Modern Football is Still Rubbish

Modern Football is Still Rubbish

Taking their cue from TV’s Grumpy Old Men, the authors pour forth on an A-Z of topics with well-observed humour rather than relentless negativity. Modern football is given credit where due, and there is praise for the Jeff Stelling/Ray Stubbs Saturdays head-to-head, which evokes memories of classic Dickie Davies vs Des Lynam battles. Again it hits the right tone: nostalgic, without being sentimental; and scathing without being bitter. The only problem is the first book is a hard act to follow. Davidson and Hunt neatly sidestep this by tackling a few more obscure subjects, such as end-of-season videos, grassburns on the knees. balloon football (played indoors at Christmas), as well as some new bugbears, including thee vuvuzela and the Europa League. This book is just as thought-provoking as the original, but if anything, even more poignant in the light of football's impending financial meltdown. It may not quite reach the heights of the first book, simply because the first one hit most of the targets already, but this excellent sequel captures the mood of the times brilliantly.