Football Manager Quotes & Sayings

I just think to be a manager you've got to live and breathe and have this incredible enthusiasm for football, the whole thing. And while I love the game, and it's been a large part of my life, it's not the only thing in my life. — Gary Lineker

As a player I won things, had a special 10 years under Martin O'Neill [at Leicester and Celtic] and played in some great teams, beating Manchester United and getting to the last 16 of the Champions League. As a manager, I don't know if I will top this; I hope I do, because I am still young and am still learning. But this is up there with anything I have achieved, not just in my football career but in my life. — Neil Lennon

In football there is very rarely a "typical day" - there are always issues and challenges that arise from nowhere, and as manager you have to be ready to deal with them. — Brendan Rodgers

Since we travel a lot as a team, I spend a lot of time on a plane where I like to play 'Football Manager.' I have been a soccer fan since I was 5 years old, so to be able to manage soccer teams is a lot of fun. — Carl Hagelin

I think the next United manager is already at the club. It could be either Ryan Giggs or Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, who isn't at the club. — Michael Gray

It has been an honor and a privilege to have had the chance to come back to Liverpool Football Club as manager. — Kenny Dalglish

Just as the England football manager starts with bells and flags and balloons and ends up reviled, so do prime ministers. Tony Blair - is there anyone more despised now? Gordon Brown - all right, nobody voted for him but, you know ... just think of any of them. Margaret Thatcher. John Major. Steve McLaren. Fabio Capello. — Terry Wogan

Football is made up of all kinds of conflict. In a dressing room, between players, between us and the manager, between us and loads of people who don't seem to matter. It's constant and harsh sometimes. — Wayne Rooney

There were moments when I wondered at the gossamer veil that stops licence from being libel. I suspect that taking on the job of England manager puts you outside the protection of the courts. It must be part of the job description that you will be held hostage by media speculation and can have your character tortured, molested and finally executed at the public whim, in exchange for a lifetime's supply of money. — A.A. Gill

You can't get out-fought and out-desired. I don't want to see that again. I won't tolerate less than 100 percent desire. I'm their manager, not their babysitter. — Tim Sherwood

The reason I became a manager was to have full control over training. If you are a coach, you are bound by what the manager wants you to coach. The other reason is that I just like the company of football people. — Gordon Strachan

Being a football manager is no fun at all. You have to put up with all the hassle. It is not surprising that so many turn grey or have heart attacks. — Ruud Gullit

He's pulling him off! The Spanish manager is pulling his captain off — George Hamilton

Now let me say that Matt Busby was a great manager and Manchester United wouldn't be where they are without him. He was a god at the club, but he wasn't a god to me. Football is like that sometimes. — Johnny Giles

I'm ex-player, ex-technical director, ex-coach, ex-manager, ex-honorary president. A nice list that once again shows that everything comes to an end. — Johan Cruijff

The manager could not even talk to us at the interval. He said we were bad. — John Terry

I don't like champagne, I don't smoke cigars, I haven't any real jewellery at all, apart from the 8 pieces of gold I picked up at Anfield, the most important relationship at a football club is not between the manager and the chairman, but the players and the fans. — John Toshack

As England manager I always felt we needed an extra man in midfield to retain the ball, but that was more as an attacking ploy to help create opportunities. It came from my experience playing international football in a 4-4-2 and spending half my time chasing the ball. — Glenn Hoddle

I know how it goes. Six or seven months ago I was the manager of the year and I was going to be this and that, tactically this and tactically that, and now, because we have lost two world-class players, I am useless. But I accept that. — Brendan Rodgers

I would be much more annoyed if we hadn't won the game. As a manager, you have to see the positives and I think Pires has a vaccine for the rest of his life. — Arsene Wenger

My main regret about my years in football was keeping my mouth shut like a little mouse, not daring to speak out because I was told you left the managers to get on with the job and that the chairman must never interfere with the manager's decisions or the performance of his team. — Alan Sugar

The other side of the coin is that fans can panic players into making poor decisions. The more unsettled a crowd gets, the worse the football on show will become - I've seen it a million times. Certain grounds have a reputation. Whenever I've played at Wolverhampton Wanderers or West Ham United , every manager has said "Keep this lot quiet for 20 minutes, and their fans will start getting on their back". — The Secret Footballer

The chairmen of the largest companies in the world can cancel an appointment or move a board meeting; a manager cannot change the date of a game. In the combined 42 years that Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger have managed in English football, I can only remember one occasion when Sir Alex did not attend a Manchester United game. — Howard Wilkinson

My saddest decision in football was leaving Paul Gascoigne out of the 1998 World Cup finals. But he wasn't fit enough and once that decision is made, as a manager and a group of players, you forget about who isn't there and focus on the job. — Glenn Hoddle

You're a hero one day, you're a villain another day. They say that's football. When a manager does well, they're applauded, when they don't do well, they get the sack. Football is a tough world. Those who watch enjoy it - for everybody else, there are a lot of challenges. — Vincent Tan

Laddie, that man scored 200 goals in 270 matches - an incredible record - and he has won cup after cup as a manager. When he talks, pin back your ears. — Bill Shankly

I love football so when I finish playing I would like to still be involved in it somehow and a manager would be my first choice. — Wayne Rooney

My wife runs the house much better than I could so I think she could be a linesman or a referee or even a football manager and that's the truth. — Ian Holloway

Some years ago there was a study to discover the most stressful occupation. It turned out not to be the head of a large business, football manager or prime minister, but rather: bus driver. — Jonathan Sacks

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. — David Moyes

Tony Cottee once played in all four divisions in one season. Cottee started 2000-01 at Leicester City, where he made a couple of Premiership appearances as a sub before being released to Norwich, in what was then Division One. In November the chance to be player-manager of Barnet came up and soon Cottee was playing in Division Three, but alas it did not work out. By March he was again looking for work and found it, with two sub appearances, at Millwall in Division Two. — Phil Cornwell

The manager sits down with me; I sit down with the board. We assess the success of the year. The manager assesses whose coming through the academy system. His job is to look at what is happening in European and world football. — David Gill

I left a couple of my foreigners out last week and they started talking in 'foreign'. I knew what they were saying: Blah, blah, blah, le b*** manager, f*** uselss b***! — Harry Redknapp

I just didn't want to walk away from football without knowing what it meant to be a manager, or even wondering what it was like to be sacked. — Paul Ince

It took me 35 years of being involved at a decent level of football to become manager at a great club like Celtic. — Gordon Strachan

I've always believed that culture is defined and created from the top down, but it comes to life from the bottom up. This meant that I had to build our culture by working with the leadership group (i.e., the owner, general manager, and executives), the coaching staff, and the football team. To strengthen the culture among the leadership group, it was important to reiterate to the owner, team president, and general manager the shared beliefs, values, and expectations that we had discussed in depth when I was interviewing for the head coaching position. It was important to have collaborative conversations on a regular basis to discuss the changes we were making and why we were making them. — Jon Gordon

You don't look for jobs. You don't phone up 10 clubs and say, Here I am. You are offered the job. I was in Benfica many years ago. I was leaving the training ground and I had a car after me. It went on for 10 minutes. Anyhow, he stopped and I stopped and he said, I'm from the Italian embassy. Ah yes, and what do you want? I want your phone number because Roma wants you as a manager next season. Three months later I was sitting on the bench in Roma. I don't think the rest of working society works like football. — Sven-Goran Eriksson

At a football club, there's a holy trinity - the players, the manager and the supporters. Directors don't come into it. They are only there to sign the checks. — Bill Shankly

In high school I was the manager of the football team, so being around boys is natural to me! — Hillary Scott

Both of the Villa scorers were born in Liverpool, as was the Villa manager, who was born in Birkenhead. — David Coleman

The England manager job is not for me - I'm very happy wih what I'm doing in French football for now. — Gerard Houllier