It’s probably quite good we’re not journalists, because we’d be, well... a bit rubbish.
When football365.com writer and general football guru John Nicholson came to the Biteback offices the other week, we kind of just gushed and told him how much we enjoyed his book, We Ate All The Pies. Not only was this deeply uncool, but it also didn’t exactly lead to a lengthy conversation. Being such a cool, modest guy, what else could he say apart from “thank you”? Like we said, if we were interviewing him for a magazine or newspaper, our boss might shout at us, questioning where the brilliant quotes and probing, investigative questions were.
Now, EPL Talk, they know how to do an interview. When they had John in to talk about We Ate All The Pies they reached the kind of depths and got the kind of answers that tend to be reserved for the dark corner of the pub with your best mate.
Beginning by recognising John’s nomination for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award, they asked if the endorsement offered by this and personal praise (the kind we rather sheepishly gave) has changed his view of his own work. We might have said “how’s it goin?” Then moving onto football, a subject that John could write a book on (oh yeah, he has), they addressed the issues facing Newcastle United and asked “When do you turn your back on a club because you are getting absolutely no return for your emotional and personal investment?” We might have asked what he was up to at the weekend.
I think we at Biteback will stick to what we do best, publishing quality non-fiction titles in the fields of both politics and sport.
Whilst the questions from EPL Talk may seem rather in-depth, John feels comfortable addressing these issues from a concerned and intellectual perspective, whilst including the light-hearted humour that is abundant in his book. You need to have a sense of humour if you support Middlesbrough (this member of Biteback understands the pain).
Hear the interview (along with lines such as “the pub’s open later, which was always an important part of boxing day for me”) here.
Order John Nicholson’s We Ate All The Pies: How Football Swallowed Britain Whole for £9.99 here.