Warning! Soccer 365’s Howard Johnson explains why a Man City legend’s new book might just make you cry…

Lakey and HoJo

Manchester City’s Galacticos have, of course, given the club its first serious trophy since 1976. But they’ve also given the Sky Blues something much more precious and harder to come by. A world profile.

Let’s not kid ourselves. Five years ago Manchester City simply didn’t exist on any kind of global scale. They were transparent. I know this because I can’t even begin to tell you about the number of footy-related arguments I’ve got into in foreign bars after hearing Manchester United referred to as simply ‘Manchester’. I think I’d rather those ignoramuses had gone for a more traditional, personal and less obtuse European insult – ‘hijo di puta’ would have been just fine – rather than offer up that particular dagger to the heart. All that sky blue history, that lovely long list of heroes who’ve worn the shirt – Bell, Lee, Kinkladze, Frontzeck – it was as if it had never existed.

Now things are different, though. The arrival of Aguero, Tevez, Silva, Nasri et al has made City a worldwide footballing name in double quick time. Now the club shares the cover of foreign mags like 'France Football' with United as journos chew over ‘English football’s new rivalry’. The Big Four is dead and there’s a new pretender in town!

So now’s probably the ideal time for you new Blues to learn something of your club’s history, the kind of info that you can drop in during any footy-related conversation to head off claims that you’re nothing more than a glory-hunting newby! And where better to start than with 'I’m Not Really Here', the recently-published autobiography of one of City’s absolute favourite sons, Paul Lake.

There are always people banging on about people you’ve never heard of as ‘The Greatest Player You Never Saw’. But the man known to all and sundry by his typically sophisticated footballer nickname of Lakey genuinely fits the bill. A lifelong Blue, Lake was a Manchester lad who was spotted by City early doors and looked to have a stellar career ahead of him at the start of the ’90s before a seemingly-innocuous cruciate ligament injury when he was just 22 years old led him down an entirely different path. After six years, 14 operations and many rivers of tears the player who’d been tipped as a future England captain finally had to accept the inevitable and call time on a career that had barely got underway.

'I’m Not Really Here' – subtitled ‘A Life Of Two Halves’ – is a riveting personal account of how a man comes to terms with having his dreams stolen away from him and how rebuilding a knee eventually becomes a secondary concern next to rebuilding a life. Lake is unflinching in recounting his predicament, leaving the reader in no doubt as to the black hole that he often feels he’s falling into as he’s forced to contemplate a life not doing the only thing he’s ever felt born for. It’s a mighty powerful read, moreso because 'I’m Not Really Here' is ghost-written by Lake’s wife Jo, giving the words a truly personal feel from first to last. I found the book totally moving and I defy any true football fan not to be touched by its narrative. Of course those of a Blue persuasion will find more to engage them. Lake shares the same blind devotion to the club, to the concept, that we all do, even when he knows the human frailties of the organisation from top to bottom and might justifiably have cause to hate Manchester City at times, given some of the treatment meted out to him over the years. But this is a broader tale than that of simply one footballer and simply one club. 'I’m Not Really Here' is a tale of a triumph of the human spirit when dreams turn into nightmares and all you have to get you through the day is your will.

As I mentioned in my last column I’m not exactly a neutral observer to Paul Lake’s tale. I became friendly with him back in 1993 when I was working as the world’s worst music business Press Officer in London. I used to eat into RCA Records’ profits by sending him tons of promo CDs to cheer him up during those dark, dark days. Lakey was even kind enough to namecheck me on page 272 of the book, which is clearly the best, most exciting page of the whole affair. But despite all that you can take my word for it that ‘I’m Not Really Here’ is an essential read for anyone who loves football. More importantly, it’s an essential read for anyone who believes in the power of the human spirit to triumph in the face of adversity.

One word of criticism, though. There’s an important detail missing from 'I’m Not Really Here' that surely should have made the editing cut. When I was thinking about Lakey and doing research for this piece I dug out a cheap and nasty-looking programme for his 1996 Testimonial Dinner that the wife and I attended. And having leafed through it, I honestly can’t believe there was no place in the book for a mention of the gourmet starter that headed up the top-level menu on that special, special night. What was it that Lakey fed us? Why pea and ham soup of course! No doubt about it. That was one classy starter for one classy guy!