John Motson, in common with all good broadcasters, prepares assiduously for the live commentary. The two page example of his work in the second set of illustrations (Barnsley versus Chelsea FA Cup replay) shows just how much work goes into making a live football game run smoothly on air. I wish I could say as much for this book which proves how right Motson was to opt for radio and television work rather than print journalism.
Motson had a good reputation as a television commentator although it wasn't one I shared as a television watcher. Brian Clough sussed him out in an early interview when he accused a disconcerted Motson of lecturing to Match of the Day audiences rather than letting the game speak for itself in the action. In fact, Motson is appreciative of Clough's direct approach and provides him and his sidekick, Peter Taylor, with a complete chapter of their own. He records with sadness Clough's decline into alcoholism but remains unconvinced that he would have succeeded as England manager.
Motson comments on the various managers employed by England over the years rating Sir Alf Ramsay and Sven Goran Eriksson first and third, split only by Bobby Robson. I find his choice of Eriksson in the top three surprising. When England played ten man Brazil at the World Cup Eriksson's lack of tactical awareness was embarrassing to watch. His choice of the inexperienced and untried Theo Walcott for the 2006 World Cup was disastrous. Although short of strikers Walcott never got a game. Eriksson, as with his response to the failure against Brazil, was too stubborn to admit he got it wrong. He was successful in Italy but a failure in England and was not helped by being talked up by the inadequate players he selected for the national team.
Motson correctly identifies one of the main problems of England's underperforming overpaid soccer players. Many of them succeed at club level but lack the mental strength to reproduce it on the international stage. This was immediately recognised by Fabio Capello who appreciates playing for a purpose is an integral part of the game. Viewing a video of Steve McClaran's last game against Croatia the Italian asked the F A's Brian Barwick why England were attacking at two, two, given that a draw would have seen England through. Of course, the England managers Motson has seen include three people who later admitted they weren't up to the job, Kevin Keegan, Graham Taylor and McClaren. The others were the over-rated pair of Venables and Hoddle, Ron Greenwood who was too old to provide the dynamism required for the 1982 World Cup but fitted in well with the blazered brigade and Don Revie who was something of an enigma. Little wonder England failed to win anything.
Motson is a critic of the influence of money in the game but not the foreign players imported by the Premier League. He's highly critical of debt levels and the gap developing between the Big Four and the rest of the League (although the challenge to the Big Four is funded by rich investors) . He holds far from fashionable views on subjects such as the Champions League and would prefer a win on points in drawn matches rather than penalty shoot outs, even at the expense of extra time. The game is run by television and, although he was part of that, albeit at a distance from Sky's selfish coverage, he appears to share the view of his nemesis Clough that there is too much football on television.
One area in which Motson succeeds is that of appreciating that for many years he had to battle with Barry Davies for the commentating position at major games. Despite all his disappointments he decided to remain loyal to the BBC when ITV offered him the opportunity to jump ship. There's a number of incidents revealing how easy it is to commit a faux par (known in the business as Colemanballs) most of them relating to asking managers stupid questions in the aftermath of a game. My own all time favourite is David Coleman's question to Don Fox, who had missed a conversion in front of the posts which would have won his team the Rugby League Cup. The athlete Steve Ovett boycotted post race interviews for many years to avoid such questions.
Motson reveals quite a bit about his background as the son of a Methodist minister but very little about his home life. His wife and son get barely twenty mentions in the entire book. It can be argued that as the book is about his four decades in the commentary box such scant reference to the family is only to be expected. That's a fair point but it leaves Motson's book somewhat imbalanced, notwithstanding his many stories of human kindness. Motson does reveal(as many will have forgotten) that he covered others sports, including tennis, during his forty year career. It's not a bad book but not one I would instantly recommend. Writing should flow, Motson's stagnates. Three stars.
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