Living on the Volcano: The Secrets of Surviving as a Football Manager - Hardcover

Calvin, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1780893272 ISBN 13: 9781780893273

Publisher: Century, 2015

Synopsis

*SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2015*

A man punches the wall in a strategic show of anger. Another complains he has become a stranger to those he loves. A third relies on “my three a day: coffee, Nurofen and a bottle of wine.” Yet another admits he is an oddity, who would prefer to be working in cricket. A fifth describes his professional life as “a circus”. These are football managers, live and uncut. Arsene Wenger likens the job to “living on a volcano: any day may be your last”. He speaks with the authority of being the longest serving manager in the English game, having been at Arsenal for 17 years. The average lifespan of a Football League manager is 17 months. Fifty three managers, across all four Divisions, were sacked, or resigned, in the 2012-13 season. There were fifty seven managerial changes in the 2013-14 season. What makes these men tick? They are familiar figures, who rarely offer anything more than a glimpse into their personal and professional lives. What shapes them? How and why do they do their job? Award-winning writer Michael Calvin provides the answers.

Insecurity is a unifying factor, but managers at different levels face different sets of problems. Depending on their status, they are dealing with multi-millionaires, or mortgage slaves. Living on the Volcano charts the progress of more than 20 managers, in different circumstances and in different phases of their career. Some, like Brendan Rodgers and Roberto Martinez, are at the peak of their profession. Others, like Chris Hughton, Brian McDermott and Gary Waddock, have been sacked, and are seeking a way back into the game. They offer a unique insight into a trade which is prone to superficial judgement and savage swings in fortune. Management requires ruthlessness and empathy, idealism and cunning. Stories overlap, experiences intermingle, and myths are exposed.

About this title

About the Author

Michael Calvin, one of the UK’s most accomplished sportswriters, has worked in more than eighty countries, covering every major sporting event, including seven summer Olympic Games and six World Cup finals. He was named Sports Writer of the Year for his despatches as a crew member in a round-the-world yacht race and has twice been named Sports Reporter of the Year.

He is a bestselling author, whose book The Nowhere Men won the Times Sports Book of the Year prize in 2014. He became the first author to receive the award in successive years, when Proud, his collaboration with former Wales and British Lions rugby captain Gareth Thomas, was named Sports Book of the Year in 2015.

In the same year the second book of his football trilogy, Living On The Volcano, was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year prize. No Nonsense, his collaboration with Joey Barton, was nominated for the award in 2016.

From the Back Cover

This is a book about football managers, live and uncut. The average lifespan of a manager in the Championship is eight months. New records for volatility are set every season.


What makes these men tick? They are familiar figures, who rarely offer anything more than a glimpse into their personal and professional lives. Who are they? What shapes them? How and why do they do their job? Award-winning writer Michael Calvin provides the answers.

From the Inside Flap

Award winning author Mike Calvin is back with his new book exposing the lives of football managers.


He goes into lower league pressing rooms and the inner sanctums of the Premier League. He coaxes the humanity out of household names like Brendan Rodgers, Roberto Martinez, Alan Pardew and Mark Hughes. He looks beyond the brand names, and identifies rising stars, like Sean Dyche, Garry Monk, Shaun Derry, Gareth Ainsworth, Karl Robinson and Eddie Howe.

This is a unique insight into a trade where managers require ruthlessness and empathy, idealism and cunning. Never before have the secrets and myths of football management been so laid bare.

Edition details

• Publisher: Century
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1780893272
• ISBN 13: 9781780893273
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 448