{"title":"Gary Thacker","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"the-games-people-play-paperback-1","title":"The Games People Play - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJon Moreton would have made it to the top-flight as a player: he had the mentality and ability, but his body let him down. An old friend Charlie Broome comes to the rescue and gives him a break: managing the struggling Spanish amateur league side CD Retama. Feathers are ruffled: he is mistrusted by the players and stand-in coach, Sophia Garrigues. Can he adapt to life in Spain and turn things around? Plenty of twists and turns through the season in this tale of football, love, and betrayal.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Games People Play is established football writer Gary Thacker's first foray into fiction.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":68282545438943,"sku":"9781916362239","price":16.18,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/Sd5aj07gHT9781916362239.webp?v=1792767095"},{"product_id":"a-whole-new-ball-game-the-games-people-play-2-paperback","title":"A Whole New Ball Game: The Games People Play 2 - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt the end of Thacker's previous novel - The Games People Play - life had given aspiring manager Jon Moreton a good kicking and he was heading for the plane home. He had failed to get his Spanish club, CD Retama, promoted and they looked set to fold. Sophia, his girlfriend\/assistant coach, had left him, thinking he had conspired in the club's demise. As for his one-time friend Billy Swan, he was even more rock bottom, having succumbed to blackmail and sold out his mates. In this much-anticipated sequel, will things take a turn for the better for Moreton? Will he cope back in England without Sophia? Will Swan turn up again like a bad penny? Has the Spain chapter of his life closed, or can anything be salvaged? Expect a few twists in the tale, a few more jinking runs into the box and last-ditch, winning goals. It's A Whole New Ball Game.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":68288447709407,"sku":"9781915045034","price":16.18,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/7Rz8mXq9aX9781915045034.webp?v=1792835444"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/gary-thacker.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}