Curbs book out in August

Alan Curbishley's much postponed 'autobiography' is now scheduled for publication in August.

The blurb states:

Charlton Athletic represent a model of how a Premiership football club should be run. Manager Alan Curbishley reveals the harshly [?] guarded secrets of the club's success - from the boardroom and manager's office down to the dressing room and pitchside [Merv's pizza supplier is unmasked] - and reflects on how the club went from homeless strugglers to challenging football's elite. Alan Curbishley has encountered most of football's ill winds in the decade he has been coach, co-manager, then sole manager of Charlton - a club once homeless, with gates of less than 3000, forced to sell players to pay the wages and to buy replacement kit for the first team, and teetering on the brink of extinction. Galvanised by fans, staff, forward-thinking board members and a shrewd manager, the Addicks now find themselves firmly established with the Premiership big boys and a shining example of how a successful football club should be run. In his book, Curbishley opens the lid on the soap opera [?] that is Charlton FC. He writes about the political manoeuvrings behind the club's departure and then emotional return to the Valley.

He describes how they were torn asunder by drugs allegations involving three of its players, including a youthful Lee Bowyer. He re-lives the tortuous rollercoaster ride of falling out of the Premiership two years later before returning in 1999/2000. And he gives an insider's view of the club's attempts to establish itself in the world's toughest league, including a full update on their 2005/06 season, and how the England team fared in the World Cup Finals in Germany [being written as you read this]. His book is a radical [?] insight into the workings of a football club and its staff, and is sure to attract widespread interest from football fans across the country. [Special discount for Millwall and Palace fans]

SJ of Norwood says: I shall be keeping it in my toilet.