Author Stephen O’Donnell contacted me recently to make me aware of his most recent book: ‘Fergus McCann Versus David Murray – How Celtic Turned the Tables on their Glasgow Rivals.’
Having read Stephen’s last book: ‘Tangled Up in Blue: The Rise and Fall of Rangers FC’ during my lockdown hiatus I can confirm that Stephen is a first rate wordsmith who diligently researches his subject matter.
‘Tangled in Blue‘ is a fascinating read that lays bare some of the great contradictions of our historical rivals with perhaps the most eye popping one coming early in that Rangers for decades weren’t even sure of what year they were actually formed in.
From a plethora of players who were uncomfortable with the clubs sectarian signing policy to the staunch one-upmanship of Willie Waddell vs Jock Wallace right through to the Souness cheque book revolution which was taken to new levels under Advocaat until it all came crashing down under Craig Whyte………..but was really due to the hubris and financial roulette of David Murray…………it’s a cracking read.
His new book will now specifically focus on Murray and his battle for Scottish football supremacy with the then new Celtic chief executive and majority shareholder Fergus McCann and though we all know who ultimately won that one the devil is always in the details.
“After writing Tangled up in Blue about the rise to prominence and subsequent demise of Rangers in 2012 I wanted to follow up with a book that was more about Celtic, and how the upheavals in the Parkhead side’s boardroom in the 1990s affected the club.
I’d already covered the period in Tangled up in Blue, but there was so much that I had to leave out because it wasn’t relevant to the first book.
The new book allowed me to bring all that in, examine how Celtic was run in the post-McCann era and compare it to the catastrophe that eventually happened to Rangers.
This book celebrates Celtic’s ongoing nine in a row success by telling the story of how we got here.
In the ’90s Rangers won nine in a row, so the book tells the full story of the dramatic reversal in the two clubs’ fortunes from the 1990s to the present day. ” –Stephen O’Donnell
You can purchase the book via the link below or at any good book stores.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fergus-McCann-Versus-David-Murray/dp/1785316435
....Always A Tim! 