is a member there which I don't understand of any blue.<br /><br />-- Mon Jun 18, 2012 10:35 am --<br /><br />The references to £1bn winds me up in that Guardian article. Totally misleading when it ignores any income the club has earned, and the increase in the value of the club since the takeover.
moomba said:
His backing of Supporters Trusts far exceeds his support of just one club.
He's an old fashioned romantic when it comes to football.
Eleven local lads brought up through the youth team, managed by a former hero, owned by a local multi-billionaire from Gorton, playing in a falling-apart stadium, followed by 20,000 hardy souls drinking bovril and eating Wagon Wheels.
For all his business acumen, David Conn still hankers after a simpler more noble time.
Daft sod.