Paul Merson: Hero and Villain

[Rich6by7]

Anyone else out there read tjis book? I had a clearout recently but I chose to rescue this from the trip to Oxfam (unlike John gregory's "The Boss", which is now gathering dust in a Northamptonshire charity bookshop) and I reread it this week, ten years later. I think it's a very interesting insight into the mind of a respected professional battling with the pressures of recovery from his gambling and alcohol addiction, and as I had a half-season ticket that year, it brought back memories for me personally, albeit mainly bad ones- a 4-1 drubbing at home to Coventry, anyone? Still, this paragraph towards the end about two of our rising stars at the time struck a chord, especially with the benefit of hindsight:

"He (Gareth Barry, who would have been eighteen at the time) is a nice lad, the best footballing centre half I think I have ever seen, but still needs to work on his defending. I hope I can get across to him that he has the chance to be one of the dominant players of his era, which is all any player can ever do. He's got to look after himself, though, and avoid the pitfalls. Same as Lee Hendrie."

Wise words there indeed- especially as the fortunes of the two young player named there went in two different directions. I was as annoyed as anyone when Barry went to Manchester City, but it shows that Merson's judgement was spot on- and Hendrie is an example of what happens when a player's potential is wasted.

He makes some very positive comments about a certain K. Macdonald as well...

Well worth revisiting a decade on if you've got a copy lying around.

[curiousorange]

Even for a guy as addled as Merson sometimes was, if he couldn't see that Barry was going to be a commanding and calm player and Hendrie was going to slash his talent against a wall then I would have been surprised.

But I do like to read these old biogs sometimes, just to see what rubbish people spout at the time.

[willywombat]

I think in all the time that I've been following the Villa, ( 40+ years ), the Lee Hendrie situation has been the most disappointing in terms of unfulfilled potential. Anyone who saw Barry's debut at Hillsborough and his heroic efforts the following week at home to Arsenal when we were down to 10 men in the last game of the season, surely realised we had a real talent on board. Both very, very talented players but one who apparently had a clear view of what he had to do to get to the top and the other who clearly didnt have a clue

[PeterWithesShin]

By coincidence I bought a copy of this in a charity shop for £1.20 yesterday, so will start reading it at some stage in the next couple of weeks.

[Chris Jameson]

I too picked it up in a charity shop a while ago and realised why it had been donated.

[PeterWithesShin]

I too picked it up in a charity shop a while ago and realised why it had been donated.

I remember reading a review for it in H&V when it first came out that wasn't exactly flattering so I never bothered buying it before. But for £1.20 I thought what the hell.

[TaxDodger]

I've read it and I thought it was a pretty good read. He didn't seem to rate Gregory as a manager, hardly suprising really.

[brian green]

One of my sons - I cannot recall which one - had to organize a Merson interview with that old tom who was married to a tory MP who got busted.   She had everybody she interviewed seated on a red sofa and the interview was in the centre circle of the Holy Ground.   According to whichever son it was Merse was good and easy to work with but I feel his relevance has slipped the longer he has been the wrong side of the white line which is a pity because he was a damn fine player when he was the other side of it.

[Phil from the upper holte]

I think i'll give that a go, Big Ron is quality read also, i'd reccomend that one.