Quotes

It's marvellous that every now and then the world produces a player like Maradona (Diego Maradona).

I've been a football nut all my life.

My idea of going to the theatre is actually going and watching Coventry play Leicester.

There's no crib from me for people who miss penalties. It's part of the game and you have to put aside that disappointment.

I thrive on pressure.

When we won, John Cobbold had a bottle of champagne and when we lost he had two bottles of champagne. That was his civilised way of looking at defeat.

[on Nottingham Forest under Brian Clough] They played at Nottingham Forest in my opinion what I call carpet football. Football on the ground, on the deck, into feet. Good retention of the ball, looking for the through ball, on the deck, in the spaces between the centre-halves and the full-backs. And the other thing, of course, the discipline of the players on the pitch was, I think, remarkable. No red cards at Nottingham Forest, you know, very few yellow cards. He wouldn't allow that.

There's never been a manager like Brian Clough before and I can't see another one like him ever again.

I had the England job at the time everybody was clamouring for Brian Clough. And I remember going to Bert Millichip and I said to him, 'Bert, listen. I'm having a rough time and everybody wants Brian Clough. So look, forget about me, let's think about the country. Give the job to Brian. If you give it to Brian and he's successful, everybody's happy. I'll be happy, you'll be happy, the country will be happy, the fans will be happy, the team will be happy. He's brilliant. And if you give him the job and he fails, then that's the end of the clamour for Brian Clough to be the England manager. So we can't lose either way. Give him the job. Let him try it.' But in my opinion, I think he would have been a very good England manager because he had a good judgement, he knew how to design a team, he knew what he wanted from his players, he knew the way he wanted to play, great motivator. I think he would have been a very good England manager.