The Deal: Inside the World of a Super-Agent
£4.70
‘Excellent . . . an in-depth excavation of the murky and mysterious world of football business. Smith’s candid and often shocking book reveals the true workings of football business that take into account things few of us even could even imagine . . . The Deal answers some of those questions and leaves you wanting more. It is an educational tool that most fans could do with researching’ Joe Short, Express
Football analysis has grown at the same exponential rate as the sport’s popularity and yet one of its most intrinsic elements remains tantalisingly opaque: the role of ‘agent’. The Deal is a unique and fascinating perspective into the business of sports management through the eyes of ‘Mr Football’, ‘super-agent’, Jon Smith. 800,000 watch their professional football team play each week and TV pulls in audiences of around 600 million. Despite these phenomenal figures, the complex money-making scene behind sport is one of its biggest mysteries. The Deal will be an unprecedented insight into this world, showing what goes on as players and big money change hands.
The Deal is also the story of one of the shrewdest and most successful businessmen of our time. Documented through Jon’s personal rollercoaster of high-flying success to near bankruptcy, the book’s over-arching narrative will offer an inspiring personal journey as well as insider knowledge of brokering deals at a high level and under extreme pressure.
The Deal will appeal strongly to buyers of business books as well as a significant number of sports fans interested to know what goes on in the back room of their favourite sport.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Constable (8 Sept. 2016) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 6478 KB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Screen Reader | Supported |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Not Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Sticky notes | On Kindle Scribe |
| Print length | 336 pages |
by Fadders
The word agent especially in football is synonymous with greed. Mr Smith has opened a small window into this minefield and he has done a good job. It is Autobiographical but well written and present a good case why agents are needed in the world of Sports.
by Stephen
I enjoyed this book. However, it’s more of a autobiography about Jon Smith who has been in different industries and businesses. Not all about being a football agent. Good read though, but not what I was expecting.
by Kampamba Chelu
This book is good for someone who aspires to become a soccer agent because the information that’s there will guide you of the steps you need to take if are just entering into the world of sport.
by babyDaddy
Having read an increasing number of footballing “autobiographies” from a variety of angles, it was inevitable that I’d be drawn in by The Deal.
The aspect of ‘agents’ in football has always represented a curiosity for me – what do they do, and how do they manage to earn the money reported in the media? This was fuelled further, having read ‘I Am Zlatan’ and having my eyes opened to the influence and agent (Mino Raiola) can have over a player’s destiny, both in a negative and yet profoundly positive way (as many seem to offer players a career trajectory, left to their own devices, many probably wouldn’t have).
So, as soon as I found out the book existed, I click ‘buy’. Thanks to Prime, it arrived the next day.
So, the first thing to understand about ‘The Deal’ (and perhaps, Jon Smith) is that it isn’t completely about football. Mostly, but not completely. This doesn’t impact the book at all, but serves to add in a bit of extra interest and context. The book itself, in my opinion, rides a rollercoaster-type quality level the whole way through – good chapters, and good paragraphs, can be flanked immediately by poor. His story of his first wife was an unexpected emotional hit, and there are certainly chapters of the book that you feel you can’t stop reading.
So, what stops me from providing five stars? I’ll quickly cover this in no particular order.
First of all, I expected a bit more ‘inside content’. It felt like maybe 10% or less was actually relevant to an insight to how football transfers work. Some of that 10% came across like it wasn’t from the voice of experience, such was it devoid of detail. This didn’t “ruin” it for me, but take it on board if it’s your sole reason for buying.
Secondly, I feel like the book dealt with a bit of narcissism on Jon’s behalf; at times it felt like it lost touch with whether it was about “being an agent” or celebrating Jon Smith. It certainly felt like more than a few chapters steered right away from the subject matter in order to tell you just how important and brilliant he was – which didn’t feel like a necessary step. It felt, in more than a few places, like he (or the ghost writer) was blowing the Jon Smith trumpet very loudly – at which point, I wondered whether it may have been more adept to have been named “A Great Guy, by Jon Smith”. These forays are easily forgiven, but it really ruined the tone of the book – which was surprising, as Harry Redknapp’s book handled such a trait in a more beneficial way.
Perhaps this stems from the last point, but the rhetoric in the book was, at times, very unnecessary. I felt like he was using words in order to come across as intelligent, although it felt like it acheived the complete opposite. I always believe that the hallmark of a skilled storyteller is one that can capture the imagination without the use of uncommon or perceivably unnecessarily elaborate words. This is, after all, a football book – should it not appeal to a broad range or readers?
Lastly, the book didn’t feel like it was carefully planned in its content. I found in a few chapters that, for example, he would start referring to ‘Phil’ out of nowhere, and I’d skip back and speed read the chapter I was in, only to find that the character literally appeared without content. Then, later in a chapter, it would introduce him as his brother (there were a few first name occurances of this confusing phenomenon). I also found that references or stories would repeat themselves, and you think “I’m sure I’ve already read about that”.
Overall, a very interesting read that is well worth a go. Whilst not the best footballing book I have read, nor the most modest, Jon is certainly a very interesting character that comes across as a gifted businessman who has excelled despite many personal tragedies around him.
by mr p m abrams
Kept me focused throughout. Good book and a solid read for those who are interested in the world of sports agency
by Amazon Customer
Very disappointing. IMO really badly written and cliché ridden (“Fit as a butcher’s dog” etc).
The author appears to have a fairly flexible moral outlook and repeatedly justifies payments to third parties as “how they do business in other countries” and “who are we to judge?”
Repeatedly states the obvious (if a deal isn’t working, structure the payments differently) and bores the reader with deal minutiae while giving virtually no insight into the characters that he has encountered in the game. And don’t expect revelations or juicy details, or expect to have your views of football or the role of agents changed.
It’s all very high level and reads as a defensive justification of agents generally and perhaps of the the author’s career.
Having said all that, these impressions were formed from only the first third of the book. I’m not sure I can face the rest.
by Akaraogun 1
Pleasant
by Gary
A good read