Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
When you have seven grandchildren and you've been around them a while, they soften you up. But there's still that little streak in me that if I need to make sure something has to be done, then it gets done.
And I tell you one thing, if the primates that we came from, had know that someday politicians would come out of the gene pool, they would have stayed up in the trees and written evolution off as a bad idea.
Players can play bad, and certainly when you have only three days or six days training sessions in your legs, and you have to play 45 minutes. Everybody can say that it's easy to step in, but it is not easy.
There are massive clubs with massive amounts of money, and Liverpool were always a little bit behind. But if you create a good team, a good atmosphere, and work hard, you can get there. You can win trophies.
It's difficult in your life when both parents pass so quickly and you're not really that old when they move on. There is a big gap in your life. There's a hole. You learn to live with it but never forget it.
Cristiano reminds me of German tennis player Michael Stich. He was destined to make history, but then Boris Becker showed up. Cristiano is so fast, so strong, so incredible, but he has one problem: Leo Messi.
I always say it must not be an obsession to win the Champions League. It's a very important title and beautiful to do it. But you must not try to win the Champions League and lose focus on the Premier League.
I can't replicate how I feel when that whistle goes on nights like that, knowing you've won it, that people are going home smiling. You don't get that sat on my tractor in Plymouth or doing the shop in Tesco.
A lot has been written about my age and my injuries. A lot of people think I'm going to be 94. I'm actually 34 and I feel quite good. I'm sure the fans will judge me on what I do on the pitch, not what I say.
My decision was that after nearly three years at Celtic - with everything we'd achieved and the success we'd had on the pitch, the improvements off the pitch - then it was time to move on to my next challenge.
I think retrospective viewing of diving is nearly more important than some of the technology they are on about bringing in. If you do that and players get banned, it wouldn't take long before you'd cut it out.
Ajax have a set model, a defined youth programme - Barcelona have one too, and Juventus. And Atletico Madrid do too. Real Madrid don't - because they alternate developing their own players with signing talent.
If a Middle Eastern sheikh comes to buy Bayern Munich, he could buy 49 per cent. Fifty-one per cent must stay in Germany with the club. That law came about because of the developments of international football.
To me, the team is more important than any individual member of the squad, and the players have to realise that and accept that my priority is to pick a side with the best possible chance of winning each match.
This is a game between players from 12 national sides, a game that if you have a friend in China, in Brazil, in Qatar...in half the world he wants to watch. I was thinking of this game when I signed for Chelsea.
Who's been with me longest? Kevin Blackwell. I signed him as a goalkeeper at Scarborough in '86 and he's basically been with me my whole career. He's been my goalkeeper, reserve goalie, now my assistant manager.
I'm never quite sure how far to go with praising young kids because the next thing you will see him probably driving a Mercedes and he'll have his socks over his knees and four earrings in and a Walt Disney hat.
With Chelsea, the job was this: move up to the top, get into Europe. And I did that - fourth place in the Premier League and then into the Champions League, the season before Abramovich and all the money arrived.
Football has always been in my blood. It's more than just an occupation, but as you get a little bit older and wiser, you want to be able to pick and choose and make sure you get the right club at the right time.
You now have these owners who are all successful businessmen, and they think they should be winning. They come in thinking that they should be winning. Some don't understand that only one team can win the league.
If you're a burglar, it's no good waiting about outside somebody's house, looking good with your swag bag ready. Just get in there, burgle them and come out. I don't advocate that obviously, it's just an analogy.
The Premier League is one of the most difficult in the world. There's five, six, or seven clubs that can be the champions. Only one can win, and all the others are disappointed and live in the middle of disaster.
I know I'm more on television, and I'm more recognisable than maybe even the players because they run and train, but I just stand there, and my face does all these funny things that everyone can see all the time.
Older readers will remember there used to be matches on Christmas Day. I remember leaving the fireside and the presents to watch matches on the day as a boy but such matches were rare by the time I began playing.
I was player-manager at Sheffield United. I played my last ever game for them. It was terrible. We lost 4-1, I think to Sunderland. Fancy that, a Geordie, being forced to retire because of a defeat to Sunderland.
I first reported to our Marlins spring training complex in Jupiter as well as the other draft picks to receive physicals and to sign contracts. From there I flew to Jamestown, NY to play for the Jamestown Jammers.
Robert Lewandowski is a player who plays in front of the opposing goal, especially with his back to the opponent. He is always attacked, and this is one of the big strength of a striker who plays in this position.
Shinji Kagawa is one of the best players in the world, and he now plays 20 minutes at Manchester United - on the left wing! My heart breaks. Really, I have tears in my eyes. Central midfield is Shinji's best role.
When I was younger I was a nightmare. I let people down. I resigned from Sheffield United because things were promised to me that weren't forthcoming. I let people down when I was younger, certainly in management.
I have a lot of power. Here, I can decide: training at six in the morning! Training 11 in the night! But my style is not to impose. I would like to convince the players of what they are doing. This takes more time.
One of the reasons why I wanted to be part of the League Managers Association was because I felt there were an awful lot of foreign coaches coming into these shores, but we were not exporting enough British talent.
My mum and dad never went abroad for a holiday. My dad was overseas in the war but never thought about going anywhere like the Mediterranean after that, so my mum died without ever having been on a plane or abroad.
It is hard to categorise every accolade you have won. Getting into the Hall of Fame is great. It is fantastic to be recognised by your own country. To be part of the history of our national game is simply humbling.
The type of football I played at Everton, the fans said it wasn't good enough and I would say the same - I knew it wasn't good enough for Everton - but I knew I had to get them in the position where they were safe.
I can remember being at Gillingham playing in the fourth division ringing up other people I knew at clubs to see what team they would play, if they had injuries. Or you would ring a press man you knew in that area.
I've got four women in my house - my wife and my three daughters - and I tell you what, it's pretty scary. I keep my head down and if we're out shopping I try and look in a man's shop while they make their minds up.
When you play sports like tennis, you're alone, and that's a good school for life, but it's also a good school for life to bring your best and make those around you better, too - helping others in difficult moments.
There's always going to be a time when there's a difficult period and my responsibility is to manage the players through that. You have to make sure you bring stability back to the club and get where you want to be.
I spent seven years with Jose and we were part of a very good technical staff. We went to top class clubs at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan and worked with top players who gave us such a tremendous volume of success.
Status does not matter. It is what you are like as a player. It doesn't matter how much money you have come for. That doesn't matter to me. I will play a 17-year-old if he fights and he has quality. It is quite easy.
It is with passion that I love my job. But it is with character that I am able to keep looking forward. Not just beyond criticism or bad results, but also beyond the good moments, too. Everything has to be a balance.
If you ask me how did I do at United, I will say it was my best year ever, given the circumstances I was working under. We played football that was quite alright. But it's not football that is appreciated in England.
Paul Scholes would have been one of my first choices for putting together a great team - that goes to show how highly I have always rated him. An all-round midfielder who possesses quality and character in abundance.
If I was managing Chelsea, people wouldn't be saying Paul Jewell was a nice guy, they would be saying I had too much money to spend. On balance, I would quite like it at the end of the season if people don't like us.
There are good players in Europe and all the way around the world, but better than Torres - no. I would not want to swap Fernando with anyone else in the world, because he is my player, and I'm very pleased with him.
I never thought I'd be in a position like I was at Aston Villa where people weren't going to get paid on a Friday. That's how bad it was. It looks great from the outside but we had huge financial problems for months.
It's a great honour to be asked to be the next manager of Manchester United. I am delighted that Sir Alex saw fit to recommend me for the job. I have great respect for everything he has done and for the football club.
I love the way the Cardiff fans get behind their team, which is why I do that clenched fist action at the end of games. They get really up for the match, I can hear them and I just help offer my own support in return.
The North East is a tough, working-class area. Its people boast great humour. But for two days every year, when Newcastle and Sunderland play football, it's absolute chaos. And very nasty. It borders on tribal hatred.
Call me old fashioned, but we're now holding umbrellas up as our players get off a plane. Do they need that? It's a few spots of rain. OK, they might get wet. Well, let them get wet. That's what happens when it rains.