
Quiet Genius
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $17.44
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Dean Williamson
-
By:
-
Ian Herbert
About this listen
Bloomsbury presents Quiet Genius by Ian Herbert, read by Dean Williamson.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017
SHORTLISTED FOR THE FOOTBALL BOOK OF THE YEAR, SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2018
The full story of the man who brought unprecedented – and since unmatched – success to Liverpool FC.
Bob Paisley was the quiet man in the flat cap who swept all domestic and European opposition aside and produced arguably the greatest club team that Britain has ever known. The man whose Liverpool team won trophies at a rate-per-season that dwarfs Sir Alex Ferguson’s achievements at Manchester United and who remains the only Briton to lead a team to three European Cups.
From Wembley to Rome, Manchester to Madrid, Paisley’s team was the one no one could touch. Working in a city which was on its knees, in deep post-industrial decline, still tainted by the 1981 Toxteth riots and in a state of open warfare with Margaret Thatcher, he delivered a golden era – never re-attained since – which made the city of Liverpool synonymous with success and won them supporters the world over. Yet, thirty years since Paisley died, the life and times of this shrewd, intelligent, visionary, modest football man have still never been fully explored and explained.
Based on in-depth interviews with Paisley’s family and many of the players whom he led to an extraordinary haul of honours between 1974 and 1983, Quiet Genius is the first biography to examine in depth the secrets of Paisley’s success. It inspects his man-management strategies, his extraordinary eye for a good player, his uncanny ability to diagnose injuries in his own players and the opposition, and the wicked sense of humour which endeared him to so many. It explores the North-East mining community roots which he cherished, and considers his visionary outlook on the way the game would develop.
Quiet Genius is the story of how one modest man accomplished more than any other football manager, found his attributes largely unrecorded and undervalued and, in keeping with the gentler ways of his generation, did not seem to mind. It reveals an individual who seemed out of keeping with the brash, celebrity sport football was becoming, and who succeeded on his own terms. Three decades on from his death, it is a football story that demands to be told.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Jürgen Klopp
- By: Elmar Neveling, Bryn Roberts, Bradley Schmidt
- Narrated by: Saul Reichlin
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jürgen Klopp is the charismatic German manager who single-handedly overthrew the accepted order in German football, taking Borussia Dortmund from nowhere to back-to-back Bundesliga titles and the Champions League final. He had long been admired in the Premiership and was finally wooed by Liverpool in the belief he could bring back the glory days to the Kop. Klopp is revered as a master tactician with his own unique playing philosophies.
-
-
Nice and historic
- By Jose de Leon on 03-22-20
By: Elmar Neveling, and others
-
Believe Us
- How Jürgen Klopp transformed Liverpool into title winners
- By: Melissa Reddy
- Narrated by: Julie Maisey
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Liverpool Football Club’s stunning 2020 Premier League title victory deserves a place in the official record of great sporting achievements. The Reds became the first team in British history to hold the European Cup, Super Cup, World Club Cup and domestic league title simultaneously in a masterclass of free-scoring, full throttle footballing prowess.
-
-
Overly glowing and redundant
- By MDBVT on 09-10-23
By: Melissa Reddy
-
Intensity
- Inside Liverpool FC: Our Story
- By: James Carroll, Pep Lijnders
- Narrated by: Luke Francis
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Liverpool's blistering brand of football (soccer) has revived a sleeping giant, energized its vast army of fans, entertained crowds at home and all over the world, and redefined coaching excellence. Now Pep tells the inside story of a season which, even by LFC standards, has been truly sensational. Week by week as the drama unfolds it's all here: from pre-season to unforgettable finale; great goals and grueling schedules; passionate team-talks and personal reflections; unsung heroes and Kop idols; the pride and the passion, the joy and the heartache… and the fun.
-
-
Surprisingly engaging
- By Diogo Ramalho on 05-29-24
By: James Carroll, and others
-
Ask a Footballer
- By: James Milner
- Narrated by: John Bradley
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
My name is James Milner and I'm not a Ribena-holic. Let me share insights into what it's like being a professional footballer, across my different experiences with Newcastle, Aston Villa, Manchester City and now Liverpool (not forgetting a six-match loan spell at Swindon). Plus my highs - and a few too many lows - playing for England. There isn't a current player who's been playing Premier League football as long as I have, and that gives me a pretty rare perspective into how the top-flight game has changed over the past 17 years.
-
-
Behind the scenes
- By Diane on 05-15-24
By: James Milner
-
Windswept & Interesting
- My Autobiography
- By: Billy Connolly
- Narrated by: Billy Connolly
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his first full-length autobiography, comedy legend and national treasure Billy Connolly reveals the truth behind his windswept and interesting life. Born in a tenement flat in Glasgow in 1942, orphaned by the age of fourth and a survivor of appalling abuse at the hands of his own family, Billy's life is a remarkable story of success against all the odds.
-
-
brilliant read, loved every second
- By Amazon Customer on 10-21-21
By: Billy Connolly
-
Gambler
- Secrets from a Life at Risk
- By: Billy Walters
- Narrated by: Billy Walters
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anybody can get lucky. Nobody controls the odds like Billy Walters. Widely regarded as “the Michael Jordan of sports betting,” Walters is a living legend in Las Vegas and among sports bettors worldwide. With an unmatched winning streak of thirty-six consecutive years, Walters has become fabulously wealthy by placing hundreds of millions of dollars a year in gross wagers, including one Super Bowl bet of $3.5 million alone. Competitors desperate to crack his betting techniques have tried hacking his phones, cloning his beepers, rifling through his trash, and bribing his employees.
-
-
Good but
- By Amazon Customer on 08-30-23
By: Billy Walters
-
Jürgen Klopp
- By: Elmar Neveling, Bryn Roberts, Bradley Schmidt
- Narrated by: Saul Reichlin
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jürgen Klopp is the charismatic German manager who single-handedly overthrew the accepted order in German football, taking Borussia Dortmund from nowhere to back-to-back Bundesliga titles and the Champions League final. He had long been admired in the Premiership and was finally wooed by Liverpool in the belief he could bring back the glory days to the Kop. Klopp is revered as a master tactician with his own unique playing philosophies.
-
-
Nice and historic
- By Jose de Leon on 03-22-20
By: Elmar Neveling, and others
-
Believe Us
- How Jürgen Klopp transformed Liverpool into title winners
- By: Melissa Reddy
- Narrated by: Julie Maisey
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Liverpool Football Club’s stunning 2020 Premier League title victory deserves a place in the official record of great sporting achievements. The Reds became the first team in British history to hold the European Cup, Super Cup, World Club Cup and domestic league title simultaneously in a masterclass of free-scoring, full throttle footballing prowess.
-
-
Overly glowing and redundant
- By MDBVT on 09-10-23
By: Melissa Reddy
-
Intensity
- Inside Liverpool FC: Our Story
- By: James Carroll, Pep Lijnders
- Narrated by: Luke Francis
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Liverpool's blistering brand of football (soccer) has revived a sleeping giant, energized its vast army of fans, entertained crowds at home and all over the world, and redefined coaching excellence. Now Pep tells the inside story of a season which, even by LFC standards, has been truly sensational. Week by week as the drama unfolds it's all here: from pre-season to unforgettable finale; great goals and grueling schedules; passionate team-talks and personal reflections; unsung heroes and Kop idols; the pride and the passion, the joy and the heartache… and the fun.
-
-
Surprisingly engaging
- By Diogo Ramalho on 05-29-24
By: James Carroll, and others
-
Ask a Footballer
- By: James Milner
- Narrated by: John Bradley
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
My name is James Milner and I'm not a Ribena-holic. Let me share insights into what it's like being a professional footballer, across my different experiences with Newcastle, Aston Villa, Manchester City and now Liverpool (not forgetting a six-match loan spell at Swindon). Plus my highs - and a few too many lows - playing for England. There isn't a current player who's been playing Premier League football as long as I have, and that gives me a pretty rare perspective into how the top-flight game has changed over the past 17 years.
-
-
Behind the scenes
- By Diane on 05-15-24
By: James Milner
-
Windswept & Interesting
- My Autobiography
- By: Billy Connolly
- Narrated by: Billy Connolly
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his first full-length autobiography, comedy legend and national treasure Billy Connolly reveals the truth behind his windswept and interesting life. Born in a tenement flat in Glasgow in 1942, orphaned by the age of fourth and a survivor of appalling abuse at the hands of his own family, Billy's life is a remarkable story of success against all the odds.
-
-
brilliant read, loved every second
- By Amazon Customer on 10-21-21
By: Billy Connolly
-
Gambler
- Secrets from a Life at Risk
- By: Billy Walters
- Narrated by: Billy Walters
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anybody can get lucky. Nobody controls the odds like Billy Walters. Widely regarded as “the Michael Jordan of sports betting,” Walters is a living legend in Las Vegas and among sports bettors worldwide. With an unmatched winning streak of thirty-six consecutive years, Walters has become fabulously wealthy by placing hundreds of millions of dollars a year in gross wagers, including one Super Bowl bet of $3.5 million alone. Competitors desperate to crack his betting techniques have tried hacking his phones, cloning his beepers, rifling through his trash, and bribing his employees.
-
-
Good but
- By Amazon Customer on 08-30-23
By: Billy Walters
-
The Greatest Games
- By: Jamie Carragher
- Narrated by: Jamie Carragher, Kent Riley
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What are the greatest football games ever played? Debated in every pub, stadium and dressing room up and down the country, everyone has their own opinion and their own memories of the beautiful game. Sharing his views on the greatest matches he has played in or enjoyed as a fan, Jamie Carragher takes listeners into the dressing room, on to the tour bus and out on to the pitch as he relives the defining moments of his playing career and the games that have shaped his relationship with the sport.
By: Jamie Carragher
-
Red on Red
- Liverpool, Manchester United and the Fiercest Rivalry in World Football
- By: Phil McNulty, Jim White
- Narrated by: Luke Francis
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Liverpool and Manchester. Two gloriously independent-minded, eclectic, culturally vibrant places—two cities, both alike in dignity. Yet the inhabitants dislike each other with a passion that is visceral. It is a divide that spans generations, across class and ethnicity. It is a divide that has grown over the years, largely driven by one thing: football. The dark, malignant loathing shared by the followers of Liverpool and Manchester United has seeped into every aspect of life in the two cities.
-
-
The British accent
- By Sammy on 04-11-25
By: Phil McNulty, and others
-
The House of Morgan
- An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 34 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A gripping history of banking and the booms and busts that shaped the world on both sides of the Atlantic, The House of Morgan traces the trajectory of the J. P.Morgan empire from its obscure beginnings in Victorian London to the crash of 1987. Ron Chernow paints a fascinating portrait of the private saga of the Morgans and the rarefied world of the American and British elite in which they moved. Based on extensive interviews and access to the family and business archives, The House of Morgan is an investigative masterpiece.
-
-
The construction of the House of Morgan
- By Darwin8u on 10-22-18
By: Ron Chernow
-
The Club
- How the English Premier League Became the Wildest, Richest, Most Disruptive Force in Sports
- By: Joshua Robinson, Jonathan Clegg
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No one knew it when their experiment began, but without any particular genius or acumen, the motley cast of billionaires and hucksters behind the modern Premier League struck gold. Pretty soon, everyone wanted to try their luck, from Russian oligarchs to Emirati sheikhs, American tycoons, and Asian Tiger titans. Some succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. Some lost everything. Today, players are sold for tens of millions, clubs are valued in the billions, and games are beamed out to nearly 200 countries, all while the league struggles to preserve its English soul.
-
-
Read don't listen
- By JR3 on 01-23-19
By: Joshua Robinson, and others
-
My Story
- By: Steven Gerrard
- Narrated by: Michael Ryan
- Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of My Story by Steven Gerrard, read Michael Ryan. Steven Gerrard is the former captain of Liverpool football team and of the England national football team and is the only player ever to have scored in a FA cup final, a league cup final, a UEFA cup final and a champion's league final. His entire career, since 1998, has been spent at Anfield with Liverpool.
-
-
Ohhhh, ya beautyyy!!
- By Gabriel on 09-29-15
By: Steven Gerrard
-
How to Build a Car
- By: Adrian Newey
- Narrated by: Richard Trinder
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The world's foremost designer in Formula One, Adrian Newey OBE is arguably one of Britain's greatest engineers and this is his fascinating, powerful memoir. How to Build a Car explores the story of Adrian's unrivalled 35-year career in Formula One through the prism of the cars he has designed, the drivers he has worked alongside and the races in which he's been involved.
-
-
Snooze fest
- By moo on 02-09-20
By: Adrian Newey
-
Carra
- My Autobiography
- By: Jamie Carragher
- Narrated by: Kent Riley
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For the Anfield faithful, Jamie Carragher represents everything that is great about Liverpool Football Club, prompting the Kop to sing 'we all dream of a team of Carraghers'. The club's vice-captain, longest-serving player and one of a select band of players to have made more than 500 appearances for the Reds, Carra never gives less than 100 per cent for the cause. He is the embodiment of old-fashioned football values - a rarity in the modern game - honest and uncompromising. The Liverpool defender takes us deep into the heart of Anfield.
-
-
Good read
- By Nick on 11-27-22
By: Jamie Carragher
-
Leading
- Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United
- By: Alex Ferguson, Michael Moritz
- Narrated by: James Macpherson, Simon Slater
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After an astonishing career-first in Scotland, and then over 27 years with Manchester United Football Club - Sir Alex Ferguson delivers Leading, in which the greatest soccer coach of all time will analyze the pivotal leadership decisions of his 38 years as a manager and, with his friend and collaborator Sir Michael Moritz, draw out lessons anyone can use in business and life to generate long-term transformational success.
-
-
Get in his head
- By Leslie Greenwood on 03-21-16
By: Alex Ferguson, and others
-
Phil
- The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf's Most Colorful Superstar
- By: Alan Shipnuck
- Narrated by: Alan Shipnuck
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Phil Mickelson is one of the most compelling figures in sports. For more than three decades he has been among the best golfers in the world, and his unmatched longevity was exemplified at the 2021 PGA Championship, when Mickelson, on the cusp of turning fifty-one, became the oldest player in history to win a major championship. In this raw, uncensored, and unauthorized biography, Alan Shipnuck captures a singular life defined by thrilling victories, crushing defeats, and countless controversies.
-
-
Not what I’d hoped for.
- By Chad Smed on 07-04-22
By: Alan Shipnuck
-
And It Was Beautiful
- Marcelo Bielsa and the Rebirth of Leeds United
- By: Phil Hay
- Narrated by: Phil Hay, Ralph Ineson
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On 27th February 2022, after 170 matches in charge, promotion to the Premier League and some of the most exhilarating football the English game has ever seen, Leeds United parted company with their most beloved and successful manager in a generation: Marcelo Bielsa. His parting gift was to embrace the crowds of adoring fans who turned up to say thank you as he left the club's training ground for the final time.
-
-
Exceptional! Great book that shares the spell of Marcelo Bielsa as manager or Leeds United
- By Amazon Customer on 01-26-24
By: Phil Hay
-
Robbo: Now You're Gonna Believe Us...
- Our Year. My Story.
- By: Andrew Robertson
- Narrated by: Nicholas Nunn, Andrew Robertson
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The inside story of an unrivaled period in the illustrious history of Liverpool Football Club, Robbo: Now You’re Gonna Believe Us... is a personal account as seen through the eyes of author Andrew Robertson. Taking you behind the scenes at Anfield and Melwood, he'll reveal how it all happened - how doubters turned to believers - and brought the league title home after a 30-year wait.
-
-
Robo, I believe
- By Diane on 05-03-24
By: Andrew Robertson
-
The Russian Five
- A Story of Espionage, Defection, Bribery and Courage
- By: Keith Gave
- Narrated by: Bob Brill
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the Detroit Red Wings were rebooting their franchise after more than two decades of relative futility, they knew the best place to find world-class players who could turn things around more quickly were conscripted servants behind the Iron Curtain. All they had to do to get them was make history by drafting them and then figure out how to get them out of the Soviet Union.
-
-
Very interesting
- By Kandace on 04-23-21
By: Keith Gave
What listeners say about Quiet Genius
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Christopher
- 05-16-22
Great book about a great man
There was much in this I never knew about the greatest ever English manager.
Humble yet shrewd a great tactician yet also flawed when dealing with some players.
This is a great read for Liverpool fans and fans in general .
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!