Graham's Blog

WE’RE giving away THREE copies of Graham’s Barca book to coincide with the release of the latest podcast in our summer series: an exclusive extract from the audiobook!

Barca: The Making Of The Greatest Team In The World is available now from Audible and documents the creation of the all-conquering Camp Nou side led by Pep Guardiola.

We will launch our exclusive extract on Monday, as Graham narrates the chapter ‘The Making Of Pep’ in which he tells the story of how Guardiola went from being a gifted midfielder in Johan Cruyff’s Dream Team to become head coach of the Catalan club.

Here’s what you have to do to get your hands on a copy: sign up to the Big Interview mailing list by 7pm on Monday by putting your email address into the ‘Subscribe’ box directly beneath this post. (If you’re on the mailing list already you don’t need to do anything).

We’ll then email you a Guardiola-related question. Hit ‘reply’ to Monday’s email with your answer, and we’ll announce the three lucky winners later in the week.

And if you don’t win, don’t worry. You’ll now be on our mailing list and will have the chance to win more goodies in the future and will have the latest podcasts sent directly to your inbox.

Good luck!

ARE you sitting comfortably? You are about to listen to an extract taken from my book on Spain and the inside story of La Roja’s historic treble.

This is Chapter Six: English Lessons. During the extract, I describe how some of Spain’s better footballers – Cesc Fabregas, Gerard Pique, Alvaro Arbeloa, players easily recognised today – began to extend their horizons beyond the boundaries of their country, and how this helped improve the fortunes of their national side.

Playing abroad had traditionally been a foreign concept for Spanish footballers. But I explain that, for many of the country’s young stars, playing in other European leagues brought opportunities they weren’t getting back home.

British football, in particular, helped La Roja to dominate at the three major tournaments between 2008 and 2012, with Joan Capdevila acknowledging that the Spaniards who played in England learned to become hardy competitors, as well as skilful footballers.

My book on Spain is available in full as an audiobook from the good people at Audible. You can get it absolutely free if you sign up for a 30-day trial membership at audible.co.uk. We will bring you the Making of Pep, an extract from Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World, in a couple of weeks.

Enjoy!

WE’RE giving away THREE copies of Graham’s Spain book to coincide with the release of the latest podcast in our summer series: an exclusive extract from the audiobook!

Spain: The Inside Story Of La Rojas’s Historic Treble is available now from Audible and chronicles that team’s remarkable triumphs at Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012.

We will launch our exclusive excerpt on Monday, as Graham narrates the chapter ‘English Lessons’ in which he reveals how playing abroad – and in England, in particular – transformed Spain’s players into hardy competitors.

Here’s what you have to do to get your hands on a copy: sign up to the Big Interview mailing list by 7pm on Monday by putting your email address into the ‘Subscribe’ box directly beneath this post. (If you’re on the mailing list already you don’t need to do anything).

We’ll then email you a Spain-related question. Hit ‘reply’ to Monday’s email with your answer, and we’ll announce the three lucky winners later in the week.

And if you don’t win, don’t worry. You’ll now be on our mailing list and will have the chance to win more goodies in the future and will have the latest podcasts sent directly to your inbox.

Good luck!

WELCOME back for the second part of the La Liga event I recorded live with Mr Sid Lowe at the Sugar Club in Dublin earlier this year.

On the night, we opened up the floor to questions tweeted to us from members of the audience, with Sid and I talking about unforgettable characters from the Spanish game like Laurie Cunningham and the madcap Joaquin.

We discuss Lionel Messi – how could we not? – and how he is now playing his best football ever, while we also talk about Cristiano Ronaldo and his obsession with becoming known as the greatest of all time.

We also take questions about Diego Simeone and why it has still to fall into place for Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

This was organised by Con Artist promotions, who have put on some truly fantastic live football talks across Ireland and the UK. The next event is being held tonight at Union Chapel, London, where James Richardson, James Horncastle and Paolo Bandini will mark the 25th anniversary celebration of Gazzetta Football Italia.

Information about this and future Con Artist events can be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Enjoy!

YOU are about to listen to a La Liga event which I recorded live with Sid Lowe at the Sugar Club in Dublin earlier this year.

Together, we share our appreciation of rondos and the role they play in the technical development of footballers in Spain, something which teams in England continue to be ignorant of.

We also chat about Luis Enrique and, in particular, his relationship with the Spanish media during his time as manager of FC Barcelona, and I give my opinion on the direction that Barca are going in. Sid and I also discuss another character who has since left the Spanish game, Monchi, and explain why he was so incredibly important to the success of Sevilla during his long reign as sporting director.

This event was a lot of fun, and I want to say a big thank you to Con Artist promotions for staging the gig. Con Artist puts on some fantastic live football talks across Ireland and the UK – with past events like The Blizzard, Football Weekly Live and many more.

In fact, there’s an event at Union Chapel in London on Monday, June 19 that I think you’ll be very interested in – a 25th anniversary celebration of Gazzetta Football Italia, where James Richardson, James Horncastle and Paolo Bandini will relive their favourite moments from this era d’oro of Italian football.