Certainly pulls no punches.......
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Frank Mclintock, as his performances in an Arsenal shirt showed, is no shrinking violet & certainly gives a forthright. no nonsense account of his career & offers several anecdotes of football's golden era.
It's a good football book & gives insights into the chemistry of not just Arsenal but also other football clubs of note; however, I did find Mr Mclintock's unswerving self conviction just a little too much at times but, on balance, that probably goes with the territory.
An interesting character from a time when football stars were just moving from working class heroes to mega stars.
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'True Grit' is true McLintock
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Frank McLintock was always the most honest of players; hard-working, ambitious, determined, and with an absolute never-say-die spirit. Before there was Tony Adams, before there was Patrick Vieira, before there was Thierry Henry, Arsenal had the greatest captain the club could ever wish to have.
He was the heart and soul of the Arsenal team that won the Fairs Cup (Eufa Cup) in 1970, and the League and FA Cup double a season later. It was his never-say-die spirit that rescued the dream of the double when all seemed lost with seconds to go in the Cup semi-final v Stoke. It was McLintock that got his head to the ball and forced a Stoke defender to handle on the line, thus giving Peter Storey the chance to equalize from the penalty spot and allow Arsenal to fight another day. It was McLintock that always led by example and drove his troops on, demanding ever more of them in the quest for greatness. Arsenal owe so much to this one man.
As you read through his life story, though, you will be shocked at how he came to be treated by the Arsenal big wigs, especially the under-appreciative and pompously arrogant Bertie Mee (about whom a book has been written that contains the title 'gentleman' - which he surely wasn't). Yet, in recounting the treatment he received at the hands of people such as Mee, McLintock harbors no lasting grudge. He just tells things the way they were.
'True Grit' is a compelling read because it is quite a story of a young man from a poor part of Glasgow who achieved what he did in Football through sheer hard work and determination; absolutely through 'true grit.' The book is as 'honest' as its author, and that alone makes it another notable success for Frank McLintock.
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