Hi Mike,
I’ve been busy…reading your book!! Finished it this evening. Brilliant. There are so many parts I loved – how you talk about the Saturday match ritual, the players and your relationship with other clubs. One phrase came to mind as I was reading early on, and it didn’t leave me all the way through to the end, and it’s this; your book is like a love letter to the beautiful game, and in particular to your lifelong love, Spurs. I said it a few days ago, you’re an incredible writer.
Now, like many other people, I find praise a little embarrassing and somewhat difficult to handle. How are you supposed to respond? However, when an extremely valued friend sends you an e mail like that, you are bound to take notice. How I did it, in this case, was to sit in front of the computer a little lost for words. Just as well, as I work from home on my own. Since then, however, all I can say is that it has given me a warm glow of satisfaction. That recognition from others that you have a talent; for being a wordsmith. That has spurred me on to finish the manuscript asap; something I’m now doing.
Which brings me round to that other great acquisition that you need in life, which is luck. In my case, the latter coming from the fact that Spurs have finished above Arsenal for the first time in 22 years, thus justifying the title of the book, “Why Don’t You Just Support Arsenal, the Life and Times of a Spurs’ Supporter”. This was a comment, some years ago, from Gaynor, my wife, when I came back from seeing them lose, once again, while Arsenal had just won, once again.
So, thank you, Gaynor, for that opportune title and your unending support and to Mike Blissett, for the encouraging words; proving, what I’ve long believed, that “Well Done Will Always Get the Best Response”.