Summary
Overview
This episode of Now That's What I Call Quickly Kevin (Volume 10) features hosts Chris Scull and Josh Widdicombe, joined by Nigel Marden, diving into football literature and hilariously dissecting Steve Bruce's detective fiction trilogy featuring footballer-turned-manager Steve Barnes. The discussion ranges from reviewing classic football books like 'Inverting the Pyramid' and 'The Damned United' to reading excerpts from Bruce's wonderfully bizarre crime novels 'Sweeper' and 'Defender,' complete with product placement for Jaguar cars and deeply questionable medical decisions.
Football Books Discussion and Richard Keys Blog
The hosts kick off by discussing football literature, with Chris currently reading Jonathan Wilson's 'Inverting the Pyramid' and admitting he only understands about 80% of it, struggling with obscure formations beyond the basics. The conversation expands to include classic football books like 'The Damned United,' 'Brilliant Orange,' and 'The Nowhere Men.' They then transition to reading from Richard Keys' bizarre blog where he mistakes one TalkSport presenter for another while defending Qatar from English criticism.
- Chris is reading 'Inverting the Pyramid' but struggles with formations that aren't 4-4-2, 3-5-2, or 4-3-3
- Michael believes 'Inverting the Pyramid' is the best football book ever written
- They discuss classics including 'The Damned United,' 'Brilliant Orange,' and Roy Keane's autobiography
- Richard Keys was listening to TalkSport from Qatar and didn't know who the presenter was
" I feel like I'm not clever enough. I don't understand formations that aren't 4-4-2, 3-5-2, stroke 5-3-2, or 4-3-3. That's it for me. I don't know what the WM is. "
" I don't know either, girl, but I'm told Laura is studious and hardworking. Plainly, that's in stark contrast to Natalie, who is offering her misinformed, misguided opinions about Qatar. "
Steve Barnes Book 1 - Sweeper: Old Sam's Death
Guest Ivo Graham joins to read from Steve Bruce's second novel 'Sweeper,' which features manager Steve Barnes discovering the club's elderly groundsman/janitor Sam having a medical emergency. In a questionable decision, Barnes diagnoses him with epilepsy and refuses to call an ambulance initially, claiming epileptics 'get fed up of waking up in hospital.' After Sam dies despite Barnes's amateur medical intervention, Barnes follows the ambulance in his beloved Jaguar XJ8, thinking simultaneously about mortality and power-assisted steering.
- Steve Bruce refers to football as 'soccer' throughout the books, suggesting international market ambitions
- Old Sam has worked at the club for 50 years, from age 15 to 65
- Steve Barnes refuses to call an ambulance initially, self-diagnosing Sam with epilepsy
- Barnes follows the ambulance in his XJ8 3.2 sports version V-Reg Jaguar
" People who suffer from epilepsy get fed up of waking up in hospital. "
" As I drove fast in the infirmary following the ambulance as it cut a sway through the traffic, I wasn't thinking of power assisted steering and speed sensitive variable ratios. I was considering how life can be sweet one minute and suddenly, without warning, we are dead. "
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