Stephen Hamilton Nicol
‘The Scout: The Bobby Dinnie Story' follows the life path of one of the most successful and well-known football talent scouts ever to grace the beautiful game in the United Kingdom: Bobby Dinnie MBE.
Synonymous with spotting and nurturing the talent of Kenny Dalglish, the Celtic, Liverpool and Scotland legend; he also worked under legendary icons, namely: Tommy Docherty, Bob Stokoe, Billy Wright, Graeme Souness, Walter Smith and Jock Wallace.
In the book authorized author Stephen Hamilton Nicol secures personal and exclusive interviews and comments from famous players, managers, coaches - past and present including Sir Alex Ferguson, Kenny Dalglish, John Greig and Bertie Auld.
It has a touch of humour – with Bobby telling us of the day he asked his wife, Betty, if she would like to go to the United States for their honeymoon. Ecstatic at the thought of a great trip she naturally said yes…what she didn´t know was Bobby was also taking 18 players from his youth team along with them - to play in a football tournament.
It´s educational – where we learn the true meaning and origins of the most annoying football phrases, metaphors and clichés.
Inspiring – how a quiet, unassuming and private man took an industrial declined community and pumped vitality and self-assurance into the heart of its dwellers.
The book, naturally written in English, even supplies the reader with a vernacular index for readers outside the Glaswegian dialect… how thoughtful!
If you´re looking for a typical football bio then you´ve definitely come to the wrong place: it´s more than that!
Stephen Hamilton
Nicol: well-travelled – much-lived (not his words) was raised in the
city of Glasgow, Scotland, before spending a large part of his
adulthood living abroad. He rarely gives you insight let alone
interviews as to his person or whereabouts. “I´m an enigma of myself,
sometimes”, quirps our ‘Cosmopolitan Hippy'.
He said:
“I don´t do Oxford. I have no fantasy. I´m the most impatient person
you could ever meet. I can´t sit still. I dream my dreams in the German
language and I´m expected to write great English lyrics. I hardly read;
my mind wanders when I read others´ words. I have no influences
whatsoever. I´m not an ‘expected' writer, it surprises many…including
myself.”
“I tap away on my keys and sometimes I get a block: I can´t think of a
word. I spend a few minutes trying to capture that word but my
impatience gets the better of me…then I just make my own word up. Well,
that´s how language evolves, doesn´t it?“
They said:
“Stephen has his own style, his own way, he neither conforms or obeys to the rules of writing…but it works brilliantly!”
“When you read Stephen´s work he has this uncanny way of making you
listen. He denies that writers are born but I think it´s possible.”
“Very skillful writer. He has this reputation as a free-flowing guy but actually, in earnst, he´s very disciplined.”
"Supremely talented. A complete all-rounder."
A full-time writer he also manages his own Sport Talent Management
company that entails searching, recruiting and deploying the best
football (soccer) talent Internationally.
Stephen´s
next titles, 'Normal People Frighten Me' and 'Overspill' will be out in the winter of 2007 and the early part of 2008 respectively.
An excerpt from the chapter THE BEAUTIFUL GAME
Billy Wright, manager of Arsenal FC at the time, came to Possilpark to view an arranged game on a Sunday. Possil YMCA were now the feeder club for the great London giants. Billy Wright arrived with Frank McLintock and Ian Ure.
The Arsenal manager wanted to take Kenny Dalglish too but Kenny´s father said Kenny was his only son and preferred if he stayed in Scotland. Probably much to the delight of Celtic supporters and later, Liverpool would enjoy the expert services from ‘King' Kenny.
An excerpt from the chapter MY CROWING GLORY
…it was a nice retirement brief that our postman delivered to our humble quarters. I received the envelope addressed from none other than No 10 Downing Street. It was a shock to open the letter and to read its contents: I was to be awarded the MBE from Her Majesty.
An excerpt from the chapter FROM THE DRESSING ROOM AND BEYOND A short clipping of what they said:
“Bobby had the wonderful ability to spot young talent and nurture them to greater things and his most famous boy, Kenny Dalglish, was testimony to his ability”... Sir Alex Ferguson
“People like Bobby are the lifeblood of football and without them the professional game would not be what it is today”... Kenny Dalglish
“Bobby was well-known and did a lot for the local community. He gave youngsters the chance to have an organized game of football amidst the rural industrial area where facilities were often short”…Bertie Auld
“Now, some 20 years later, Bobby Dinnie is back scouting for Rangers and is still one of the finest gentlemen you are likely to meet”…John Greig
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A clip from the chapter NO MEAN CITY
A foreigner asked a young Glaswegian what it means to come from the city and what it was like being Scottish. His reply was: “Well, me and my mates go out on the town on a Saturday night. We get dolled up in American jeans, Italian shirts and down German beer. We then head to a Chinese restaurant for something to eat or just get an Indian take away, or sometimes we might fancy a Turkish kebab; then we all go home to our homes and crash out on our Swedish sofas and switch on our Japanese TV sets; sometimes we´ll text each other from our Finnish phones and make fun of the night; so in all, it´s great to be Scottish. To be a Glaswegian is something we don´t think about until someone mentions it I suppose; yes, it is a good place to come from. One person is as funny as the next. There is a stand-up comic in almost all of us.
