Book excerpt: Murphy's Mission is a rollercoaster ride through the life story of a journeyman, football manager, legend, and self-styled bard of the beautiful game. From a career with 15 different clubs from the 1970s to the early 2000s, Colin Murphy's biography is crammed full of dressing room high jinks, boardroom bust-ups, rescue missions, and scouting for non-league gems. Described by John Inverdale as 'one of my favourite people in sport ever', Murph was called The Saviour (Lincoln City), The Unsung Hero (Hull City), and The Mad Man (Southend United). As national coach of Vietnam he was hero-worshipped by a nation. Murph's catalogue of clubs from his 35 years in professional football management includes: Nottingham Forest, Derby County, Notts County, Lincoln City, Stockport County, Al-Ittihad (Saudi Arabia), Leicester City, Luton Town, Southend United, Shelbourne, Vietnam national team, Tottenham Hotspur (youth academy), Myanmar national team, Cork City and Hull City. An antidote to the excesses of the Premier League, real football fans will love this meticulously researched story of hard graft and survival against the odds. Extracts from Murph's madcap programme notes, and original interviews with former colleagues, including Roy Hodgson, David Pleat and Howard Wilkinson, bring the wit and wisdom of this much-loved character to life.