24 Sep 2013 03:19:27
If you're looking for salacious gossip or locker-room humour, you'll be disappointed. Carson's tone throughout is impeccably high-minded, which stands in contrast to the earthier public expressions of some of his interviewees. There is an over-emphasis on the sort of jargon beloved by management consultants – we are told of José Mourinho that "Mourinho doesn't just embrace expectation – he deliberately goes out to create it" – and the frequent comparisons between football teams and FTSE companies, while valid, might put off the casual reader who simply wants some anecdotes about their most beloved (and detested) managers.
Nonetheless, it's impossible to interview such fascinating men and not come away with some peerless insights, whether it's Ferguson calmly justifying some of his more ruthless decisions by claiming, "It's a horrible thing to say, but you can't be sentimental in this job," or Harry Redknapp confessing just how all-consuming his passion for the game really is by saying "it's life-consuming, almost… if football's not going well for me, I can get so low about it all".
Reading Carson's account, the abiding impression given is of some extremely talented men (and, with the exception of Hope Powell, the England women's team manager, this remains a very masculine enclave) who combine all too human doubts and insecurities with a robust sense of belief in their team's innate ability that would do the most high-flying CEO proud.
