- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Headline (12 July 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0755315413
- ISBN-13: 978-0755315413
- Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 11 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 1.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 535,361 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
The most sensational sports book of the year
( The Times )Product Description
The archetypal Gunner, Ashley Cole had the skills, pace, spirit and desire that made him a hero among the Highbury faithful. He carved out his current reputation as the best left back in the world, winning three FA Cup medals and two Premiership titles, and starring for England in one Euro Championship and two World Cups. But Ashley’s Arsenal dream began to turn sour when he found himself the focus of tabloid attention in the infamous tapping-up scandal. In MY DEFENCE he sets the record straight: over the supposed meeting with Chelsea, the vicious stories over his private life that forced him into a legal battle to clear his name, and his eventual high-profile move to Stanford Bridge
And then there is the World Cup 2006, his behind-the-scenes view from within the England camp, and the most talked about wedding of the year. Whether it is about life in the back-four or a legal battle to clear his name, this is Ashley's defence in every sense of the word.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
36 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A book to sit on your bookshelf alongside Nelson Mandela's Long walk to freedom and Dostoevsky's The House of the Dead.
Ashley Cole takes us on a journey of financial penury and institutional slavery. That this takes place in our, so called, civilised society makes this read all the more shocking and moving.
In one chapter 'Cashley', as he is affectionately known, describes his horror as he is offered a meagre 55,000 pounds a week. It is hard not to empathise as he realises that his car collection may have to stop at just the Range Rover, Ferrari and Lambourghini. I was gripped by his dilemma over whether he could afford the gold plated dashboard.
Fortunately, during these dark hours, he finds comfort in the arms of a travelling Geordie singer who provides comfort, support and a natty range of tattoos. With her support 'Cashley' finds the courage within himself to confront those who sought to condemn him to a life of sackcloth and ashes and begin his own 'Long walk to Freedom'.
As it stands 'Cash' remains in enforced bondage. But in an inspiring act of human kindness the Russian people, in a show of solidarity not seen the October revolution, have clubbed together to buy 'Cashley's' freedom.
Fingers crossed.
Ashley Cole takes us on a journey of financial penury and institutional slavery. That this takes place in our, so called, civilised society makes this read all the more shocking and moving.
In one chapter 'Cashley', as he is affectionately known, describes his horror as he is offered a meagre 55,000 pounds a week. It is hard not to empathise as he realises that his car collection may have to stop at just the Range Rover, Ferrari and Lambourghini. I was gripped by his dilemma over whether he could afford the gold plated dashboard.
Fortunately, during these dark hours, he finds comfort in the arms of a travelling Geordie singer who provides comfort, support and a natty range of tattoos. With her support 'Cashley' finds the courage within himself to confront those who sought to condemn him to a life of sackcloth and ashes and begin his own 'Long walk to Freedom'.
As it stands 'Cash' remains in enforced bondage. But in an inspiring act of human kindness the Russian people, in a show of solidarity not seen the October revolution, have clubbed together to buy 'Cashley's' freedom.
Fingers crossed.
60 of 61 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I bought this book expecting something of a balanced arguement as to why he left arsenal but all I got was a continous barrage of how he was felled by his boyhood club.
This book dosen't enhance his already tattered reputation and for once I dont envy a footballer, he should be left to wallow in his own self pity because this is a pathetic tale of a young man deluded with life in the world.
This book dosen't enhance his already tattered reputation and for once I dont envy a footballer, he should be left to wallow in his own self pity because this is a pathetic tale of a young man deluded with life in the world.
51 of 52 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Since England's dismal World Cup showing, literary fans have been assaulted by "auto"biographies from 4 players barely old enough to shave. Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard and now Ashley Cole's faces are probably staring at you through the window of your local Borders or Waterstones, but do not fall into the trap, do not succumd to the hypnosis of their steely gazes, do not add to the already grotesquely inflated bank balances of this bunch of 20-27yr olds with no concept of the words "responsibility", "integrity", "humility" and "loyalty". What on earth can these kids have of interesting to say? Grew up playing football for my local club, have since made the 1st team, earn lots of cash, go out with/married to a girl way too nice-looking for a guy who looks like his face was made for radio, serialised my book through the tabloids and...well, that's it really.
If you want to read about a proper footballer's life you could do a lot worse than read Tony Cascarino, Franck McLintock, Gordon Strachan, Tony Adams and Paul Merson. They've been through life and they can give you examples of the highs and REAL lows that come with the job.
It's frankly embarassing that the British public would even consider wasting money to read a story which has barely begun, let alone have an ending.
If you want to read about a proper footballer's life you could do a lot worse than read Tony Cascarino, Franck McLintock, Gordon Strachan, Tony Adams and Paul Merson. They've been through life and they can give you examples of the highs and REAL lows that come with the job.
It's frankly embarassing that the British public would even consider wasting money to read a story which has barely begun, let alone have an ending.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Pound shop impulse buy
An impulse buy from the pound shop....and I nearly took it back for a refund.
Whinge - moan - whinge - poor me - why, aye pet - whinge - moan - cue grasping agent - want... Read more
Whinge - moan - whinge - poor me - why, aye pet - whinge - moan - cue grasping agent - want... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Galning
I nearly crashed my car when I read this
I'm still in shock. Is this for real? Probably the worst book ever 'written'. This book should come with a free TV or something similar that would make it worth buying.
Published on 7 Nov 2009 by Marco
Avoid this banal fare
I decided to get this off the back of reading Rio Ferdinand's 'My Story.' The contrast is marked. Cole/his ghost-writer drip-feed banalities upon the reader; the content neither... Read more
Published on 16 Dec 2008 by A. Hasnath
awful...but strangely addictive
Honestly this is truly the worst book I have ever read. 300 pages of a man's gigantic ego splattered onto paper. Read more
Published on 28 Mar 2008 by Michael Annis
Enjoyable
Have to say i enjoyed reading this, it might be biased, but wasn't that always going to be the case? Read more
Published on 22 Feb 2008 by Glenn Bass
Being objective is difficult (for Ashley that is..)
Oh Ashley, I too am an avid Gooner and you will probably go down as one of our greatest defenders of all time. Read more
Published on 10 Feb 2008 by F. Hussein
Childish Tripe
I had the misfortune of receiving this book as a birthday present. And out of duty and 'gratitude' I read it. Read more
Published on 1 Oct 2007 by Mr. C. J. Brown
"Disgusted" about the wage's he was offered.... you sad little man
What a load of mindless dribble! The man simply moans about how Arsenal let him down - his boyhood club, and that's the reason he left. Read more
Published on 5 Sep 2007 by Tom Cat
Oh the pathos!
I think many of your other reviewers have been reading a different book to me. In this wonderful piece of postmodern fiction we follow a heartbreakingly tragic character, a true... Read more
Published on 15 May 2007 by pablo dombrowski
What's all the fuss about? Great soccer book!
Having just finished 'My Defence', I'm puzzled. Just what is all the fuss about??! If you believed the media and the Arsenal fans, you'd think Ashley had slagged off everything... Read more
Published on 10 Dec 2006 by Axel Ace
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
