Now I start this review to say that No, Man U are not the best team but I must concede having read this book that AF might be one of if not the best manager of recent times. Growing up I heard his name thrown around but did not know much about him so when the opportunity came to have a read I was so glad I took it. A very informative and well written book.

I great insight in to Sir Alex's life and career. I highly recommend, even though I am not a Manchester United fan

For more reviews and bookish posts visit https://www.ManOfLaBook.com

Alex: The Man Behind the Legend by David Lyons is a biography of Alex Ferguson, Manchester United’s famous manager. Mr. Lyons is a bestselling author from Ireland.

Alex: The Man Behind the Legend by David Lyons is a biography of Alex Ferguson, Manchester United’s famous manager. Mr. Lyons is a bestselling author from Ireland.

Alex Ferguson is one of the most successful, and well-known, managers in the history of soccer. He led Manchester United to multiple titles, British and European, including the elusive Treble in 1999. A Treble is when a club wins three trophies in a single season, in Man U’s case: Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League. Widely regarded as the greatest soccer manager of all time, he is just as famous as the team’s most beloved players.

I have certainly heard of Sir Alex Ferguson, however, I have not read any books by, or about him. Alex: The Man Behind the Legend by David Lyons certainly opened my eyes to the contributions Mr. Ferguson made not only to Man U. but to the sport of soccer as a whole.

I enjoyed the writing very much, especially how the author wrote the accents. Enough to let the reader know what they might sound like, but also not too much as to make us work hard to understand what they’re talking about.

More than anything, I enjoyed reading about Mr. Ferguson’s management and leadership style. He was planning years ahead, building a club, not a team. His tremendous memory for people served him well, and I can certainly see why people of all ages and cultures followed him through thick and thin.

I am no soccer scholar, I know names, teams, highlights, and enjoy watching the game (and playing if it’s not too hot and if these old knees don’t act up). I have to take the author at this word of events, and players. But as I mentioned, I enjoyed the other aspects of the book, namely the management style.

The author does refer to many other books and movies about Mr. Ferguson, so I can only assume that if you read 2-3 books on him, nothing here might be of any news. I, however, have not.

The one complaint I do have is the phrase “which you can read about in detail in a later chapter”, which is repeated so many times it gets annoying. I did, however, enjoy reading the book very much and my appreciation of Mr. Ferguson, which was already very high, went up several notches.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A fabulous account of the greatest manager of all time. Recommended.

The greatest manager of all time what a fascinating biography. A must read for anyone who loves football a Man Utd fan or not.
I received this book from the publishers via Netgalley for a review.

From nought to eighty, this is the most complete biography ever written about Sir Alex Ferguson. I found this an interesting read and recommended it.

Although I am far from being a supporter of Manchester United I have to admit I admire Alex Ferguson and all he has achieved in football. This is the third biography I have read of his life, the other two were autobiographies written by Alex himself and were predictably less willing to highlight the flaws and failures that came along the way to greatness. The book is full of fascinating information and stories, many of which I had never heard and the more balanced view enhanced my enjoyment.

I did find the book a very good read but I couldn’t help feeling that it needed a good editing as there was a lot of repetition, timelines changing back and forth and constant references to other books. I feel just referring to the books at the back of the book would have been sufficient. The other irritancy to me was that David Lyons would start a story and then say more information would be told in a later chapter only to then virtually repeat what you had already been told when you get there. In effect the book was far longer than it needed to be.

Overall I did enjoy the read but unfortunately once I got irritated by the writing it was difficult to give the book a chance. I did like the more balance account of Alex Fergusons life but unfortunately the book is full of errors, repetitions and quotes from other books.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for supplying a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting book about one of the best managers in the history of football.

Thanks to the publisher, the author and NetGalley for this copy.

I jumped at the chance to read this, given Sir Alex Ferguson is such a great character and influential figure in football. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a frustrating read for several reasons.

Firstly, as it's an biography rather than autobiography, it naturally lacked the primary sources of an autobiography, but I felt that it didn't seek many other first person perspectives, David Lyons could have tried to interview others around Ferguson at those times (maybe he did and had no luck), it leaves it all feeling very recycled and second hand. Large sections feel developed from Ferguson's two autobiographies - frankly, you may as well just stick to reading them yourself.

Secondly, the language is repetitive. Lyons constantly mentions that you'll hear "more on that later in the book", it felt really jarring, nor is it needed. He repeats little phrases several times over, to the point I found myself double checking I'd not accidently gone back a page. And he also misuses some phrases - 'brush over' for, effectively 'briefly touch upon' is one that springs to mind.

Worst of all though is the fact that there are so many factual errors, this needed a good fact check or proof-reading. Some I noticed (and there are probably a lot more I didn't):

- Transfer fees are sometimes wrong (Ince to Inter is one) and other times inconsistent from one page to the next (Ronaldo to Real given as £80.9m then £89.9m).
- He advises Jim Leighton was dropped for the 1989 Cup final replay, when it was 1990.
- Title dates right one page, wrong the next - Lyons at one point advises United won the title in 2002 and Arsenal in 2003, rather than a year later for each.
- Cantona is described as being at United 6 seasons, and winning 5 titles. It was 5 and 4.
- The facts and figures on the 1975 Scottish League restructuring are completely wrong.
- Ronaldinho is described as turning United down to go to PSG - he was already at PSG and went to Barcelona.
- He mentions that in 1997, when United lost in the FA Cup, they failed to reach a 3rd successive final - they'd already done so, it would have been a 4th not 3rd.
- It's alleged that the 'last time' United played in the European Cup before 1993, they won it (1968), but they played in it as holders in 1969 (and lost in the semis).
- The 'three foreigner' rule is described wrongly - it alleges Welsh and Scottish players counted as foreign, they didn't (Irish did).
- 6 out of 11 players is described as two-thirds of a team which, plainly, it's not.

As these errors racked up, it just felt more and more frustrating, and so unfortunately I couldn't recommend the book.