On The Clubs

Arsenal

"We didn't think he would play on Sunday because he was suspended - that makes me think he has all the qualities to join Arsenal." - Arsene Wenger about new signing Jose Antonio Reyes. 

Chelsea

"Roman Abramovich has parked his Russian tanks on our lawn and is firing £50 notes at us." - David Dein, Arsenal vice-chairman, August 2003.

Ipswich Town

"It has been suggested that we'll squander the sponsors' money on wine, women and song. That is not true. We don't do a lot of singing here at Portman Road" - Legendary 'Town' owner John Cobbold at the unveiling of a major sponsorship deal.

Liverpool

"There are two great teams on Merseyside; Liverpool and Liverpool Reserves." - Bill Shankly

Manchester United

"It's rumoured that Man United are trying to sign Michel Platini, just in case they get a free-kick on the edge of the box this season." - When Saturday Comes magazine (1986)

Real Madrid

"The best I ever saw, apart from Brazil." - Just Fontaine, on the 1956-60 side.

Watford

"Imagine Franz Beckenbauer trying to play for Watford. He'd just be in the way." - Frank McLintock

Wimbledon

"I am in a good position at the moment because no-one is running the club. I am hoping there is nobody out there to sack me." - Stuart Murdoch

On The Players

Romeo Benetti

"I was at a social function with him the other week, and it's the first time I've got within ten yards of him and he hasn't kicked me. Even then I kept looking over my shoulder..." - Kevin Keegan

Charlie Cooke

"That Cookie. When he sold you a dummy you had to pay to get back into the ground." - Jim Baxter, a Scotland team-mate.

Tom Finney

"I would have played Tom Finney in his overcoat - there would have been four men marking him when we were kickin' in." - Bill Shankly

Maradona

"The best one-footed player since Puskas." - Sir Stanley Matthews

Michael Owen

"He's got the legs of a salmon." - Craig Brown (ex-Scotland coach)

Michel Platini

"Even his feet are intelligent." - Michel Hildago

John Terry

"For John Terry, to die on the pitch would be glory. You would need to kill him - and maybe even then he'd still play." - 'Big Phil' Scolari

Patrick Vieira

"You weren’t world-class when Arsenal signed you." - Arsene Wenger's reply, according to The Sun newspaper, when Vieira complained to him that Arsenal had failed to sign any world-class players.

 

Famous Footballing Philosophers

Sam Allardyce

"There are scientists who will tell you that spirit, because it can't be measured, doesn't exist. Bollocks. It does exist" - Bolton Wanderers manager discusses metaphysics.

Alan Brown

"Soccer is the biggest thing that's happened in creation. It's bigger than any 'ism' you can name."

George Best

"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered."

Brian Clough

"It only takes a second to score a goal."

"Players lose you games, not tactics. There's so much crap talked about tactics by people who barely know how to win at dominoes."

Johann Cruyff

"Toeval is logisch." ("Coincidence is logical.")

Alex Ferguson

"Football. Bloody hell!"

Paul Gardner

"To the aesthete it (football) is an art form, an athletic ballet. To the spiritually inclined it is a religion."

Thierry Henry

"Sometimes in football you have to score goals."

Ian Holloway

"My ceiling's broken, my car's got a puncture and we've just lost two matches. But I've got my health and I'll ask the big man upstairs why he didn't give us a point."

John Motson

"The World Cup is a truly international event."

Jose Mourinho

"There is no pressure at the top. The pressure's being second or third."

Sir Alf Ramsey

"The missing of chances is one of the mysteries of life."

Sir Bobby Robson

"The first 90 minutes of the match are the most important."

Ronaldo

"We lost because we didn't win."

Gordon Strachan

"The world looks a totally different place after two wins."

Neville Southall

"If you don't believe you can win, there is no point in getting out of bed at the end of the day."

Mike Summerbee

"Next thing we'll be giving our handbags to the linesmen as we skip onto the field." - commenting on new rules interpretations by referees

Peter Taylor

"When I said even my Missus could save Derby from relegation, I was exaggerating."

Howard Wilkinson

"I'm a firm believer that if the other side scores first you have to score twice to win."

 

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