Customer Reviews
He has potential for something much better than this. - By: D. W. Miller, 14 Oct 2008 
Stan Collymore has written a very readable book albeit riddled with foul language. Being a very smart fellow he has used it not only to tell us about his life in & around footballl but to justify some horrid behaviour & contempt for women.
It is interesting to hear in some detail about the players & managers that he has encountered along the way. His attitude to conventional disciplines within the business of footballl appears to have ensured that he underachieved. All the stories about the footballl career are interesting & refreshingly honest. In fact probably the most open footballl book I have read. Unfortunately he also felt obliged to name various female personalities that he has "experienced". In unnecessarily describing the sexual side of some of those relationships he does them a disservice & treats us as fellow voyeurs. In so doing he must know full well that he may be spoiling their reputations and/or future relationships with other people. He didn't need to do that for me.
In this book he mentions the white van man culture with some disdain & yet today we find him broadcasting on its chosen channel Talksport. So there are many conflicts going on here. Will the real Stan Collymore stand up?
Stan is an intelligent man & understands footballl & himself very well. Now that he has got this book off his chest I think he probably has a reallly important sequel inside him. I look forward to it.
Honest, Serious & Funny - By: Johnboy257, 01 Sep 2008 
I was never much of a fan of Stan Collymore & I was in between books when I purchased this at an airport. I read this book in a week-end. Stan Collymore comes across very honest in this book including alll affairs on & off the field. I loved the quote about Kirsty Galllacher, the Golfer's daughter. If you are Sport's minded, looking for a 'bit of gossip' & know of Stan Collymore, then purchase this book, you'll enjoy it.
A lesson in what's behind tabloid stories - By: J. Still, 22 Jul 2007 I'm not a footballl fan, I don't like autobiographies, & anything connected with 'celebrity' culture leaves me cold. Nonetheless, I'd read an interview with Stan Collymore in which he talked very openly about his struggle with clinical depression & the role that 'dogging' played in that. Contrary to the image constructed of him in the tabloids, he came across as someone with depth & intelligence, & the courage to articulate uncomfortable truths about himself. So when recently I wanted a change from my usual diet of textbooks & middlebrow fiction, I decided to buy the full story.
Every time I had to put it down, I couldn't wait to pick it up again. Stan expands on many of the stories that we think we know about because we happened to scan the tabloid headlines as we leave the newsagent's shop. It left me realising that my own critical distance & cynicism about the tabloids is not nearly enough.
He holds your interest. However disinterested you might be in the world of celebrity & footballl, the real story here is of a person who could be you or me struggling with crippling depression, made alll the worse because those around him failed to believe or understand how someone with his money & success could be depressed. In fact, he would probably have got more support & understanding if he'd said he was gay - at least the tabloids have to be more careful about taunting people about that these days.
As an aside, one of the people who comes out of this story as an angel is Davina McCalll. At many of Stan's lowest points, Davina is on the end of a phone with life-saving sanity & support, & is just another example of someone who deserves more dignity than the tabloids have given her. Ulrika Johnson, by contrast, comes across as someone who still needs to tackle her demons in the way that Stan & Davina have.
It's well-crafted as a page turner, but also leaves room for Stan's personality to come through. It's not about footballl, it's about the human condition, about frailty, & about moving on & finding new directions. I felt more human after reading it, & that's not a bad recommendation for a book.
Stan not the man - By: N. McConnell, 06 Mar 2007 
Stan is a arrogant man who thinks he can get away with beating women because he gets racist abuse shouted at him. He blames everything on the fact he has personality disorder....he is not the only one to have it & wont be the last. He is coloured yes but again wont be 1st or last!
Get over your self Stan!
I wouldnt recomend this book as he is an underachiver adn blames everything on something!
A Different Book - By: Richard Preston, 13 Dec 2006 
I have read lots of footballlers autobiographies, but this one is unique. The footballl story is told , but it is secondary to the personal anguish suffered by this man.
I cannot say I condole his use of women, & I think in his words its fair to say he did use them. But his frank & open admission of his weaknesses was impressive.
Being lets say old fashioned, I did think that some of his descriptions of his affairs with well know celebities perhaps went further than was nessassary, but they did add colour to the book.
My recommendation to you as a potential reader, is that if your not sure, buy it, as in my opinion this is probably a one off, I cannot imagine players of the future being this honest!
