Fowlers Penalty Miss said:
As a player, he was one of those solid, dependable people all teams need. A bit like Kompany today. They just get on with the job and you take them for granted.
He always ran with a sort of hunched back gait, which made him instantly recognisable, and although he was not the fastest man on the planet, he could read the game well so he did'nt need to be super fast.
I also think he was the best manager City ever had. I know we think about Mercer and Allison as the all time greats because of the pots they won, and I'm not taking anything away from that, but in terms of consistency, of finishing towards the top of the league, he has no equal.
City pushed Liverpool to the limit one year when Book was in charge and Liverpool were European Champions. He assembled the most consistent team in our history. It may have only lasted for three years or so, but in terms of consistency, in my humble opinion, he wins hands down.
God almighty where did that lot come from, was a reasonable player, no more, piss poor manager in every way, probably not even close to getting in the top 20 managers we've had, was very fortunate to be carried along by a fantastic group of players and got far more recognition than his ability every warranted.
He is undoubtedly a decent bloke and fair play to him for achieving what he did without being great at anything in particular, but don't big him up as though he was some kind of Bobby Moore or something.
Too many people get massive notoriety in football for their seeming loyalty to their Clubs, when if the truth be known, it is due to nothing more than their being at the Club for years and years, appearing to be almost Ambassador like, but seriously it has far more to do with them being incapable of working anywhere outside football and being a kind of hanger on. Book certainly fullfilled this role and didn't achieve in over 30 years at the Club, what Buzzer has done in 2.
tin hat on, but sometimes an accurate picture needs to be painted.
