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Provided You Don't Kiss Me: 20 Years with Brian Clough

Author: Duncan Hamilton
Publisher: Fourth Estate
Category: Book

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

27 reviews
Sales Rank: 15414

Media: Hardcover
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.6 x 5.5 x 1.3

ISBN: 0007247109
EAN: 9780007247103
ASIN: 0007247109

Publication Date: May 1, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Also Available In:

•	Paperback - Provided You Don't Kiss Me: 20 Years with Brian Clough

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Customer Reviews: Read 22 more reviews...

3 out of 5 stars

A Big Story... July 16, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Excellent, straightforward sports biography, distinguished by Hamilton's closeness to his subject and the resulting intimacy of the portrait. No tricks, no fiction or imagined scenes, just sensitive writing and informed analysis of the Clough career and of a very different time in British football - a big enough story in its own right to require very little embroidery.

Duncan Hamilton makes no bones about how fortunate he was to be allowed unparalleled access to the force of nature that was Brian Clough. The portrait that emerges seems to come from something for which 'love' is maybe the only appropriate word; it's to Hamilton's credit that it never seems like obsession as, throughout, he is remarkably clear-eyed about Clough's weaknesses as well as his astonishing triumphs. The excellent and detailed accounts of how Clough took not one but two poor-to-middling English clubs to the heights of European glory (a feat that one struggles to imagine being repeated today) are balanced by an understanding of his very human insecurities and frailties, and by an increasingly dominant subtext - a (literally) sobering account of how low even a character as powerful as Clough could be laid by alcohol.

5 out of 5 stars

His favourite word was`s*ithouse`! July 9, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This is one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read. I am old enough to remember Clough at his managerial peak in the seventies. What he managed to achieve at two relatively small clubs will never be repeated. Also, I had often wondered why he and his friend/assistant Peter Taylor fell out and Duncan Hamilton explains the whole sorry tale. Do yourself a favour and buy this book.

3 out of 5 stars

A Big Story July 4, 2008
Excellent, straightforward sports biography, distinguished by Hamilton's closeness to his subject and the resuting intimacy of the portrait. No tricks, no fiction or imagined scenes, just sensitive writing and informed analysis of the Clough career and of a very different time in British football - a big enough story in its own right to require very little embroidery.

Duncan Hamilton makes no bones about how fortunate he was to be allowed unparalleled access to the force of nature that was Brian Clough. The portrait that emerges seems to come from something for which 'love' is maybe the only appropriate word; its to Hamilton's credit that it never seems like obsession as, throughout, he is remarkably clear-eyed about Clough's weaknesses as well as his astonishing triumphs. The excellent and detailed accounts of how Clough took not one but two poor-to-middling English clubs to the heights of European glory (a feat that one struggles to imagine being repeated today) are balanced by an understanding of his very human insecurities and frailties, and by an increasingly dominant subtext - a (literally) sobering account of how low even a character as powerful as Clough could be laid by alcohol.

5 out of 5 stars

Honest and typical of a genius June 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Having read a number of books on Clough there was was nothing to surprise me.I found the book an excellent and entertaining read - in keeping with my perception of the man - arrogant, brutish, money orientated and unpredictable. In his day he was unique, an enigma, a leader who commanded and received respect.A person who challenged authority, be it at his own peril.There are very few managers today who could wield such a comparable influence. He achieved,with Peter Taylor,remarkable success from the resources laid available.But his fallibility is evident in the book. I greatly enjoyed the book, although it jumped around on occasion as to his footballing career. Well recommended.

1 out of 5 stars

Not Fair, Not all True & a new Spin Doctor that is Duncan Hamiltion June 10, 2008
3 out of 10 found this review helpful

I'm afraid I'm going to have to go against the grain on this one.

When I first picked this book up, & read John Motson's quote on the front cover "One of the best football books I've ever read", I thought I was onto something.

What I found was that Duncan Hamilton has 'pillaged' Brian Clough's character here. For example. Whenever something positive came up in a subject, Duncan Hamilton found it in himself to point to the negative & not dig deep into how Brian Clough reached his successes & share that with us. He spun things in such a way that reality was changed to suit Duncan Hamilton's small mindedness. Duncan Hamilton does not share with you that Brian Clough recognised Duncan Hamilton as an ambitious young journalist who Brian Clough helped out like no other journalist in his time. Not once does Duncan Hamilton thank Brian Clough for helping him out in his career & recognise the fact that without Brian Clough, Duncan Hamilton would never have been heard of. Duncan Hamilton's 'other work' will never be recognised because it isn't any good. All the time through this book I was waiting for something riveting to spring from the pages. All that sprung from the pages was a journalist that got lucky, by being so close to a legend, that is Brian Clough, who took a couple of 'ordinary' Football clubs to the top of the old 1st division & for one of the them, to 2 European Cup successes, Duncan Hamilton picked up the controversial moments & spun them in such a way that he felt he could gain his own lime light rather than share the truth. I can't help but feel that this book was written by Duncan Hamilton for his own financial gain rather than to share his knowledge on Brian Clough. I think neither Brian Clough's family, nor what were his close confidents, will take any pleasure out of what has been written in this book. Justice has not been done in this book & to continue to be honest, this book read quite flat.