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Psycho
20/20 edition - Headline 20th Anniversary EditionIn an era of superstar prima donnas, Stuart Pearce's total commitment on the pitch earned him the affection of football fans everywhere, who nicknamed him Psycho. He will forever be remembered for two penalties - one missed and scored - for England, but there is so much more to him than that. This book reveals the fascinating story of one of football's greatest personalities. PSYCHO is as honest and straightforward as the man himself.
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 29, 2020
Loved this book by Stuart Pearce. He was a no nonsense defender with a cannon of a left foot. Psycho epitomises what it meant to wear the national shirt. Great player and great bloke. When he missed the penalty in 1990 he more than made up for it in 1996. Good autobiography.
September 7, 2023
Dated but enjoyable autobiography from football hard man Stuart Pearce.
October 6, 2021
Stuart Pearce is a man of his time, which makes him a bit of a bigot. On at least 2 occasions, he makes generalisations about players from countries outside of England. His biography hasn't aged well in terms of political correctness. The style is also matter-of-fact, and not easy to engage with. Pearce's honesty means you can rely on his narration, but his storytelling lacks colour.
April 4, 2011
I found Psycho to be an entertaining and informative biography. I'm not a fan of any of the teams SP has played for (except England, duh) but like most footy fans I respect him for his attitude on the pitch. A good read for any footy fan.
July 10, 2012
This book has sat on our bookshelves for a number of years and because it was about a footballer I ignored it. Just now read it and was pleasantly surprised, still not my cup of tea but interesting enough if you are a fan of football.
August 8, 2024
A very fragment autobiography . The book compartmentalises different parts of his career , thus there not being a good flow to the book .The book starts analysing the two key penalties in his career , missing in the World Cup semi final in 1990 and scoring in Euro 96 . The book then settles down and covers his childhood and eventual journey into professional football . This part of the book is probably the most interesting . The rest just deals with different clubs he has been at and one of course on Brian Clough .
An Ok book , but you missed any sense of ebb and flow of his career as each part of his career is deal with separately.
An Ok book , but you missed any sense of ebb and flow of his career as each part of his career is deal with separately.
April 23, 2020
Another sports autobiography of a childhood hero, I seem to have read so many of them. Unusual out of all those I have read. Always enjoyable to read about the events that meant so much to me as a boy, but Pearce wrote more than is the norm in these books about his family, his siblings and family life, for more of an insight into the man. Just a straight up bloke, strange to think his nickname was Psycho on the pitch, a proper sweet guy in reality.
October 6, 2022
This book speeds down the left wing and blasts in a goal...
October 15, 2007
I was really dissapointed by this book. Pearce is a national legend but comes across here as quite dour and unfriendly - unless you are Nigel Clough or Des Walker...
April 12, 2017
I've let this sit for a while because there's definitely an aspect for me in which it's just another football biography. And from the ones I've read so far (let's see, Maradona, Zlatan, Carra, Dalglish, Pepe Reina, Jimmy Bullard, Bill Shankly) there really isn't all that much variation. I read this one as part of a project in which I attempt to read books about the members of England's 1990 World Cup squad - and possibly even branch out to other important figures from the tournament, but having read it now, I don't feel it's been as enlightening or as interesting as I must have been hoping. It doesn't bode well, in that case, for the ones by Paul Gascoigne and Bryan Robson that I've already got on my TBR shelf, though Pearce is at least a player who is perhaps defined more by his international career than his career at club level - Robson for example was captain of his country but he seemed to pick up an injury in the early stages of every tournament, leading to a stronger association with Manchester United.
This one at least, does include quite a bit about the 1990 tournament. It opens with a lengthy chapter about the penalty miss and the subsequent scored penalty in the 1996 European Championship tournament, and goes on to include chapters about Pearce's time at Nottingham Forrest, Newcastle and West Ham, about his international career, working with Brian Clough, the Hillsborough disaster, and his private life. It's not chronological, as such. Instead it features long chapters on specific topics in which the specific events are chronological. It actually works quite well in that way, though the chapters are way too long.
The most interesting parts for me - somewhat surprisingly - were when Pearce talks about his interest in music, in reading and in the theatre. Whether that's because that's something you're unlikely to find in any other footballer's memoir or not, I'm not entirely sure, but it was interesting to learn a bit more about these things.
I'm also going to say that Pearce is able to offer a little more insight than most into the psychological aspects of being a professional sportsman, of being involved in high level competition. He communicates his motivations and intentions quite well, but displays no understanding of other peoples feelings. At one point, for example, he says he doesn't understand how a player can have difficulty settling into a club, because the way he sees it is that if you have trouble, it's your own fault. He's clearly never had confidence problems or difficulties fitting in socially. He sees many things in black and white terms like this, even though, overall his attitude as a professional sportsman is exemplary.
He's also guilty at times of relating particularly uninteresting stories or leaving out the parts that would make them interesting. Paraphrasing now, "I had an argument with [a player] once, but I didn't apologise and later it was fine". Yeah, but what was the argument about?
On other occasions, the conclusion of a sentence seems to have little to do with the beginning of it, so you're left wondering whether something has been missed out - kind of in the way that poor writing skills can leave too many gaps in logic.
Ultimately there are now aspects of Pearce that I like more and aspects of him that I like less. He is at least honest and straightforward, open to new ideas and experiences, and professional. I'm not really sure this book needed to be written, but you know, you can say that about a great number of books that are published these days. As the first book of my Italia '90 project, the bar has been set quite moderately. It will be interesting to see how the alcohol-soaked memoirs of Gazza and Robbo will compare.
This one at least, does include quite a bit about the 1990 tournament. It opens with a lengthy chapter about the penalty miss and the subsequent scored penalty in the 1996 European Championship tournament, and goes on to include chapters about Pearce's time at Nottingham Forrest, Newcastle and West Ham, about his international career, working with Brian Clough, the Hillsborough disaster, and his private life. It's not chronological, as such. Instead it features long chapters on specific topics in which the specific events are chronological. It actually works quite well in that way, though the chapters are way too long.
The most interesting parts for me - somewhat surprisingly - were when Pearce talks about his interest in music, in reading and in the theatre. Whether that's because that's something you're unlikely to find in any other footballer's memoir or not, I'm not entirely sure, but it was interesting to learn a bit more about these things.
I'm also going to say that Pearce is able to offer a little more insight than most into the psychological aspects of being a professional sportsman, of being involved in high level competition. He communicates his motivations and intentions quite well, but displays no understanding of other peoples feelings. At one point, for example, he says he doesn't understand how a player can have difficulty settling into a club, because the way he sees it is that if you have trouble, it's your own fault. He's clearly never had confidence problems or difficulties fitting in socially. He sees many things in black and white terms like this, even though, overall his attitude as a professional sportsman is exemplary.
He's also guilty at times of relating particularly uninteresting stories or leaving out the parts that would make them interesting. Paraphrasing now, "I had an argument with [a player] once, but I didn't apologise and later it was fine". Yeah, but what was the argument about?
On other occasions, the conclusion of a sentence seems to have little to do with the beginning of it, so you're left wondering whether something has been missed out - kind of in the way that poor writing skills can leave too many gaps in logic.
Ultimately there are now aspects of Pearce that I like more and aspects of him that I like less. He is at least honest and straightforward, open to new ideas and experiences, and professional. I'm not really sure this book needed to be written, but you know, you can say that about a great number of books that are published these days. As the first book of my Italia '90 project, the bar has been set quite moderately. It will be interesting to see how the alcohol-soaked memoirs of Gazza and Robbo will compare.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews