The Manager

by Ron Atkinson

Ron Atkinson is one of English football’s most recognisable and popular characters, having been involved in management for a quarter of a century. He remains the only Englishman to have won major trophies with three different Manchester United, Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa. At West Bromwich Albion, he was one of the first managers to promote black footballers, including Laurie Cunning- ham, who went to Real Madrid, Cyrille Regis, who became an England international, and Brendon Batson MBE. After retiring from management, Ron evolved into one of the most familiar and forthright commentators on football. Yet that career came to an end in April 2004 with a single, unguarded comment about the Chelsea defender, Marcel Desailly. Atkinson was labelled a racist and driven from the game he loves. In The Manager Ron Atkinson delves into the highs and lows of an extraordinary career that took him from non-league football to Old Trafford’s theatre of dreams in the space of seven years. He almost managed two Midlands clubs - Aston Villa and West Brom – to the league title. But behind the familiar image of the bling and one-line quips Ron Atkinson was – and remains – a deep observer of football and footballers. Here, he gives the full account of a life in football. From an awestruck youngster in 1950s Birmingham watching the supermen of Honved via a stalwart career as a lower league professional with Oxford to managing one of the biggest club in world football, Atkinson’s has been a life less ordinary. With detailed portraits of the men he worked with an against, including Bryan Robson, Paul McGrath, Sir Alex Ferguson and Dwight Yorke, Atkinson also discusses the rise of the foreign footballer; the decline of the English manager and what it is like to sing live at Ronnie Scott’s.

248 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 12, 2016

Reviews

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining read by one of football’s most colourful characters. Ron Atkinson was never a shrinking violet, known for his outspoken words, so this was always going to be entertaining.

Big Ron tells of his humble beginnings through to his more successful spells at West Brom, Manchester United, Aston Villa and all the other clubs he managed. A career in management was followed by TV punditry which ended in controversy.

One of life’s characters who always has an opinion and it all makes enjoyable reading.

[Tim Knights · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, good view points.

Good view points from a the type of manager the premier league probably won't ever see again. Also Cambridge fan!

[James Gleeson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best football book I have read. Really enjoyable read from a legend. Highly recommended.

[Mark Suffern · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not great. I'd be surprised if many people thought that they had learnt anything about Big Ron after reading this

[Jeff Tonks · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly entertaining read, starting from Big Ron's early playing career at Cambridge, through to his appointments at West Brom, Man Utd, Aston Villa and several others, winning several major trophies, and onto his forthright TV commentary, in the 1990's to early 2000's which ended abruptly with a controversial unguarded remark.
Interesting to learn just how much input the managers of the 1980's and 90's had into the teams they managed, including negotiating buying and selling players, fees and wages. So much more than the current coaches have, I guess his like are gone forever from the modern game.
Mostly loved by the fans of all the teams he managed, an upfront and no nonsense coach who spotted talented players and stuck to his footballing methods on and off the pitch.
There are quite a lot of facts about his big games and players, but a little less insight to the relationships with other managers, players and club owners, plus a mixture of his own quips and one liners.
Overall a decent book from this unique manager and his part in an exciting era of English football.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got through this very quick. It was simply an easy read. I’d score it more accurately at a 3.5 out of 5.

The book quickly got into Ron’s football/management career which I appreciated. This is what he is known for and what people want to hear about, less so, early life. As a Wednesday fan growing up in the 90s I remember Big Ron coming back for a second stint as a very unique character whose presence alone in the dugout excited the fans.

I wish there were slightly more ‘behind the scenes’ stories about what he thought of Hillsborough for example…he coached Di Canio (!?) and there is not much said about it. Occasionally I felt like reading a Wikipedia page with scores, scorers and dates alone.

All things considered I did pass the book on to a friend and enjoyed.