Man In The Middle, Book In A Muddle

• Date: 12.11.2007
• Book: Rules of the Game
• Author: TCRH

Review

A good referee must strike a fine balance. The job requires him to be at the centre of the storm but more often than not he is applauded for his anonymity. He is a main protagonist but cannot steal the story.

Pierluigi Collina was a master of this art. That he became a star in his own right was thanks to the combination of his skill as an official and that distinctive bald head crowning that goggle eyed stare.

Even in writing what is, nominally at least, his autobiography Collina seems scared to step fully into the limelight. This is football through the eyes of the referee rather than the referee's tale.

Surely even the most rampant football lover would be hard pushed to give a damn about the dietary habits of top referees. When we want to know what top class player said what and to who, we instead get Pierliugi and his colleagues being put through their paces at a referee's training camp.

That these passages feel almost as gruelling as those training sessions is largely due to a leaden translation that takes material of slight promise and renders it comatose.

There is enough here to show that Collina has a story to tell. Sadly we don't get to hear it.

Collina lists David Beckham as one of his favourite players. David kindly provides a quote for the cover: I'll leave it up to you to decide if a commendation from Becks will have you dashing to the book shop.