Sussex football writer scores top praise for new book
Added: (Fri May 13 2022)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
New Sussex author Ian Blackman has combined his love of sport and the written word for his five-star-rated debut novel.
The 68-year-old retired PE and maths teacher has just released his ‘funny’, ‘insightful’ and ‘occasionally brilliant’ first book.
The Writes and Wrongs of a Wordplayer Manager is a thought-provoking and entertaining study into the mind of an under-pressure football manager.
Written in diary excerpts, Ian’s novel is an attempt to get behind the media façade that football bosses regularly use in front of cameras and microphones.
He explained: “The idea for the book came from watching managers in press conferences - I wanted to know more about the person behind the media mask.
“The Writes and Wrongs of a Wordplayer Manager is an attempt at showing the manager as a human being in what is such a difficult job, always in the spotlight and being judged purely on results.
“I put the manager, Sidney Special, into a relegation battle to see how he would cope with the challenge.
“I chose the diary form so he could write whatever he wanted without fear of retribution from the football authorities.
“His team are made favourites to go down and match by match you witness the ups and downs of his team and the effect on his life.”
The Writes and Wrongs of a Wordplayer Manager follows Sidney throughout a gruelling season of successes and disappointments.
Ian’s protagonist shares his views on everything from VAR, supporters and players to match officials, the chairman, and the league authorities.
While The Writes and Wrongs of a Wordplayer Manager is both humorous and enjoyable on a football level, it is also an accurate exploration of one man’s struggles with communicating.
Ian explained: “I wanted to show amongst other things, the difficulty with expressing yourself - particularly men - and how important writing can be, which in turn can help to examine how you think and feel.
“Although Sidney likes to play with words, he does not have the confidence to call his efforts poems, he calls them instead his DO DARS.”
Following the successful release of The Writes and Wrongs of a Wordplayer Manager, Ian is already taking forward one of the characters, Ronnie Ranter.
The eccentric match reporter, who has earned a reputation for digressing with personal anecdotes, may take a more central role in a future book.
For more details, visit Amazon and search for Ian Blackman, where the paperback and Kindle formats of The Writes and Wrongs of a Wordplayer Manager are both available.
Notes to the editor
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