Who's Hoos

A Very Merry Christmas
By Dave Thomas
December 14 2011

We welcomed a new Chief Exec to Turf Moor, Lee Hoos. The best post on a website was surely from Rileybobs: “Why are we signing a new CE when we have obvious weaknesses in midfield and defence?” Probably because the new guy has extensive experience of handling new investors and overseas takeovers; rumours and suggestions of impending takeovers at Turf Moor immediately hit the airwaves.

And another first: Mr Hoos is from Maryland USA. There were immediate suggestions that the café kiosks should now stock Maryland Chocolate Chip Cookies. Then came the suggestion that Turf Moor might well be renamed The Maryland Chocolate Chip Cookie Stadium. Crumbs, I thought, that certainly takes the biscuit.

All in all though, it came across as a bold and exciting appointment. And other things too were all good news. The reserves with Pato and Charlie Austin scoring on their comebacks won 4 – 2. And the youth team won 7 – 0 away at Boston in the FA Youth Cup. The Alliance side won their 11th consecutive game.

For me though the best news was that the Roger Eli book has now been sent to the publisher at last. I delivered something around 110,000 words and files of pictures on a tiny memory stick you could lose in your pocket, just a few centimetres long. I looked at it and thought bloody hell there’s 12 months work on that. There’ll be a few things to alter I’d guess now it’s at copy edit stage not the least of which will be the curse of the typo. But from now on it’s all systems go to get it into print by the end of next April. There really is a splendid selection of BFC books at the moment on the shop shelves. Roger’s will be a worthy addition. We settled on a name… for now we keep it to ourselves until the Press releases and sales blurb comes out:

     “This isn’t a book about money. This isn’t a book about playing in European Leagues and World Cups. Nor is it a sensationalist, tabloid style, expletive-filled story of recovery from debt, gambling and alcholism. It’s just the story of a player who had his dreams but never made the big-time, and met no end of hurdles and injuries along the way. It’s a story about life, the crossroads that we meet, the choices that we make, and the way that the decisions of others affect the paths of our lives. It is both heart-rending and heart-warming.

     Roger Eli’s career was influenced by several managers: Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest, Eddie Gray and Billy Bremner at Leeds United and then Frank Casper and Jimmy Mullen at Burnley. There are others who appear fleetingly in his story. It’s a story of struggles, determination and bravery, and then brief success before the man who mattered, the man who picks the team, decided he was of no further use.

     Roger Eli was one of those pioneer black footballers of the early 90’s. He was Player of the Year at Burnley in 1991/92. After several years of knockdowns he eventually tasted glory. This is a story about what lies at the heart of football, about how cruel football can be, and how success is so fleeting. For every Terry, Torres or Tevez there are scores of other footballers that make a living from the game, but who could write a manual about the pitfalls and obstacles along the way, yet not without a little humour and a store of good memories. Roger Eli is one of them.”..............................

To Continue Reading Click The Links Below

Who's Hoos

Close Encounters Of The West Ham Kind

A very Merry Christmas to one and all…. Dave T xxx

Who's Hoos

Posted by: TheLongside.co.uk (IP Logged)

Date: 14/12/2011 08:50

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