The latest football book from the ever expanding CQN publishing stable is a long awaited blast from one of the many world class players who were part of the Lisbon Lions of 1967. Celtic’s best ever left back has collaborated with Alex Gordon, a vastly experienced sports writer, to produce a rollicking tale from a football life that was full of adventure, just like Tommy’s own playing style and that of the team that made him famous.
Entitled “All The Best”, the title reflects the fact that Tommy offers these wishes to all his readers, that he is giving of his best in the writing of the book just as he did on the field, with candid comment and surprising views, but, mostly, because Tommy has taken the stable diet of the football memoir- “Who were the best players that you played with and against?”, and taken this to another level
He has listed nine “Best Of” teams in the course of the book: the Lions (of course), Tommy’s best Scotland teammates, the best Celtic players apart from the Lions, a World Football 11 Tommy’s played against, his best teammates from both Nottingham Forest and Dundee, as well as two generations of great Celtic players Tommy has watched as a spectator. There’s even a nod to his time as Albion Rovers’ manager.
Now, those of you used to the lazy format of a football book where not much thought, insight or honesty goes into the exercise, will be very surprised at the level of honesty, brutal in some cases, that goes into the pen pictures of those selected and some who just missed out. Tommy turns an honest spotlight on himself, you find yourself nodding your head in agreement, once you’ve recovered your breath, that is.
For this is a breathless read of a football life lived to the full. The forthright opinions on managers, even those he admired, are very revealing about the amount of dishonesty involved in football. You will be astounded at how these world class football players conducted themselves. If you are expecting to find tales of clean living, utmost professionalism on and off the field, and modern collegiate management, you will be very disappointed in this book. However, if you are looking for searing honesty, interspersed with several hilarious tales, then this is the book for you
It is not the polite memoir of a senior citizen glossing over the bad behaviour of his younger days, it is the “warts and all” tales of a more innocent time, when despite the absence of modern techniques, Scotland managed to rule the world and produce a Golden generation, for a brief period of time. Some of the opinions expressed are candid to the point of scurrilous-ness but the humour that is present in every chapter and every pen picture takes the edge of some of the more boorish behaviour which is recounted. There is no hiding place in sport. Everyone has an opinion and is keen to share it. Add booze to the picture and bad behaviour will inevitably follow,
It is fair to say that, even though I thought I was well acquainted with the details of Tommy’s life and career, there were many incidents that I was hearing about for the first time. Tommy’s description of one of his early team mates at Celtic who made life difficult for him will, first of all, shock you and then have you biting the carpet with laughter. His tale of transfer negotiations with the legendary Jim McLean and with a Ranger’s Director will also have you smiling broadly as Tommy does not miss and hit the wall.
From the Foreword by fellow Lisbon Lion, Bertie Auld, through to the final section, where Tommy fields some cheeky questions from the posters on the Celtic Quick News site, genuine laugh out loud humour is not far from the surface. This is a very funny book and captures the banter that still flows between these football legends.
It is a difficult task to combine such humour with frank honesty and then to maintain readability. In the 12 chapters of the book, you will find details which surprise, shock and amuse you. If you are a Celtic fan of a certain age, you will smile in reminiscence as long forgotten events are re-lived from an insider’s perspective. If you are a football fan at all, you will get an insight into the world of football from the 50s to the 80s from a practitioner and into modern football of the past 3 decades from an informed observer. If you just like to read a good book, this one will make you laugh out loud at many points.
Tommy Gemmell gave all his best for Celtic and Scotland while he played there. He continues to give us all his best in this publication. This is the best football memoir I’ve read in a long time. I am still remembering pieces and chuckling as I type this.
For a short period only you can add to the bundle Tommy is dedicating and signing (below) from the button at the bottom of the page.
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Sheik masour not mad out ;)
Would one of the players sent off 5 times be the mighty Jimmy Quinn a legend from the past – Seem to remember he took no prisoners and I doubt that referee’s were slow to react.
Jinky would definitely be one
A 3rd….not TG himself surely.
IGC,
Why thank you kind sir, still wouldn’t have put money on it.
I would like to thank, errrrr the teachers.
HH.
If the Rangers are going to go into administration as many posters on CQN are saying are they not leaving it a bit late in order that they can restructure for next season or am I missing something ? H.H.
IGC
Thompson is a given. Sent off 3 times against the auld Rangers.
LB
I see led Zepellin are being sued by the English rock band Spirit who say that “Stairway to Heaven” is a rip-off of their instrumental track “Taurus”.
At least, Spirit had the sense not to let Robert Plant write lyrics.
winning captains
13:56 on
20 May, 2014
Here’s a link to the design of the photography pages for All the Best – although not all these pics made it into the book. Many of these images are personal photographs from Tommy Gemmell.
http://en.calameo.com/read/0003901717802c53097e6
winning captains…PHOTOS ARE MAGNIFICENT !
Connaire, Best of luck, Prayers will be said in Tipperary.
If embdae on here upsets me,i will send them a postcard,awright!!! That’s you been warned…
It must be the season for suing.
A New York man is suing the city for more money than exists on Earth ($2 decillion i.e. $2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) because he was bitten by a rabies-infected dog on a bus.
Mind you, he’s not such a fool. He is also suing two hospitals, an airport, the K-Mart supermarket chain, a bakery and a dog owner.
He is suing for injuries to his middle finger, civil rights violations, discrimination, conspiracy to defraud, fraud, harassement, and attempted murder, according to the New York Post.
He claims that the pain and distress caused by his infected middle finger were “priceless”, and so warranted a figure so large that it exceeds the combined values of all economies on the planet.
The man does not appear to be new to the idea of frivolous lawsuits, having sued banks, casinos, and China in the last few years, according to USA Today.
Hope Yaya Toure does not get to hear about this.
Contestants, contestants, please…today’s lunchtime quiz is now closed and will not be extended like a Sevco season ticket sale.
The answer, as successfully supplied by Greenpinata is:
Jimmy Johnstone (Rangers x2, St Johnstone, Racing Club, Aberdeen)
Roy Aitken (Kilmarnock, Hearts, Rangers, Aberdeen x2)
Peter Grant (Hibernian, Rangers, Motherwell, Hearts x2)
SFTB – I think Spirit are from the US
‘Good artists copy, great artists steal’
DBBIA/Pablo Picasso CSC
I assumed that the Ya Ya Toure article was an Awe Naw invention until a colleague said it was on the BBC website.
Toure is an anagram of outre and, if true, he is certainly behaving in a bizarre and outlandish fashion
Livibhoy, while you are right that Alan Thompson was sent off against Rangers thrice (in old money), and was also shown a red against Aberdeen, that was his only four (same as TB).
‘The introduction, and opening guitar arpeggios of “Taurus”, bear a close resemblance to the 1959 instrumental “Cry Me a River” by Davey Graham’
-will the ole circle be unbroken?
Get your Ya Yas Out [re]
DBBIA
“I think Spirit are from the US”
Correct. California, I believe.
I have taken to including one deliberate mistake in all my postings. See if you can find the one k error in this one?
Tontine Tim
13:57 on 20 May, 2014
Again from the last thread re the drinking culture in the workplace in Scotland.
Big Nan, Greenock had the highest wine drinking population by head count in the country, Renton was 2nd.
………………………………………..
From what I saw it had a higher wine drinking count per head than Barcelona!
Great people for all that.
Postcards From The Edge of the ledge.
You have to laugh when Father Dougal refers to somebody else as a ’loon’. He really has no self-awareness.
A CQNer posted this on Facebook today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59Cx3N377xs
The 1988 team come in to surprise this Celtic fan and then enter the Lions. Brilliant!
How many children with neuroblastoma could be treated with £9m? What a idiotic world we live in.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/loyalist-twaddell-protest-camp-policing-bill-tops-9-million-10month-operation-in-north-belfast-30286135.html
Navajos thought evil spirits could escape only through an error in art.
-you are now SettingFreeTheEvilSpirits
DBBIA/DanceswithwolvesCSC
SETTINGFREETHEBEARS. 1452
One error?
There’s blinkin’ hunnersathem!
Ten,to be precise,k.
From FF, confusion reigns over the choice of postcards to use for the protest:
http://image0-rubylane.s3.amazonaws.com/shops/antique-ables/RL001225.1L.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q136r4j2X7Y/ThUbLdNN5fI/AAAAAAAACD4/Dka0eG7divU/s1600/MLS%2B7%253A6%2B-%2BMonkeys%2BButt%2BPostcard.jpg
http://www.vanishedamericana.com/old-time-fun/funny-postcard-with-giant-oranges-from-1909/attachment/funny-old-postcard/
http://rlv.zcache.com/funny_vintage_we_moved_postcards-rde8077645c2c4635acdf131c58f0c0a5_vgbaq_8byvr_512.jpg
http://www.kulfoto.com/icache?f=0001/0037/6D06v36875.jpg&r=71797
Has ole Ya Ya’s agent been hacked!
Shirley CSC
For Ya Ya read Yaya
Apologies in case he flounces CSC
Wasn’t the guitarist in Spirit called Randy California?
I vaguely remember one song called “I’ll be happy minding the baby” It sounded nothing like Stairway to Heaven though so I could be mistaken
cadizzy
California was born in Los Angeles.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gFHLO_2_THg
Spirit Taurus
HH
Connaire12
To quote Tommy Gemmell..
All the Best
for Thursday.
Been there with my eldest son.
HH & KTF
Big Nan
…………………………………..
“From what I saw it had a higher wine drinking count per head than Barcelona!”
no need for the ” count per head” part…
I worked in the Green Oak Bar as a cellar boy in 1974. Each night before opening, I would bring up at least two cases of Eldorado clear (12 40 oz bottles per case). The demand for dark was a fraction of that which shows that your average Greenockian wine drinker won’t just drink anything…unless they really had to.
The drummer in Spirit was wee Randy’s stepfather.
next they will be suin’ the ole’ Partridge Family’ for stealin’ the idea for the show.
bournesouprecipe
15:09 on 20 May, 2014
“cadizzy
California was born in Los Angeles.”
but in the sixties San Francisco arguably was the epitome of randy California
“I’ll be happy minding the baby”
a more acceptable song choice for Leigh Griffiths.
He could even do a duet with Cha Mul Grew.
Dontbrattbakkinanger
15:15 on 20 May, 2014
“The drummer in Spirit was wee Randy’s stepfather.”
…so did he sing “I’ll be happy minding the baby”?
Robert Plant has strongly stated that Stairway to Heaven being a rip off of Taurus is a lot of bull
” I only borrowed it ”
Jimmy Page
Randy Califoria’s step-father was called Ed Cassidy so maybe they did have the Partridge Family idea first
Leftclicktic 1353
Great vid, good to see Macca eyeing up Esther as well, he never missed a trick :-)