A fun, intelligent, and useful guide to understanding the nuanced language of soccer Every week, year-round, legions of devoted soccer fans across the country rise at the crack of dawn or quietly sneak out of work to watch their favorite teams play across the pond—complete with a soundtrack of two cheeky Englishmen spouting a stream of trite phrases and curious words that make maddeningly little sense. They’ll chat about flying teacups and cultured left feet, or point out a player who’s jinking through the corridor of uncertainty, hoping to bag one with aplomb. Confused? Many Brits are, too. In Football Clichés, London-based soccer writer Adam Hurrey amusingly translates the idioms of the sport, from the quaint to the ridiculous. Here you’ll find words for parts of the field and parts of the body; for ways to score a goal and ways to run, walk, or fake an injury. You’ll learn to read the shifting moods of fans at a soccer match and encounter the game’s oddly expressive gestures, which include the muted celebration and the beleaguered manager clap. Perfect for the die-hard or fair-weather fan, Football Clichés celebrates the world of soccer in all its glory.

'A must-have' - The Telegraph 'Book of the Week' - The Independent 'Hilarious' - Sport Magazine From the host of the Football Clichés podcast comes the hilarious and ever-relevant debut book. In what other context do football fans use the words 'aplomb' or 'derisory'? Why don't we use 'rifle' as a verb on the other six days of the week? Why do aggrieved midfielders feel the instinctive need to make a giant ball-shaped gesture with both hands after a mistimed tackle is punished? The more football Adam Hurrey watched, the more he began to spot the recurring mannerisms, behaviours, opinions and iconography that were mindlessly repeated in the football media. Some clichés are ridiculous, some are quaintly outdated, some have survived through their sheer indisputability. Here, featuring gloriously pseudo-scientific diagrams and the inimitable writing style that made footballcliches.com a smash hit, they are covered in all their glory. And if you love this, Adam Hurrey's new follow-up book, Extra Time Beckons, Penalties Loom, is out this September.

Dark Horses, Dutch in-fighting, the Group of Death, taking on fluids, writing the Germans off (at your peril)... As the small matter of the World Cup approaches, Adam Hurrey turns his attention to the clichés that abound at football's world stage. FREE FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY Featuring: - World Cup TV preview (BBC vs ITV) - England Expects (And Other World Cup Clichés) - The Perfect World Cup - A Speculative Effort: England at USA '94 Look out for Adam's full-length book, Football Clichés, coming soon.

'At last, the definitive guide to football phraseology across the world... Sparky and very funny.' Paul Hayward, Daily Telegraph ''Amusing and informative in equal measure.' Oliver Kay, The Times An expertly compiled and utterly fascinating compendium of the weird and wonderful words and phrases used to describe football around the world. To speak football is to speak a language of a thousand tongues... In this ground-breaking global glossary of football words and phrases, you'll discover the rich, quirky and joyously creative language used by fans, commentators and players across the world. From placing a shot 'where the owl sleeps' in Brazil, to what it means to use your 'chocolate leg' in the Netherlands, via Wembley-Tor – a phrase adopted by Germans to describe a dubious goal – this comprehensively researched book will entertain and inform in equal measure. Discover the unfortunate Finnish term for a holding midfielder, what it means when South Korean fans get nostalgic about a 'Leeds season' and why Dundee United supporters should keep their heads down in Nigeria. With over 700 terms from 89 countries (including 29 ways to describe a nutmeg), this is the definitive guide to the global language of football.

An in-depth and surprising look at the game, Sunday Morning Quarterback will dramatically change the way you watch football. You've heard all the football clichés: "Their offense is too predictable," or "They've got to win the turnover battle," or "They didn't make any halftime adjustments." Perhaps you've heard them so often that you've come to see them as obvious truths. Phil Simms, after an illustrious career as a Super Bowl-winning quarterback and a broadcaster, is here to tell you that these—and many other blanket statements taken as gospel—are all myths, and whoever says them has no idea of what they're talking about. Drilling deep into the core of football, Simms also shows the hidden signs that players look for that can determine the outcome of a game. Whether it's discovering how a linebacker positions his feet before he blitzes or how to react if the safety is eight or nine yards from the line of scrimmage, knowing these "dirty little secrets" gives players and their coaches a tremendous advantage. In addition, Simms shares his insights into the enormous challenges coaches face in today's game, evaluating the top coaches and what makes them successful. He takes a look at some of the greatest players he's played with and against, and what he misses most about the game—waking up Monday mornings feeling beat up and sore. He looks at the next generation of football players—his son, Tampa Bay's Chris Simms, among them. Through it all, Simms shares stories from his playing days with Bill Parcells and the New York Giants, and the inside access he's had as an announcer for one of the top NFL broadcasting teams in football. Fun and lively, Sunday Morning Quarterback should be required reading for anyone who loves football.

Transform yourself from sports fan to professional sports journalist Field Guide to Covering Sports, Second Edition goes beyond general guidance about sports writing, offering readers practical advice on covering 20 specific sports. From auto racing to wrestling, author Joe Gisondi gives tips on the seemingly straightforward—like where to stand on the sideline and how to identify a key player—along with the more specialized—such as figuring out shot selection in lacrosse and understanding a coxswain’s call for a harder stroke in rowing. In the new Second Edition, readers also explore sports reporting across multimedia platforms, developing a foundational understanding for social media, mobile media, visual storytelling, writing for television and radio, and applying sabermetrics. Fully revised with new examples and updated information to give readers confidence in covering just about any game, match, meet, race, regatta or tournament, Field Guide to Covering Sports, Second Edition is the ideal go-to resource to have on hand when mastering the beat.

Chuck Culpepper was a veteran sports journalist edging toward burnout . . . then he went to London and discovered the high-octane, fanatical (and bloody confusing!) world of English soccer. After covering the American sports scene for fifteen years, Chuck Culpepper suffered from a profound case of Common Sportswriter Malaise. He was fed up with self-righteous proclamations, steroid scandals, and the deluge of in-your-face PR that saturated the NFL, the NBA, and MLB. Then in 2006, he moved to London and discovered a new and baffling world—the renowned Premiership soccer league. Culpepper pledged his loyalty to Portsmouth, a gutsy, small-market team at the bottom of the standings. As he puts it, “It was like childhood, with beer.” Writing in the vein of perennial bestsellers such as Fever Pitch and Among the Thugs, Chuck Culpepper brings penetrating insight to the vibrant landscape of English soccer—visiting such storied franchises as Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool . . . and an equally celebrated assortment of pubs. Bloody Confused! will put a smile on the face of any sports fan who has ever questioned what makes us love sports in the first place.

In Scorecasting, University of Chicago behavioral economist Tobias Moskowitz teams up with veteran Sports Illustrated writer L. Jon Wertheim to overturn some of the most cherished truisms of sports, and reveal the hidden forces that shape how basketball, baseball, football, and hockey games are played, won and lost. Drawing from Moskowitz's original research, as well as studies from fellow economists such as bestselling author Richard Thaler, the authors look at: the influence home-field advantage has on the outcomes of games in all sports and why it exists; the surprising truth about the universally accepted axiom that defense wins championships; the subtle biases that umpires exhibit in calling balls and strikes in key situations; the unintended consequences of referees' tendencies in every sport to "swallow the whistle," and more. Among the insights that Scorecasting reveals: • Why Tiger Woods is prone to the same mistake in high-pressure putting situations that you and I are • Why professional teams routinely overvalue draft picks • The myth of momentum or the "hot hand" in sports, and why so many fans, coaches, and broadcasters fervently subscribe to it • Why NFL coaches rarely go for a first down on fourth-down situations--even when their reluctance to do so reduces their chances of winning. In an engaging narrative that takes us from the putting greens of Augusta to the grid iron of a small parochial high school in Arkansas, Scorecasting will forever change how you view the game, whatever your favorite sport might be.

Downloaded over ten million times a year the Football Ramble podcast has established itself as the essential, independent voice of football punditry. The weekly podcast has resonated with supporters around the world and their sold-out live shows have been a massive hit. This book is a collaboration from all four presenters and will tackle the real issues from fans you won’t see or hear on Sky Sports, or anywhere else for that matter. From the weird and wonderful, from the Alan Pardew to the Kevin Keegan, the Ramble has it covered. Putting all aspects of the game under the microscope, this book is a timely reminder of why we just can’t take our minds off football.

By turns gleefully precise and happily contrarian, this is a highly opinionated guide to better communication. In Literally, the Best Language Book Ever, author Paul Yeager attacks with a linguistic scalpel the illogical expressions and misappropriated meanings that are so commonplace and annoying. Identifying hundreds of common language miscues, Yeager provides an astute look at the world of words and how we abuse them every day. For the grammar snobs looking for any port in a storm of subpar syntax, or the self-confessed rubes seeking a helping hand, this witty guide can transform even the least literate into the epitome of eloquence.