The Wisdom of Gaffers

I don't sleep a lot, because if I'm sleeping I'm not learning.

David Flitcroft, Barnsley, February 2013.

You have to look at the societal changes that have gone on. In days gone by a cup of tea was a novelty. Now we are in the computer age. That is why the crowds have gone down.

Kenny Shiels, Kilmarnock, February 2013.

Is he blaming computers or tea? Damn your ambiguity, Kenny.

It's the consistency you aim for, and I think that if you remain consistent, and if you've been successful with being consistent, then that consistency will get you through to remain being successful

Nigel Adkins, Southampton, February 2012.

There's a lot of literature out there that suggests people who get beyond themselves and think in the future forget what they're supposed to be doing now

Nigel Adkins, Southampton, March 2012.

People have said I am wrong to publicly blame players, that Paolo Di Canio's way is not the right way to manage. But Redknapp has said the same thing as I have, which proves why I think I am a top manager.

Paolo Di Canio, Swindon Town, December 2012.

Before Christmas, I also went to Stonehenge for the winter solstice. Swindon had just beaten Tranmere 5-0 and I waited until 4am before going there to see the sunrise. It was raining and I didn't see anything, so I left and went straight to training.

Paolo Di Canio, Swindon Town, January 2013.

My personal view is that the club is intelligent enough to understand that when you're in the building process, you have to build. When you're building a house - if rain comes in because the roof isn't on yet, you've got to be patient and give people time to do the job.

Graham Westley, Preston North End, February 2013.

They've got a massive advantage in terms of their endurance levels. I measure their endurance levels on the training ground and I know what athleticism they've got in their bodies.

The footballing quality they've got is there. There are some timing issues and organisational issues that are stopping them from converting their play into goals.

Graham Westley, Preston North End, December 2012.

You have to look at the societal changes that have gone on. In days gone by a cup of tea was a novelty. Now we are in the computer age. That is why the crowds have gone down.
Kenny Shiels, Kilmarnock, February 2013.

Very much enjoying this whole thread so far, but this ^^^ is really special imo

flitcroft is the find of the season, seek out his every word

You can live without water for so many days, but you can't live without hope.

B. Rodgers, Feb 2013

Could I work with a chairman like Abramovich? Why not? It is important he does not speak anything about football to me.

Of course, he could have an opinion as the owner and the first fan of the club, but he could not have an opinion on the way to manage, otherwise he should just become manager himself.

For example, some chairmen in Italy seem to have the ambition to become a manager and speak in an arrogant way, saying what they think is wrong or right in public.

I can work with any chairman.

Paolo Di Canio, Swindon Town, December 2012.

On Sunday night, I was dreaming of the Wolves team and Manchester City. I had Sylvan Ebanks-Blake linking up with Sergio Aguero. So I had a sleepless night.

David Flitcroft, Barnsley, February 2013.

Had he uttered this a week or so earlier, this thread would almost certainly have been called Sleeping with David Flitcroft.

his interviews are just priceless, even the quotes as reported don't do justice to the inspirational lancashire evangelism

Two injuries, rested a couple more, the boys who came in impressed you tonight?

(Long pause)

They impress me every day I work with them. Every single one of them. They impress me as people. Kelvin Etuhu didn't want to play tonight, and couldn't play tonight, because he felt he was going to let the boys down. I asked Jim McNulty could he play against MK Dons. He didn't want to play... because he'd let the team down. Now that is unselfish behaviour. That is behaviour that fits a king.

I need a boss with that attitude

Me too. I let the team down on a daily basis but if I fancy not bothering to go to work of a morning that's somehow a *bad* thing.

Had made a mental note to check out Flitcroft's interviews at some point in the near-future, but I think "That is behaviour that fits a king" has brought it forward in my schedule to some time this afternoon.

Also this - http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/feb/22/paolo-di-canio-swindon-raid

I'd have him at Villa tbh

We stay calm, we stay focused. And we stay positive. Because the positivity around the place at the minute is phenomenal. And it's a movement. And that movement's getting more powerful. Not by each result, by each performance.

They've come now so far. And they're strong. As a group of people they're strong. As a group of men they're strong. It's a galvanised unit, it's a unit that's not fragmented, it's a unit that is united in one effort and one belief. And it's a movement that's going to be difficult to stop.

The line about having 14 men every game was fairly fantastic. I think he genuinely feels Barnsley are on the cusp of transcending the paradigm of mere football. Guru Flitcroft Sahib

they're having a great run. i genuinely hope the cult continues.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21398594

the battle of agincourt got nothing on barnsley 3-2 middlesbrough

what if Wolves are the sacrifice tho

(I also want it to continue - hopefully Lee Clark's graceless implosions will propel his dire team arsewards)

i've already said i'm happy for Wolves to be the sacrifice. said last season we needed to go down for lessons to learn and rebuilding to be done properly. am now convinced that won't happen under Steve Morgan so i'm grimly satisfied with total immolation until the cunt sells up.

this is what I was talking about in the other thread - immolation as cleansing, fresh perspectives and whatnot. CAFC in much healthier, happier state with club legend in charge and committed, likeable players who know their own game than during first go in Championship (or indeed last season in Premiership)

so eat it nilmarrrrrrr

How typical of Pompey to shell out on the deluxe ultradetox package

they will return pure, sainted, translucent, it will almost be like they are not there

They deserved to win today, they played better than us and they executed their performance better.

Paul Tisdale, Exeter City, February 2013.

We huffed and we puffed and we kept the ball really well

Eddie Howe, Bournemouth, February 2013.

Sometimes a kick up the backside doesn't do anyone any harm now and again.

Steve Bruce, Hull City, February 2013.

Of course we are very disappointed and of course it has an effect on confidence. And of course it is very frustrating for the supporters here who have seen these results over the past few weeks. But do we still believe we can make the play-offs? Of course we do.

Tony Mowbray, Middlesbrough, February 2013.

"People say there’s a mountain to climb but people climb mountains every day."

John Brown, Dundee, February 2013

forgot my quote tags, sorry

I expect John Brown to be good value for this thread for the next couple of weeks or so.

Not a gaffer, but this has got to go somewhere -

The goalkeeper underlined the side's unswerving belief. "Even if there is one game to go and we are 12 points behind, we'll still believe," he said. "We've got to. We've got to keep fighting, you never know. We have just got to keep going.

The manager is the manager. One month, three months, seven months - it doesn't matter

Rafael Benitez, Chelsea (Interim), February 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21643152#asset

alan pardew, great with numbers

Today will end and tomorrow will begin

David Flitcroft, Barnsley, April 2013.

We were defragmented

David Flitcroft, Barnsley, April 2013

You could easily market a small book of Ian Holloway's pearls

“He’s six foot something, fit as a flea, good looking – he’s got to have something wrong with him. Hopefully he’s hung like a hamster – That would make us all feel better. Having said that, me missus has got a pet hamster at home, and his cock’s massive.” - On Ronaldo

btw out of 92 clubs in the football league, 56 have appointed at least one new manager since the start of the season

An equaliser from Aldershot with all their fans, I think other teams would have crumbled. Not this Wycombe, not my Wycombe.

People are probably looking at things saying 'Wycombe have nothing to play for'. How wrong they are going to be because we have everything to play for.

Gareth Ainsworth, Wycombe Wanderers, April 2013.

It's actually quite easy to try and run around when you're 1-0 down.

Kevin MacDonald, Swindon Town, April 2013.

<3 wild thing

Watching the FLS last night - parade of crop-haired managers in shirt and tie...and then, at the end, there's Deadbeat Gareth

(xp gareth ainsworth's pretty great too)

DEADBEAT GARETH HOW DARE YOU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69WBKAAZR_I

a legend for all to see

Think of this as retribution for yesterday's brazen revisionism

i dunno what ur even so faux-narked about bruv, he was out of our league within months of the ungrasped possiblity

every qpr fan will tell you of the alternate universe where we remained a well-managed club punching above our weight with a plucky mixture of the charlton and leicester premiership sides

even now i still make little lists of lower league ruff diamonds i know we'll inevitably sign washed-up prem reserves in lieu of

As long as you don't plunder Chris Solly over the summer, like

My attitude has always been to keep calm, carry on and take it one game at a time. That's been my attitude since 1 November.

Mick McCarthy, Ipswich, April 2013.

I suppose across the board when you first introduce something new the fair/unfair scenario has to get sorted out somewhere along the line to find out how you have to tweak it to make it better

Sam Allardyce, West Ham United, April 2013.

"Your Highway Code will tell you that when you travel at 60mph it will take 300 yards to stop, so when Andy's travelling at 15mph…"

All of them are must-win games, but obviously I don't expect to win all of them.

martin allen there. need to find a transcript.

We have two more games to go, and we need to have a scotch, go to sleep and forget about it.

Paul Ince, Blackpool, April 2013

It's more difficult than you think - you've got a crowd expecting, you've got an opposition who are the market leaders and I knew Malky (Mackay) would go hard and their team wouldn't just back off.

Sean Dyche, Burnley, April 2013.

market leaders

is dyche a mgmt theory dude

We need to tweak the nose of fear and stick an ice cube down the vest of terror.

Ian Holloway, Crystal Palace, April 2013.

Dyche later congratulates Mackay, his players, his staff and his 'troops'.

It was probably honours even in terms of playing and result and we shouldn't have even bothered; I'd have taken a point before we started. Instead of kicking lumps out of each other, we could've just settled it.

Mick McCarthy, Ipswich Town, April 2013.

Great credit to the players because coming in to this game it was another must win but it was one that if we don't approach it in the right manner you could get heavily criticised and heavily defeated here.

Brian Laws, Scunthorpe United, April 2013.

There's all sorts of gaps between us and the winning level

Graham Westley, Stevenage, April 2013

To get booed off at the end was brilliant. It makes me feel so good because it's testament to how far we've come.

Kenny Shiels, Kilmarnock, April 2013

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2316032/Jeremy-Kyle-gives-team-talk-Southend-United.html

Persistence is omnipotent and it's important that when we make mistakes - which we did for their equaliser - we play it out from the back

Kenny Shiels, Kilmarnock, June 2011

I am sure there are people at every club who doubt everybody. There are people that are doubters and there are people who believe in you and have faith in you and support that faith. The most important person to believe in what you are doing is yourself and, without that, it doesn't matter if someone else believes in you.

Kenny Shiels, Kilmarnock, March 2012

What do people like in other people? They like mirror images. They like to say, 'He's not a bad lad, he takes a drink. He's not a bad lad, he's a Jack The Lad'.

Kenny Shiels, Kilmarnock, March 2012

We have two red squirrels on our badge. The grey squirrel carries a virus that kills the red squirrel. Celtic are playing in grey on Sunday.

Kenny Shiels, Kilmarnock, March 2012

Mission Impossible can only be achieved by special people

Congratulations DAVID FLITCROFT, Barnsley, May 2013, indisputably ILF Manager Of The Season

Unfortunately, it's about scoring goals

Nigel Adkins, Reading, May 2013.

haaaa

We'll correct the divisional status

Roberto Martinez, Wigan Athletic, May 2013.

clipped tones of an ex military man who now works as a 'security consultant' and not even his wife asks

they will. come the first of june.

He can keep on going as long as he can.

Ian Holloway, Crystal Palace, May 2013.

sometimes you make good sound decisions and sometimes with hindsight they are completely wrong

Mark Hughes, Stoke City, June 2013

What do people like in other people? They like mirror images. They like to say, 'He's not a bad lad, he takes a drink. He's not a bad lad, he's a Jack The Lad'.

since he's now sacked I just want to say I read this quote over and over. it's like some sort of casual philosophy the like of which i've never seen.

In his post-firing interview, he's still wearing his Kilmarnock tracksuit top. I don't know what to make of this.

I feel he could help solidify us out of possession.

Tony Mowbray, Middlesbrough, June 2013

He's grown up and become a bloke.

Gary Johnson, Yeovil Town, July 2013.

I'm sure, with the passion of our supporters, that he will respond on the big stage called Priestfield.

Martin Allen, Gillingham, July 2013.

_He's grown up and become a bloke._

Gary Johnson, Yeovil Town, July 2013.

think this might be my favourite - a touch of the fairy story about it.

in tears

“But the five that were out there on Tuesday are ours, they are Yeovil Town, we have Yeovilified them and it is so good to get that situation. "

Gary Johnson, Yeovil Town, November 2012

having only ever read it i still sometimes wonder whether he actually said it yeovil-ified or like yo!vilified

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRmV08vukd4

I've done different things with this squad; I've (treated*) them like Championship players, I've took 'em to hotels

David Flitcroft, Barnsley, June 2013.

*I couldn't work out how to spell Flitcroft's pronunciation of this - 'trett', possibly?

And that quote's from May; from here, specifically.

He's got to get used to how we want to play and where we want to send players when they're in deep areas, because we're all different.

John Sheridan, Plymouth Argyle, July 2013.

A young player will run through a barbed wire fence for you. An older player will look for a hole in the fence.

Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool, September 2012

That one was heavily quoted at the time.

so what

bad day?

not especially? i'm not the swivel-eyed red trying to diminish the man's post

whatever - it's not even the best bit of rodgers' guff.

I missed the quote at the time, I only picked up on it coz it r|t|c linked to it on the rolling racism and homophobia at Liverpool thread.

yeah sorry, i wasn't having a major go or anything.

There are many similarities between ourselves and Gillingham.

Joe Dunne, Colchester United, August 2013.

We are a much bigger club than them. Much bigger.

Martin Allen, Gillingham, August 2013.

I don't know a lot about Colchester to be honest. I know all their players, their style and how they try and play.

Martin Allen, Gillingham, August 2013.

We'll take a couple of cooling tablets, get ourselves a nice bottle of water, chill out and go out and smash them all again.

Martin Allen, Gillingham, August 2013.

radge stirs in medway silt

what is cooling tablet

We are stronger than we were last year, although we're not quite up to speed in terms of the amount of bodies we've got in.

Ronnie Moore, Tranmere Rovers, August 2013.

We think we've signed some decent quality players. Obviously the nine months in front of us will tell us if we have.

Alan Knill, Torquay United, August 2013.

It will be blood and thunder on Saturday, everybody fighting for every inch, John Sheridan applying himself against me

Phil Brown, Southend United, August 2013.

We've lost three points but there's another 135 to go.

David Flitcroft, Barnsley, August 2013.

In terms of a changing team, it showed today that until you get into your level of play, you never quite know what you've got. That assessment has to come quickly.

Kenny Jackett, Wolverhampton Wanderers, August 2013.

Their belief and trust in each other is something we are trying to agenda in to our squad.

There's five new players out there so it's going to take some time to embed.

Sean O'Driscoll, Bristol City, August 2013.

It's a big club which shouldn't be in the second division, gotta be at least in the Championship.

Gary Johnson, Yeovil Town, August 2013.

Greatness itt

I liked rodgers fence one tbh

Competitions are always going to throw up difficult games

Nigel Pearson, Leicester City, August 2013.

I habitually Google-news-search the name of the company I work for and get a daily Nigel Pearson quote as my reward.

When you come up against such a direct team - a land of giants... you've gotta be able to withstand not nearly everyone, you've gotta withstand everyone

David Flitcroft, Barnsley, August 2013.

Nurofen, here we come

Martin Allen, Gillingham, August 2013.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v622/thingummy99/Screenshot2013-08-11at132737.png

James Beattie, Accrington Stanley, August 2013.

The last thing I said to them when they went out was 'passion overcomes logic'.

I'm not saying that's motivated them to go and win the game, but I asked them afterwards what I'd said to them and they all answered me.

James Beattie, Accrington Stanley, August 2013.

plz no beattie pix, the mental image of a naked tony pulis headbutting him is forever attached

You will always have people that, for whatever reason, don't like the way you look or don't like the colour of your hair.

Mark Hughes, Stoke City, August 2013.

too right, the silver cunt

If I were advising him I wouldn't be suggesting it. But he's obviously taking advice from other people.

Darren Ferguson, Peterborough United, August 2013.

I'll think about that (making new signings) more on Sunday. Today is all about disappointment.

Steve Clarke, West Bromwich Albion, August 2013.

Our aim is to constantly sustain wins

Sean Dyche, Burnley, August 2013.

You talk to a mountain climber and if he's too scared to let go to try and get higher then you're going to fall off, aren't you?"

Ian Holloway, Crystal Palace, August 2013

We have made a good start. But what does that mean?

Billy Davies, Nottingham Forest, August 2013.

I didn't get relegated many times in my career

Greg Abbott, Carlisle United, August 2013.

The only inevitability in football is that you are going to lose games.

Sean O'Driscoll, Bristol City, August 2013.

It was a good challenge for us not to collapse and we didn't do that and deserved something from it.

Joe Dunne, Colchester United, August 2013.

You have to have a certain mindset when you come to places like Stevenage, not just physically but also mentally

Russell Slade, Leyton Orient, August 2013.

The only inevitability in football is that you are going to lose games.

Sean O'Driscoll, Bristol City, August 2013.

nothing wrong with that

Ah, I mostly liked that one cos it perfectly complements his face:

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/65269000/jpg/_65269326_sod_sg.jpg

yesssssss

will never forgive forest for breaking up the o'driscoll/coppell crawley dream fun train in its infancy

trying to imagine sod's chin up lad negotiating technique for when he pops into coppell's office and finds him about to kick the chair away

― r|t|c, Monday, 2 July 2012 21:53 (1 year ago) Bookmark

To be able to bring on Hoffi with this freshness and virginity, to see him spread so much joy, was a wonderful thing.

Jürgen Klopp, Borussia Dortmund, August 2013.

Football is strange. Even a midget can score a goal. Because he is intelligent.

Paolo Di Canio, Sunderland, August 2013

lol

We had to show everything today - all four seasons in one game

Owen Coyle, Wigan Athletic, August 2013.

The big thing was, I was asking them in the team talk to go that extra mile, and there's not much traffic in that extra mile, and a lot of my players got there today.

Russell Slade, Leyton Orient, August 2013.

Things aren't always going to go your way.

Sean O'Driscoll, Bristol City, August 2013.

You might say we've got no out and out attacking player, but Luke (Freeman) and Lionel Messi are a similar type of player and you wouldn't accuse Barcelona of playing without an attacking threat.

Graham Westley, Stevenage, September 2013.

gordon strachan had some choice thoughts about genetics after losing to belgium

He'll be expecting to play on Tuesday and I'll have to make a decision to go along with his expectancy or surprise him.

Roy Hodgson, England, September 2013.

‘My kids don’t call me dad, They call me medal winner.

Anything can happen in professional sport.

Dougie Freedman, Bolton Wanderers, September 2013.

We've got players who've got quality in the final third, and unfortunately it just vacated them today.

Richie Barker, Crawley Town, September 2013.

I will not get drawn into a situation where people have to make decisions and they affect me.

Ian Holloway, Crystal Palace, September 2013.

Calling me a donkey doesn't offend me because they are one of the most hard-working animals

Dunga, Internacional, September 2013

Nine times out of 10 your first reaction is the right reaction

Paul Dickov, Doncaster Rovers, September 2013.

ha ha, that's superb.

I want to design a football team that wins games.

David Flitcroft, Barnsley, September 2013.

flitcroftstein

We have to start putting our opportunities away, but we're not always going to have Robert Green in goal against us.

Gary Johnson, Yeovil Town, September 2013.

He's got a heart as big as a bucket

Terry Butcher, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, September 2013.

We didn't quite hurt them enough in the second half in the last third, but neither did they.

Steve Davis, Crewe Alexandra, September 2013.

You spend your life in football being frustrated and disappointed and have rare moments of jubilation and success.

Sean O'Driscoll, Bristol City, September 2013.

:)

If we make a big issue of it, then it becomes the white elephant in the room

Sean O'Driscoll, Bristol City, September 2013.

We are slipping over in certain matches but we're certainly not falling down.

Dougie Freedman, Bolton Wanderers, September 2013.

We have fallen off the bar stool and we want to get back on it

Terry Butcher, Inverness, September 2013

easier said than done.

I made it clear when Charlie Austin left that this was an opportunity for (Sam Vokes and Danny Ings) to become their own version of him

Sean Dyche, Burnley, September 2013.

✓

so we got beaten 3-0 by ten men, that's what he's saying right

We mark the players after the game and you have to have seven out of tens rather than fours.

Mick McCarthy, Ipswich Town, September 2013.

I thought Ben Gibson gave one of our best performances. For a young boy he's got a voice

Tony Mowbray, Middlesbrough, September 2013.

They say on average that 10.2 points qualifies. How will we make the 0.2 is a mystery but that is what is needed.

Arsene Wenger, Arsenal, September 2013

Gotta say I'm loving Wenger atm. Reminds me of when Ali climbed off the ropes against Foreman.

it's as if that 40m cash in reserve was his balrog all along

When you're top of the league you naturally come over the radar

Sean Dyche, Burnley, October 2013.

:D this season's flitcroft already anointed

dyche has been swygarts muse for some time now -- and quite rightly

the thread is in good form this season

dyche did inspire that scary managers poll didn't he

this thread is amazing. think Wenger's showing off a little bit though

I mean it's great, but he's self-aware in his showboating. It's all coming together

I have a lot of supporters, Dave Flitcroft supporters, who want us to do well

David Flitcroft, Barnsley, October 2013.

Frustrated are the right words

Uwe Rosler, Brentford, October 2013.

Believing is not saying the right thing, it's doing the right thing

Mark Yates, Cheltenham Town, October 2013.

For an hour it was a football match from the point of view that Torquay on the break were dangerous.

Nigel Worthington, York City, October 2013.

I thought we were in and out the first half not as well as what we thought we could do but you're going to get that.

We come in at 0-0, which is always a plus

Nigel Worthington, York City, October 2013.

(should've been part of the previous post. Enh)

They're human beings, we all make mistakes. Unfortunately for the two lads, their errors have cost us goals.

There's no finger-pointing at them.

Lee Clark, Birmingham City, October 2013.

It was that strange situation, 2-0 up, 12 minutes gone, playing against 10 men.

Martin Allen, Gillingham, October 2013

He makes a mistake with a pass for the second and he tries to rectify his mistake with a rush of blood to the head, so he finds himself with an early shower.

Karl Robinson, MK Dons, October 2013

It's an error that's cost us, take the error out and it could have been a different result.

Graham Westley, Stevenage, October 2013

It's fantastic when a plan comes together

I always said if I was Allardichio, they'd always say I was more of a tactical genius rather than a broad Midlands accent that's got a bit of a northern accent to his English

Sam Allardyce, West Ham United, October 2013.

It's always a sign of a good team, when they don't actually play well they win the game. That's really key, that's general teams that get success.

Darren Ferguson, Peterborough United, October 2013.

I said before the game that if we scored first, we would go on to win the game. Certain circumstances have again dictated to us that we haven't done that.

The red card was one of those decisions. I'm not going to mention it because I don't think it warrants me mentioning it.

James Beattie, Accrington Stanley, October 2013.

We've got the brawn, but sometimes this game is about thinking as well.

Gareth Ainsworth, Wycombe Wanderers, October 2013.

But if you don't get a full loaf and you only get half of it, it gives you something to eat that's for sure.

Garry Hill, Woking, October 2013.

Garry Hill
Personal information
Full name Garry Hill
Place of birth England

22 yrs managing in the lower leagues

i wonder how much he gets paid at woking

Judging it from a neutral turning up and saying who deserved to win, I don't think you'll find someone who said that we wouldn't be at least worthy of a point

It was like when we were on the ball it was almost like a touch-touch stand and watch where we are going to play it and then play it.

Paul Hurst, Grimsby Town, October 2013.

It's good to score goals and we're scoring goals at the minute, which is a plus for me.

John Still, Luton Town, October 2013.

Profligate is our famous word at the moment.

Richard Money, Cambridge United, October 2013.

Malky Mackay's agent is not a manager, and does not therefore belong on this thread. But.

football is a precarious business and Malky's decision to stay might not thereafter be matched by all the powers that be deciding that he should stay, so in some respects that's pretty much in the hands of other people.

Was reading the Richard Money business the other day. Are you not entertained and all that. Fair fucks

I shouldn't have to ask a professional footballer to go out and run around and try.

Chris Morgan, Sheffield United (caretaker), October 2013.

My time at Bramall Lane is well documented now. I am a great believer in looking forward and not back. People will have to buy the book to get my views.

Micky Adams, Sheffield United, October 2013.

saw one of the gaffers itt this week looking particularly glum

next month is regla culling season for gaffers

They're finally getting their heads around my vision of what winning looks like

Graham Westley, Stevenage, October 2013.

westley is awful but exceptionally quotable

I sarcastically clapped him because he hadn't given us a decision all day. That was obviously wrong of me but, by the same token, he decided that he wanted to be the bigger and better man and send me off to the stand.

Graham Kavanagh, Carlisle United, October 2013.

You'd be a stupid, naïve man to think you've made something because you're sitting in the top six of the table.

Gareth Ainsworth, Wycombe Wanderers, October 2013.

We were excellent for 70 minutes, and we were excellent for 90 minutes last week and that won us the game, we've got to find that 20 minutes sometimes.

Mark Yates, Cheltenham Town, October 2013.

We've enough senior players on the pitch to make sure that it stays at 1-0. But if they got everything right, they wouldn't be here.

Aidy Boothroyd, Northampton Town, October 2013.

It's one of those victories that you don't want but you'll take.

1-0's a dangerous result.

David Moyes, Manchester United, October 2013.

It's difficult, always, to keep momentum overnight in five minutes.

David Flitcroft, Barnsley, October 2013.

I don't believe in having hiding places in football

Paul Cook, Chesterfield, October 2013.

We've enough senior players on the pitch to make sure that it stays at 1-0. But if they got everything right, they wouldn't be here.

This is amazing, like the club exists as a remedial school for shit footballers to improve.

I don't do excuses, I do reality.

Lee Clark, Birmingham City, October 2013.

this is such an important thread

perhaps a wisdom of gaffers exegesis thread is necessary, in the manner of dayo's photothread companion, this thread reserved strictly for gaffersprach?

This is football. You play with your feet so you are going to make mistakes.

Roberto Martinez, Everton, August 2013.

It's like deja vu and groundhog day.

Sean O'Driscoll, Bristol City, October 2013.

I thought they were immense in terms of their desire to not lose a football match.

Paul Cox, Mansfield Town, October 2013.

The opposition were magnificent in the pursuit of trying to win the match.

Keith Hill, Rochdale, October 2013.

:D the universal consciousness has spoken

saw one of the gaffers itt this week looking particularly glum

― fake irish times letters mac d (nakhchivan), Friday, 18 October 2013 18:49 (5 days ago)

RIP

tulse hill m8

surrey

was it one of those abysmal M25proximate gated model villages

nah he was near a restaurant which i suspect he may have just left

seemed somewhat sheeping possibly because i was staring at him and he suspected i was going to go on some JEDINAK IS FUCKING SHIT M8 diatribe except i was just trying to work out who that uncannily familiar short swarthy bald dude who i had never seen before actually was

lol sheepish

honestly i was just trying to get back to the carpark in one piece because it was midafternoon and i still hadn't had any caffeine or food and the last thing i wanted to do was traumatize another living soul, much less one on death row

ian holloway has stared at nakhchivan in his glory. fucken jealous of holloway

I can't have a confident, compact, 'everybody in it together' football club if some supporters are shouting at me to get some of the players off who are 'rubbish'.

They're not rubbish. They're exceptional people who are standing up to the challenges and the demands that I put in front of them. I never call my players rubbish and I wouldn't dare show them that lack of respect.

Keith Hill, Rochdale, October 2013.

We looked as if we'd turned up for a tea party in London

Steve Evans, Rotherham United, October 2013.

In the Championship the blue sky doesn't exist every weekend

Billy Davies, Nottingham Forest, October 2013.

If you fail or are successful you have to look yourself in the mirror and think you've done it the way you've done it yourself.

Ronnie Jepson, Bury, October 2013.

We didn't attack that first sort of ball booted up front by them

He'll now get the realism that he can score in this league

Guy Whittingham, Portsmouth, October 2013.

If you fail or are successful you have to look yourself in the mirror and think you've done it the way you've done it yourself.

Paul Anka looking at this and realising the lyrics to 'My Way' could have been so much better.

The first goal was fit to grace most pitches

Sean Dyche, Burnley, October 2013.

If you ask my wife and kids, they hate seeing their husband and dad with a miserable face so turning 41 tomorrow, I will be sitting around the dining table and they will see their dad smiling for the first time in a while so hopefully there will be some photographs taken.

Lee Clark, Birmingham City, October 2013.

Millwall worked very hard to justify that they should go away with something.

Nigel Adkins, Reading, October 2013.

We believe that if you keep pushing up your performance levels and keep them at a high level, over time you will win plenty of football matches.

We are a 'town club' and a club that supports the town, and that link has become more authentic with the realities. They're not negative realities, they're just realities.

Sean Dyche, Burnley, October 2013.

I said before all my players have flaws. That's why they play for Crawley.

If they didn't have a flaw they're all good players and then they would go and play for somebody else.

Richie Barker, Crawley Town, October 2013.

I like my subs sometimes to come on and change the game

John Sheridan, Plymouth Argyle, November 2013.

(the previous two are November as well. Bloody time)

(The conditions) were the worst I've known, and I'm 63.

John Still, Luton Town, November 2013.

We stressed all week that the tempo of the game is going to be very, very hot

Brian Laws, Scunthorpe United, November 2013.

You're never going to dominate a game for 90 minutes, no matter who you're playing.

Graham Alexander, Fleetwood Town, November 2013.

I want to implement my own style of personality on this club.

What I want to do is stand there on the side of the pitch and look at a team that works unbelievably hard and represents what I am as a man.

Shaun Derry, Notts County, November 2013.

We are where we want to be which is in front of the TV tomorrow afternoon watching the second-round draw.

Richie Barker, Crawley Town, November 2013.

They're a group of young players but they can't keep using that excuse. They've got to start taking responsibility, stop hiding behind myself.

Mark Cooper, Swindon Town, November 2013.

^yes

derry's dream become cooper's nightmare

You try something, and if people are not capable of doing it, you have to think about it.

Tony Burman, Dartford, November 2013.

I thought we had seven or eight good chances where we've not pulled the trigger or had the desire that the ball finishes in the back of the net.

Mark Yates, Cheltenham Town, November 2013.

It is frustrating, but if I was sat there thinking I got the tactics wrong, I would look closer to myself. Unfortunately, you put your faith in other people when you throw them out there.

Richie Barker, Crawley Town, November 2013.

We've agreed to cover the cost of the fans that travelled. Not because we're creeping, it's a gesture of appreciation.

Mark Cooper, Swindon Town, November 2013.

A couple of lads turned up late because of a fire on the M6, but you can't use that as an excuse.

Jim Bentley, Morecambe, November 2013.

✓

We are only going to be successful if we taste failure. We have tasted it and we don't like it.

Russell Slade, Leyton Orient, November 2013.

It's not quite Ocean's Eleven, it's more Ocean's Three, so we hope to bring one or two others as well.

Terry Butcher, Hibernian, November 2013

I said last week that we hadn't turned the corner but I think we are further into turning the corner.

Richie Barker, Crawley Town, November 2013.

We can't look for reasons or excuses

Graham Turner, Shrewsbury Town, November 2013.

There was a sentimental fatigue and probably a physical fatigue.

Graham Westley, Stevenage, November 2013.

(actually, it appears that Westley one is just a case of dodgy transcription rather than what he actually said)

“We have to believe in what we do. We’ve had a few variables that have been changing a lot over the course of the last month, and I need to try to put more constants back into the game and back into the performance, and make fewer variables to discuss, quantify, assess and coach – and we’ll get back on it.

Paul Tisdale, Exeter City, November 2013.

Actually, there's more of this which I think is worth it.

I’ve had a day or two in my study looking at all the factors. There’s what we’ve been coaching – as there’s often a correlation between what you coach and how the performance manifests itself – but also players in and out of form, combinations of players, systems, opposition, league, statistics and evidence.

I’ve been swamped in evidence, rumour, gossip, discussion, debate and everything else – my job is to pick through it all and pick out one or two things to concentrate on, and I have done. That’s my job and I pride myself on digging deep.

Paul Tisdale, Exeter City, November 2013.

(Tis has a particular way of expressing himself which can be hilariously at the managementspeak end of wisdom-of-gaffers but when he says something like that he's generally getting at something or other. I think in this case he's trying to convey to people that deciding on a team and tactics is complicated, and tweaking teams is even more so.)

If we don't win, on a Sunday morning it really doesn't work for me. I get a real strong feeling of anger. A real strong feeling of frustration. A strong feeling of looking in the mirror and hating myself.

That isn't a good way for me to be and live.

It's not a question of just needing to win because of a league position. That would be the last thing in the world that would drive me. What would drive me is my personal pride, desire and hunger.

Graham Westley, Stevenage, November 2013.

"A strong feeling of looking in the mirror and hating myself."

amazing

Accrington is the one of the places that nobody wants to go to. The surroundings aren't the greatest but you've just got to go there and play.

Alan Knill, Torquay United, November 2013.

Without dreams you can’t be successful trying to achieve those dreams.

I think Jack Wilshere has got that final pass, the little bit of creativity, that little bit of being able to break down a defence all day long.

Sam Allardyce, West Ham United, November 2013.

I love those Westley quotes. Looked at the BBC league one page more often than usual this week just so I could see the headline "Losing makes Westley hate himself".

There have been so many managers here - when do you stop?

Dave Jones, Sheffield Wednesday, November 2013.

This thread never fails to deliver. Strong feeling of hating myself, the poor man is suffering!

It would have been better if we had won

Aitor Karanka, Middlesbrough, November 2013.

You can feel sorry for yourself or bounce back quickly, and that's what we'll do.

Owen Coyle, Wigan Athletic, November 2013.

With regards to the penalty, I agreed with the linesman. I am sure their manager will agree with the referee.

Billy Davies, Nottingham Forest, November 2013.

We have 20-something players who are working hard for the cause. Billy Davies has spoken about his injuries. I think he was down to 32 players.

Sean Dyche, Burnley, November 2013.

It panned out like we thought it would, Crewe came out with fire in their bellies, took us by surprise and went a goal ahead.

Micky Adams, Port Vale, November 2013.

Performance-wise, I couldn't fault the performance of the lads

Nigel Worthington, York City, November 2013.

We lost because we weren't good enough - all 14 of us. And, if you want to include me in that, all 15 of us, because I picked the side.

Micky Adams, Port Vale, November 2013.

We weren't given the opportunity to reflect our capabilities. That's not the players' fault or to their detriment. We haven't been thrashed at home - we've been denied an opportunity.

Keith Hill, Rochdale, November 2013.

We need better game management. The players must learn to dip a toe in and work things out.

Colin Cooper, Hartlepool United, November 2013.

They've got the injuries on behalf of the crusade we're on and it does become upsetting, both from a purely selfish point of view and when you empathise with them and their plights.

Aidy Boothroyd, Northampton Town, November 2013.

Thanks to this thread I sometimes find myself skim reading interviews just looking for classic gaffer wisdom.

that aidy one really is something

There have been disappointments along the way, and you're going to get them in football whether I'm there or I'm not.

Paul Ince, Blackpool, November 2013.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25171704

RIP ;_;

knew this would happen when I saw the h/t score. peace god, the dream is dead

Everyone wants me to be happier than I am, but maybe my standards are high.

Gary Johnson, Yeovil Town, December 2013.

'David is a dedicated individual who will not accept anything but the best for Bury Football Club,' said chairman Stewart Day.

yessssss

He had received offers from other clubs at a higher level, but he has bought into what we are trying to achieve at this club and has committed his future to take us back to where we belong, the Championship.

Feel like "bought into what we are trying to achieve" has shot up the cliché charts in recent years.

the other day i was chatting with some random bloke at work and he was like "yer no sahnds like a good project at qpr" and reader let me tell u the intrusion of that word into the general phatic vernacular was like a icy dagger to my heart

i might start trying to introduce "we are in a good moment" into my meetings. tho we're in a shit moment for months with lay-offs and redundancies so maybe it's more a 2014 plan.

solid q1 reducer will put right to that

We all know that the goal factor is the problem for us

Sam Allardyce, West Ham United, December 2013.

I cannot just think about the result because if I do I kill myself

Gus Poyet, Sunderland, December 2013.

clearly a classic

After two minutes the ball ends up in our net on the rebound and that is a bit disappointing because we had the ball for the first minute and 50 seconds.

Steve Cotterill, Bristol City, December 2013.

One of the officials said to me 'we're well aware of what's going on'. And I beg the question, what does that mean?

Graham Westley, Stevenage, December 2013.

As a coach, I've got to make sure we're getting players in the right areas and try to infiltrate what they are doing with the precision and movement I'm trying to bring to the club.

David Flitcroft, Bury, December 2013.

Two big players injured and a suspension. But this is football and I love my job.

Gareth Ainsworth, Wycombe Wanderers, December 2013.

I've got to look at the bigger picture - 10 points out of 12 in the last four games, three away games out of four; the only disappointment today for me was the officials.

I suppose the other disappointing thing is that we've not managed to finish them off.

Russ Wilcox, Scunthorpe United, December 2013.

The three goals we conceded were, I wouldn't even say schoolboy - probably Under-12s.

Steve Lomas, Millwall, December 2013.

It's not a mafia as such, but there's this network that other people have. They've played in Scotland

They've taken the mantle of a team from the Highlands and they've used a lot of motivational tools to help them.

They're not conceding goals, they're scoring goals. Isn't that what you want? That's utopia.

I've had plenty of time to step outside my own body to have a look at myself

Kenny Shiels, unattached, December 2013.

(Kenny has since been appointed gaffer at Greenock Morton)

I’m a humble lad with good morals from my parents. Work hard. If you have to clean the floor, make it the cleanest floor ever.

I read ‘The Horse Whisperer’. If that can apply to a horse, with all due respect to a horse, it must apply to humans.

My nirvana wouldn’t be buying a Bentley. My nirvana would be building a sports centre where I live, and not even having my name on it.

I made it clear to the players here: ‘Whatever your key motivation is, I have no problem with it. If it’s money, go for it. If it’s winning, go for it. My drug was winning. Glory? Fame? Nice lady? Big car? Go for it. That’s all fuel that can drive you. If you understand the fuel, and use it for the betterment of yourself and others, I’m happy.'

I’m not a fashion item.

There are lots of managers out there, branding themselves up to the eyeballs, coming out with fancy words, new sayings. I’m sick of hearing about ‘philosophy’. It’s a posh word for game-plan. Everyone now says: ‘if you haven’t got a philosophy you haven’t got a brain’. I find that bizarre.

Sean Dyche, Burnley, December 2013.

(I think I love him)

he must Premiership

the anti-Holloway

in times of darkness i come to this thread and it never fucking fails. WBS for goddam President.

We are blessed here at this football club by a really forward-thinking board that shares a vision of going places

I want to get into every avenue of this football club.

we have a great aspiration to win a lot of football matches this season, next season and after that.

Your timing has got to be right, your punctuality, your respect, your discipline, your honesty and enthusiasm, your injury prevention, your post match analysis, your recovery work – all that has got to be absolutely synchronised for the top clubs to give you players.

David Flitcroft, Bury, December 2013.

feel like the last three WBS posts are the grand declarations of our gods and their works

WITH ALL DUE RESPECT TO A HORSE!!!!!!!!

It's just magnificent.

saying a horse rather than horses would seem to suggest he is being deferential towards an equine interviewer

the last three are just incredible.

I want to get into every avenue of this football club.

slightly seedy vibe.

Really, aggressive edge of nastiness to it

What they don't want to see is people who give the ball away and then sulk and get their bottom lip out.

Ronnie Moore, Tranmere Rovers, December 2013.

No one on this planet is good enough to not compete in a game of football.

Graham Alexander, Fleetwood Town, December 2013.

Let's get a few wins under our belt and start climbing the table and then we can cross that bridge.

Richie Barker, Portsmouth, December 2013.

If you're in a dogfight you have to fight first

Alan Knill, Torquay United, December 2013.

Two years of doing the wrong things are not going to be fixed in two games.

David Flitcroft, Bury, December 2013.

We've got two guys who think they're footballers. They're centre-backs and their living is to head it and kick it.

Ronnie Moore, Tranmere Rovers, December 2013.

ahahaha

this is thread of the year by such a wide margin

Adebayor has not been playing, so he did not require much motivating. You put him back in because of what he has done in history.

Tim Sherwood, Tottenham Hotspur (caretaker), December 2013.

It is important to find different ways of winning and then deliver them.

Sean Dyche, Burnley, December 2013.

Jordan is a top lad, his manners are unbelievable

Gary Bowyer, Blackburn Rovers, December 2013.

It's my focus that's front and centre.

Malky Mackay, Cardiff City, December 2013.

"The ball's not rolling so we have to make sure it doesn't roll our way and doesn't not roll their way"

John Still, Luton, re a waterlogged pitch.

The fact we conceded late on leaves you feeling a bit deflated, annoyed and devastated

Mick McCarthy, Ipswich Town, January 2014.

You need to cope with a few situations and a few shots, but in the end you need to be better, so job done.

Gus Poyet, Sunderland, January 2014.

Players want direction, they want leadership and need to know where they want to be at certain times.

David Flitcroft, Bury, December 2013.

We really did want three points today. I said to the players at half-time, one thing you know I really wanted was a clean sheet, a 45-minute clean sheet.

We stood firm for 37 minutes which is important

David Flitcroft, Bury, December 2013.

What really upset me was the way that the team almost rounded on Daysie (Stevenage goal keeper Chris Day) looking for an excuse. That isn't the togetherness that's the Stevenage togetherness, that's not the togetherness that wins you anything.

You've got to make sure you get winning people with winning attitudes together. There's plenty of them here, but unfortunately they're not necessarily the stronger characters.

Graham Westley, Stevenage, December 2013.

They've scored four from their 10 attempts and we've scored one from our 19. I think the attempts on goal is a fair reflection of the afternoon.

Graham Westley, Stevenage, December 2013.

I think we are seeing a lot of players not responding in the right way to the pressure of having to win. That's part of their learning curve. They've got to understand that we're not here to mess about; we are here to put trophies on the table.

Graham Westley, Stevenage, December 2013.

You can listen to whoever you want to listen to, but it's far better to have the knowledge in your own head.

Steve Cotterill, Bristol City, December 2013.

"Every decision I make must be in the best interests of Morton and I'm very susceptible to being controversialised."

Kenny Shiels, Morton, January 2013

ach forgot the quote tags

I thought it was a fantastic game full of different moments.

Gary Rowett, Burton Albion, January 2014.

When you're playing against a big team, the one thing you have to do yourself is play really well

Steve Bruce, Hull City, January 2014.

Tonight wasn't our day.

John Askey, Macclesfield Town, January 2014.

It has been well documented the scenarios going on at boardroom level

Nigel Adkins, Reading, January 2014.

I think we took our foot off the gas and thought that the game was over, and it never is.

Russ Wilcox, Scunthorpe United, January 2014.

Bravo!

the situation of how the first goal came about disappoints you from the point of view of indiscipline.

Nigel Worthington, York City, January 2014.

That was probably the most one-sided game that I have never won.

Paul Cox, Mansfield Town, January 2014.

We’re not playing the Wizard of Oz, we’re not playing Harry Potter, we’re playing human beings

Graham Westley, Stevenage, January 2014

Has never seen the Wizard of Oz obviously.

We're looking at our clocks and those five minutes [of extra time] have gone, and in that extra fifty seconds they go and equalise.

John Gregory, Crawley Town, January 2014.

In our situation you want to have a win.

A lot of players first half played much too tense and if you play and you are too tense it is very difficult to play.

Michael Laudrup, Swansea City, January 2014.

I asked the foreign lads at the team meeting what they thought about the FA Cup and now they'll realise.

Stuart Gray, Sheffield Wednesday, January 2014.

We've got 19 real cup finals and there's magic in every one of those games for us because we can really achieve something this season.

Keith Hill, Rochdale, January 2014.

I'm happy, happy, happy - wow, off the Richter scale of happiness.

Keith Hill, Rochdale, January 2014.

There are hundreds of players that we could go out and get tomorrow - the key is, it has got to be the right one.

Gary Rowett, Burton Albion, January 2014.

He is a player that loves football and loves to be involved in football

David Flitcroft, Bury, January 2014.

I felt we needed a body and Matty fits that bill

Andy King, Northampton Town (caretaker), January 2014.

Results-wise, wins give you a big change in as far as the points and the league positions are concerned.

Nigel Worthington, York City, January 2014.

We've got young kids on the bench, so I thought we battled manfully

Yes, I think it's a yellow card, but we're not playing in my day or Derek's day. If it had been in that we'd have played on, but we're playing in the day now and it's a yellow card.

Stuart McCall, Motherwell, January 2014

You have to lay a foundation and at the moment we are laying down a footing. We are clearing away the earth to lay that first brick.

David Flitcroft, Bury, January 2014.

This football journey at Bury is full of good people, and Clive is another great human being to have with us. He knows football inside out and his experience will be invaluable to us in the final twenty games and will be extremely valuable for us to move forward. Clive is a leader of men and enjoys leading a team. His hold up play is second to none and now that we have plenty of pace and power in the squad, it will be important for Clive to hold the ball up for us. Now it is my job as manager to make sure that the movement in and around Clive is devastating to the opposition.

David Flitcroft, Bury, January 2014.

Obviously I know the manager very well and his enthusiasm rubs off any player, no matter their age.

Clive Platt, Bury, January 2014.

I spoke to the referee but it didn't make me feel any better.

Gary Bowyer, Blackburn Rovers, January 2014.

We are that surprise package and that can be favourable to us. We have got a team who play without that feeling that them other clubs have got because there is that demand on those clubs to get the job done.

Ours is slightly different - we have our own expectation, of course - but the outside expectation is lesser so on Burnley than them boys who are up there now.

Sean Dyche, Burnley, January 2014.

"Some people might be frustrated with that result? Some people can fuck off."

Mick McCarthy, Ipswich Town, January 2014

We have players who have been out for a long period of time, who I'd like to think are getting a bit closer to the recovery process

Nigel Adkins, Reading, January 2014.

I won't go into a corner and back down.

Dougie Freedman, Bolton Wanderers, January 2014.

Hopefully the fans take to him because of his work rate and desperation to make a career in the game.

Mark Cooper, Swindon Town, January 2014.

We played the sort of football that I want us to, it's just that our fans have gone home after a defeat so probably won't remember that.

Colin Cooper, Hartlepool United, January 2014.

Tommy has been a very useful member of our squad, but it didn't materialise that he was playing regularly for us this season

Paul Tisdale, Exeter City, January 2014.

We should have won it easily and instead we ended up drawing, so that's a disappointment.

Steve McClaren, Derby County, February 2014.

We've done two days of work on it, which isn't enough work for any back four, but sometimes when you do that it ends up working well.

Lee Johnson, Oldham Athletic, February 2014.

It's disappointing because we've had a good week. It could have been an excellent week and it's turned out to be an average week.

Richie Barker, Portsmouth, February 2014.

These supporters aren't on a blind date. They know what they are seeing, they know what we are trying to achieve and how we are trying to achieve it.

Keith Hill, Rochdale, February 2014.

He's a very important player for us because he's a top player.

Manuel Pellegrini, Manchester City, February 2014.

It is a culture shock because they realise they're playing for their livings here. It's not 'you have 50 passes and then we have 50 passes'. This is the real world. They come in as boys and go away as men.

Ronnie Moore, Tranmere Rovers, February 2014.

The manner in which Ipswich got the goals was fortunate but I would have thought from Mick's point of view, he would have thought they deserved it, which is understandable.

Danny Wilson, Barnsley, February 2014.

I think there are long-term scars at the football club with certain players here and I think we need to try and shake them off and move on.

Dougie Freedman, Bolton Wanderers, February 2014.

I understand the need to push away from the bottom.

Chris Powell, Charlton Athletic, February 2014.

We didn't score but that's football

Aitor Karanka, Middlesbrough, February 2014.

With a bit better finishing, we could have finished them off earlier.

Stuart Gray, Sheffield Wednesday, February 2014.

we didn't really affect their goalmouth enough.

Lee Johnson, Oldham Athletic, February 2014.

I thought we were excellent in our pursuit of making sure that we didn't give the opportunity to the opposition.

Keith Hill, Rochdale, February 2014.

(I think Keith may have squared himself here)

god bless you Swygart

As a football man you want to concentrate on football matters, as anyone would want to do.

Brian McDermott, Leeds United, February 2014.

First half I had too many regrets.

Lee Clark, Birmingham City, February 2014.

The mind games were there from four o'clock onwards - was the game going to go ahead? The referee probably had more mind games than the rest of us.

John Ward, Bristol Rovers, February 2014.

We couldn't have scored if we'd used a rainbow as the goalposts.

Juande Ramos, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, February 2014.

lovely image. Sid Lowe tweeted that it is something of a common phrase in Spain.

i keep picturing this
http://chaosjeff.tripod.com/europe72-01.JPG

We try to convince ourselves about total football but that's not the British way. The fans want to see excitement.

Lee Clark, Birmingham City, February 2014.

I made the decision not to play and stay on the sidelines, and the squad is becoming strong enough to cope.

Barry Ferguson, Blackpool (interim), February 2014.

What I did like was all the game, not part of the game, because my team were able to suffer.

Giuseppe Sannino, Watford, February 2014.

We're not going to look for excuses for ourselves but the goalkeeper's got the ball in his hands, Revell makes no contact with the ball, a lot of contact with our goalkeeper and the ball runs loose: 99 times out 100 I think you'd see a free-kick in that situation.

Deano in the middle of the park, trying to roll his foot over the ball and drag it one way when you think, 'look, we've just got ourselves level, let's keep the ball in good areas at that stage'.

Graham Westley, Stevenage, February 2014.

If John Nutter's going to score, it's going to be scored in the second minute not the 88th.

Garry Hill, Woking, February 2014.

Sean Dyche has taken the Claridge role on this week's football league show. Very much protecting from deletion on my BT infinity box.

As I said, no one has been sacked. We had a discussion. And, as you know in employment, once that happens, it has to go down the legal route and that is where we are at the moment.

Lee Clark, Birmingham City, February 2014.

One-nil is a bit hairy-scary

Gary Johnson, Yeovil Town, February 2014.

sometimes you have to dog-out wins like that.

Lee Johnson, Oldham Athletic, February 2014.

I'll never stop learning and improving and I'll do that again on Monday.

Barry Ferguson, Blackpool (interim), February 2014.

Hopefully this reputation I've got where I can do not-too-bad things with these big clubs' young players is helping us get the edge over some of my rivals, in terms of trying to help them on in their development.

Lee Clark, Birmingham City, February 2014.

If you start looking at the table mathematically then we don't get beat at Charlton.

Kevin Bond, Queen's Park Rangers (assistant), February 2014.

We feel hard done by with the goal and how it came about but that's life for us today I'm afraid.

Eddie Howe, Bournemouth, February 2014.

deliberately left u to do the honours on that one just fyi xp

A good defender has a good habit of getting hit by the ball

Stuart Gray, Sheffield Wednesday, February 2014.

Possession is vanity if you don't do anything with it.

Mark Robins, Huddersfield Town, February 2014.

There was talk that Leicester might be tired after the midweek match at Forest. But you can't tell me that Vardy and Nugent were tired. That's all psychological babble that they might be tired.

Mick McCarthy, Ipswich Town, February 2014.

To be fair to the players, I said to them "go out and some of you prove me wrong"

Steve Evans, Rotherham United, February 2014.

It probably means now that Peter Taylor has picked the wrong team because we lost the match but I don't think that was the case.

Peter Taylor, Gillingham, February 2014.

I don't like defeat at the best of times.

Steve Cotterill, Bristol City, February 2014.

We're splitting hairs again on a decision and the split of the hair went against us.

Graham Westley, Stevenage, February 2014.

Not good enough. That's my assessment.

I can't accept that and I'll not accept that and the players have been left in no uncertain terms that I'll not accept that.

Steven Pressley, Coventry City, February 2014.

I know it's a results-based industry

We have to find a way of winning a game and scoring a goal.

Neal Ardley, Wimbledon, February 2014.

It's not New Year's Eve, I'm not going to be partying at home until two in the morning

Chris Wilder, Northampton Town, February 2014.

We said to the lads afterwards 'what do you feel?', and they said we feel we've lost two points today because we should have gone on to win that game.

Terry Butcher, Hibernian, February 2014.

There's something in the water up in Inverness, I'm serious. With this bunch of boys in that dressing room, there are no egos, no 'Billy-big-times'.

If they play good, indifferent or bad, you know you're getting 100 per cent. They train like that, they play like that, they live their lives like that.

John Hughes, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, February 2014.

It would be easy to just crumble and roll over and let United come down the hill and beat us by four or five.

Stuart McCall, Motherwell, February 2014.

Was considering starting Scariest Manager in League One poll, but the top three was so clearly Pressley-Clough-Kavanagh, and Pressley was so clearly in front, that it just seemed pointless.

Steve Evans seems like an archetypal small town crook whose hired muscle might accidentally go too far with a warning beating.

I'd imagine it takes a lot to get on the wrong side of Kenny Jackett, but once you got there you'd find it was a fucking terrifying place.

Westly kind of has a "YOU'LL NEVER FIT KITCHENS IN DIDCOT AGAIN!" sort of vibe.

There's an old saying that a good horse only jumps as high as he has to. Well I hate this saying more than anything. I think a horse should jump as high as it can.

We looked at how high we had to jump today and, when we realised that it wasn't so high, we had already fallen behind.

Jurgen Klopp, Borussia Dortmund, February 2014.

Our keeper Ben Hamer made some cracking saves but that's cup football.

Chris Powell, Charlton Athletic, February 2014.

We have to go backwards at times to go forwards, but you're only as good as your front men.

Mark Cooper, Swindon Town, February 2014.

The first 45 minutes were unacceptable, disappointing, poor and we didn't pass it well enough.

Lee Johnson, Oldham Athletic, February 2014.

will be sitting here for some time trying to work out who yr front men are when you are going backwards to go forwards. thanks wbs.

I'm a realist and a professional, and getting beaten 4-0 isn't good enough.

There's a difference between playing and competing. We played, but I don't think we competed - when you're right on the line and on the verge of going over the line.

I'm really disappointed - I'm not clever enough to come up with a better word than 'disappointed' that isn't a swear word.

Graham Alexander, Fleetwood Town, February 2014.

In the second half, the quality that we've got in the team went into overdrive.

David Flitcroft, Bury, February 2014.

(My browser's spellcheck refuses to recognise Flitcroft. It will learn.)

sounds like a Deighton novel. The Flitcroft Algorithm.

My job is to make sure people concentrate on things that are important.

John Still, Luton Town, February 2014.

I've seen it so many times - teams in this position can drift away. Listen to my words: they can drift away.

If I'm lying on the beach in the summer and we haven't played in the play-offs and given ourselves a chance of promotion I am not going to be a happy man.

Richard Money, Cambridge United, February 2014.

I need 11 players to pick themselves and I've said that to the squad. Otherwise you're juggling balls or spinning plates.

Chris Hargreaves, Torquay United, February 2014.

I'm hard on them on the sidelines because I expect high standards. At 4-0 Tope Obadeyi gave the ball away three times in the last few minutes and I'm trying to tell him 'don't do it because I don't like it'.

John Sheridan, Plymouth Argyle, February 2014.

I tried to push him away with my head

Alan Pardew, Newcastle United, February 2014.

The big danger is that you get side-tracked into losing focus on what we are able to do ourselves.

Nigel Pearson, Leicester City, March 2014.

I worked with Liam Hatch at Gravesend. I should have kicked him in the tunnel beforehand, shouldn't I?

Adrian Pennock, Forest Green Rovers, March 2014.

I'm not really worried about the table. I'm worried about winning games.

Graham Westley, Stevenage, March 2014.

I can't say that there wasn't enough contact because Danny (Shittu) is built like a proverbial.

Ian Holloway, Millwall, March 2014.

In the box it is very important to have physical qualities, but sometimes we need more agility in other games.

But don't only watch how tall a player is, but what is in their heart.

Beppe Sannino, Watford, March 2014.

We are disappointed with the two goals we have conceded. My criticism of the side is that we have conceded two goals and the manner of the two goals.

People will probably write us off, but that is not the right thing to do.

Gary Bowyer, Blackburn Rovers, March 2014.

We're not virtually there

Nigel Pearson, Leicester City, March 2014.

You look at the decisions that they make in terms of how consistent they were in making their decisions and how inconsistent we are and that's why we are where we are.

Shaun Derry, Notts County, March 2014.

it's totally different to the other games where we've thrown away a two goal lead.

Russ Wilcox, Scunthorpe United, March 2014.

You know what's coming when you play Mansfield, it's coming in the box no matter where it is

Nigel Worthington, York City, March 2014.

I can't deny it's not a big three points for us.

Chris Wilder, Northampton Town, March 2014.

I asked our 'wrigglers' as I call them, and by that I mean the players who can get the ball out of their feet and sneak a shot away, to test their keeper.

Colin Cooper, Hartlepool United, March 2014.

everyone has given me a positive yes.

Gareth Ainsworth, Wycombe Wanderers, March 2014.

Scoring goals is the hardest job in football, it wins games and at the moment we haven't got enough people who want to do that. I look and I think 'who really wants to be the one that scores a goal?'. Who wants to go and score the goal and be the hero in front of the fans at home and score the winning goal?

Richie Barker, Portsmouth, March 2014.

Tremendous credit to the boys - it's their hard work and perseverance, and them believing in what I'm saying.

James Beattie, Accrington Stanley, March 2014.

We've been the course and distance before

We looked to nullify them as they looked to nullify us.

Nigel Adkins, Reading, March 2014.

But the good thing about the Championship is that we have a fantastic game coming up next weekend at Derby.

David 'Ned' Kelly, Nottingham Forest (assistant), March 2014.

There are so many adjectives to describe how I'm feeling

Lee Clark, Birmingham City, March 2014.

It's not necessarily an easy situation to continually keep winning.

Kenny Jackett, Wolverhampton Wanderers, March 2014.

The second goal, just before half time was absolute comedy for me. Our corner, and then they score from our corner. You work that one out.

Gareth Ainsworth, Wycombe Wanderers, March 2014.

We would love to do that for the course of 90 minutes but you know at some stage the opposition's going to try and stop you or help you in some way.

Nigel Worthington, York City, March 2014.

I'm a winner. I want to win so bad.

i'm a airplane. i want to fly so bad.

I need three or four Sam Stantons in the team and I haven't got that.

I need three or four Duncan Watmores in the team and I haven't got that.

Terry Butcher, Hibernian, March 2014

We've slightly forgotten how to win a game

Justin Edinburgh, Newport County, March 2014.

I've had a chance to see Munich a few times, I watched them at Arsenal and they are a good team

David Moyes, Manchester United, March 2014

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03yfqjb/Some_People_with_Jokes_Series_2_Some_Football_Managers_with_Jokes/

Extraordinary television.

Our chef is fantastic - he's open to new ideas

Sean Dyche, Burnley, March 2014

Bryan Robson making me laugh for the first time since he left management

yh the robson one is beautiful

jesus christ you can't get iPlayer within the Pale????

ban iain dowie

yeah for a second there i was hoping it'd be the joek with the punchline "that's easy, Joist wrote Ulysses and Girder wrote Faust"

but no such joy

mcleish fascination with large mammals understandable given some of his teams' football

interesting to see who can actually tell a joke, McLeish is none too shabby, Pleat was fucken painful

first iteration i ever heard of that camel joke was the racist one my dad told me when i was a kid

permaban bobby gould

i gave up before Bobby Gould, figured it wasnae gonna get any better than Robson's

robson's 2nd joke is almost transcendentally lame <3

SHAUN DERRY OUT OF NOWHERE

dowiiiiieeeee noooooo

that's londonderry, son

Gerry Francis you've let yrself down

Craig Disley thought he could have done slightly better and the keeper makes a good save but from where I was it's hard to judge until you really look back.

Paul Hurst, Grimsby Town, March 2014.

They're a tremendous group, they keep ramming everything back down my throat and that's what I want.

Paul Cox, Mansfield Town, March 2014.

There were a lot of positives from the game, which I will keep, in terms of we kept the ball.

John Gregory, Crawley Town, March 2014.

There's two spirals in football: one up and one down, there's nothing in between.

Steve Cotterill, Bristol City, March 2014.

We just need to play consistently at a level where we win games.

Dougie Freedman, Bolton Wanderers, March 2014.

I'm very disappointed but in English football you have to pay attention to the last, last minute of the game. This is the rule of English football.

Beppe Sannino, Watford, March 2014.

I don't think that's a thought in any shape or form.

Gary Brazil, Nottingham Forest (caretaker), March 2014.

Another day in the football factory and a few more mistakes.

Mark Robins, Huddersfield Town, March 2014.

We've had our own share of things not given for us so I understand Paul Dickov's frustration, I've been him on a number of occasions.

Sean Dyche, Burnley, March 2014.

whatever you do in work or life you don't want criticism

Alan Pardew, Newcastle United, April 2014.

I don't over-think each one as it comes

Sean Dyche, Burnley, April 2014.

I believe we can win games between now and the end of the season. How many will that be? Who knows.

Chris Wilder, Northampton Town, April 2014.

All my focus at the moment is the next game to try and stay within my process.

Kenny Jackett, Wolverhampton Wanderers, April 2014.

Yet I am not here to complain, I am just here to find a solution

Jose Riga, Charlton Athletic, April 2014.

I have spoken to the referee and it always amazes when they say 'it is in your opinion'. I have looked at it 47 times on my laptop so I don't know how it is (an) opinion, that's what I am flummoxed with.

Sean Dyche, Burnley, April 2014.

dyyyyche

Everyone's very excited because we've won a game and results have gone our way, but this league's like that.

Paul Cook, Chesterfield, April 2014.

Our work ethic was not at the level that it takes to win.

I always ask for a little bit more not a little bit less

I don't think some of the individuals have learned yet to be team players and spread the winning habit.

If the impossible is going to become possible, the work ethic has got to go up, the discipline has got to go up, the sense of responsibility has to go up and we've got to be prepared to play the game that we work on all week.

Graham Westley, Stevenage, April 2014.

Once they got in the lead they had that mindset that they were desperate to hang on to it.

Mark Cooper, Swindon Town, April 2014.

If you need to show somebody somewhere in the world where they don't watch Sunderland every week, you show him this game and tell him this is the story of the season and that's it.

I don't have a word because it's not one feeling, really. It hurts, it hurts because it doesn't matter what we do, something happens. And it's not an excuse, I don't really believe in luck.

Gus Poyet, Sunderland, April 2014.

Tom Ince will be a top Premier League player, without a shadow of a doubt. He's got all the attributes and everything else.

Tony Pulis, Crystal Palace, April 2014.

The people who jeered were born stupid and won't die intelligent

Lucien Favre, Borussia Monchengladbach, April 2014

We cannot face more reality than today.

Jose Riga, Charlton Athletic, April 2014

I don't think you can look at the table and worry, because it will just give you a heart attack

Chris Hargreaves, Torquay United, April 2014.

They are in the same situation as us, just outside that bottom-four problem area.

Peter Taylor, GIllingham, April 2014.

Dyche has surely delivered on this day

The margin in the end could have probably been closer than it ended up in score terms

Graham Westley, Stevenage, April 2014.

It feels marvellous and feels like the destination at the end of a long journey; an impressive journey from a group of people who are totally motivated and committed to stand the test of what a season is.

Despite what people think, I don't scream and shout at them all the time. I talk to them about what I think is important for them as individuals and the team.

If they realign then fantastic; if they don't we talk some more and if they don't then, they disappear out the building.

Sean Dyche, Burnley, April 2014.

<3

I hope when they try and nudge him towards Holloway type zaniness he doesn't reciprocate and tells them to fuck off.

holloway is a just a thick 'jovial' cunt, not reading dyche in the same way at all.....got a bit of aidy boothroyd in him maybe? not so stupid or negative though

here's what i said elsewhere:

he's at least as quotable as david flitcroft was last season, except that he has so much more dignity and gravitas, and is also a good manager

his quotability doesn't stem from wackiness and hyperbole [a la Holloway] but from his idiosyncratic attempts to express a coherent footballing philosophy at a club that's possibly never had one before

it's kinda beautiful

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPmY1grc_nc

has this been wisdomed yet

First record ever bought?
Prince Charming by Adam Ant (right). I loved the whole rave and Madchester scene and went to The Hacienda back in the day. These days my favourite band is Kasabian.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY9oVjTdf08

Todmorden is such a beautiful place name

Especially when he says it

nicely expressed by imago on Dyche xxp.

The less you know about degenerate places like Todmorden the better. Hebden Bridge further down the valley, is stunningly beautiful with ancient rocky outcrops and an abundance of wildlife. Ignore KLF.

It has been so difficult to not love Burnley this season. It will probably end in tears as usual. Hopefully the bright spark prick behind the scenes who used big data (zx-spectrum with a 16k ram pack) to identify Brian Laws as the best manager for Burnley has since been pumped.

there posts by me from a couple of years ago suggesting owen coyle was a promising manager although i was probably just making shit up about a lesser seen epl team based on limited viewings in the timeworn jamie redknapp fashion

anyway that burnley squad was fairly terrible and he jumped ship at the right time, what are their prospects like next year?

I saw them recently (culminating in this post Rock journalism, football discourse and British mistrust of "technique" which I'm fairly proud of)

they were very good. for half an hour we equalled them but they demonstrated an ability to 'win the big moments' - step it up when required, demonstrate solidity and a bit of thrust, always be that step ahead tactically. I know we're only Charlton but I do think they can replicate this trick on some of the more abysmal Premiership teams. they're solid, won't wilt under pressure and can score goals.

i recall coyle's burnley and his first 18 or so months at bolton being fairly impressive, but he turned to shit so suddenly and comprehensively that i can't remember what was good about em and assume it must have been the product of lucky inertia.

seemed like Bolton were hit all at once by the steep decline of veterans, major injuries to key younger players (Holden, Lee, Muamba) and sale of Cahill w/o replacement and Coyle wasn't good enough to compensate

It's a good season for Burnley to go up, because so many teams in the Premier League are in a mess at the moment. You could make a realistic case for any club outside the top seven getting relegated next season; Burnley only have to finish ahead of three of them. Their best 11 probably isn't that far off Palace's, and they're probably the most feared side in the division right now. Organisation and unity of purpose can get you a fair way in the Premier League at the moment, and Dyche is a big enough character to keep hold of a dressing room. He seems to have that Lambert-esque approach of making sure no one player is bigger than him, albeit with a fair bit more charisma than Lambert's got. He's also got a very solid strike pairing in Ings and Vokes, but whether they'll find Premier League defences as accommodating as Championship ones - and whether they'll have the confidence to persevere if they don't - remains to be seen.

That said - regardless of who comes up through the play-offs, Burnley will have the smallest budget in the top flight next season. Their squad is small and comprised chiefly of Championship-level players at the moment, and their first choice centre-backs are Michael Duff (36) and Jason Shackell (30). They'll need to be very, very cute in the transfer window - their current squad contains only two players bought from outside the English leagues (one from Cork City, one from Derry City), which suggests a narrow scouting network. Dyche has only paid money for one player in his time there (Ashley Barnes, c. £750k from Brighton) - that's likely to change this summer, but finding bargains from within England when you're in charge of a newly minted Premier League club is bloody difficult (see £6million man Dwight Gayle). What Dyche will do with the increased resources at his disposal, I don't know - he does talk an awful lot about staying grounded and working hard, and he doesn't seem likely to be tempted to take big gambles in the transfer market... but I'm desperately trying to shake this nagging suspicion that he might at some point this summer transform into Phil Brown. I think he's probably too sensible to do that. But.

"I made it clear that I thought a mass culling was required. We weren't able to do that.

Graham Westley, Stevenage, April 2014.

My personal belief is that if you do it right all of the time, then you don't need to flick that switch and turn it on.

The focus on the game was absolutely spot on. That is a good thing because there is some of this group that will be competing in the division next year where there will be a lot of stuff going round and different protocols - maybe it was a tiny taster of that here.

Sean Dyche, Burnley, April 2014.

I've been around the game too long to know that strange things do happen on the final day.

Shaun Derry, Notts County, April 2014.

I thought he (the referee) was playing bingo, trying to get a full house with all our players being booked.

Mark Cooper, Swindon Town, April 2014.

Ivan Toney gave us a spark last week and he deserved to play, regardless of his age.

Chris Wilder, Oxford United, April 2014.

Some of the lads looked like they are already on their holidays, and I've just told some of them that they won't be coming back from their holidays.

Paul Cox, Mansfield Town, April 2014.

I'm pleased that we've given our place in League One back to the supporters.

I like to analyse and there's a great sense of feeling inside of emotional achievement.

Keith Hill, Rochdale, April 2014.

that Paul Cox quote is seismic

there is some of this group that will be competing in the division next year

cold
all of those burnley game lads looking around wondering who will be loaned to sheffield united and replaced by a former france under 21 international on thirty grand a week

My mate David Flitcroft says 'Happiness brings success, success doesn't always bring happiness', and I agree with him 100%.

Keith Hill, Rochdale, April 2014.

He’s the sort of lad who if your daughter took him home, you’d be happy to see her with him.

He can play left-back, left wing-back, left midfield or central midfield and he scores a lot of goals and creates a lot of goals.

Barry Fry, Peterborough, May 2014

He asked me to be his coach - to coach the players, to get them fit, to teach them, to improve them, to pick the team, to manage the team on a match-day, but that's it. That's what I do, it's my passion, so hand in a glove

David Hockaday, Leeds United, June 2014.

The decision of the board was to allow him not to come back. We have to look for opportunities for him to play in a different team.

Ronald Koeman, Southampton, July 2014.

I’m not a people pleaser, it’s not me.

David Flitcroft, Bury, July 2014.

Shakers boss believes his decision to replace youngster Anthony Dudley with the team physio in a pre-season friendly has paid off

I can't praise the players enough; spirit, determination, and ability not to be beaten.

Tommy Wright, St Johnstone, July 2014.

You always need a couple of Wade Elliotts in your dressing room

Steve Cotterill, Bristol City, June 2014.

a chicken in every pot and two Wade Elliots in every dressing room

It's about adding a former England international to my management team to expand the standard of thinking that supports the players.

Graham Westley, Stevenage, June 2014.

Barton, yes, he is stupid. He has never won anything, his career is full of problems.

Willy Sagnol, Bordeaux, July 2014.

actual wisdom

A sports psychologist I once worked with laughed at how visual I was in my thinking. He was in hysterics that I admitted I've imagined being a rhino before I went on to the pitch so I could just plough through everyone.

James Beattie, Accrington Stanley, August 2014.

aka the Meulensteen method

They have been fantastic in terms of wanting to listen.

Rob Edwards, Tranmere Rovers, August 2014.

Sooner or later, the fact we haven't won away on the opening day for 20 years has to change.

Steve Davis, Crewe Alexandra, August 2014.

(I feel like this one's the one where the season really begins)

I wanted to bring the right types in and am very happy with the types.

Shaun Derry, Notts County, August 2014.

In my own head, I'm quietly confident we're going to compete again.

Gary Johnson, Yeovil Town, August 2014.

As a club, unit and city, we are going to have to be patient

Michael Appleton, Oxford United, August 2014.

extra thick shin guards for everybody playing Notts County this season then

It's never going to be a complete reflection of the first game because of the pressure on that game, depending on whether you're home or away, whether you've got a new team or the same team - there's always going to be variables.

Gary Rowett, Burton Albion, August 2014.

I don't see any disadvantage of people looking in and saying 'they could be good'.

Graham Westley, Stevenage, August 2014.