soccer-players-from-scotland

"Nobody can be their best every single day – you can give more of yourself on some days, but on the bad days it’s important to know that the team are around to support you and vice versa."

"I feel like it’s moments like these or times like these where you realise why you play sport. It really is like being part of a family away from family."

"And remember, no matter how bad you feel, nothing lasts forever."

"Everyone goes through hard stuff, but it’s important to check yourself, and reset if you can."

"No matter how high or low you get, nothing is going to stay the same forever, so just ride it out and don’t get carried away."

"There’s no reset button quite like cancer."

"I think self-doubt is probably what keeps me going, keeps me pushing myself, because I never think I’m at the right level. The minute I think I’m at that level, I’ll probably not get the job done. The way my head works is I always think I’m not as good and have to work harder."

"Don’t go home and sit in the flat, go and get an education."

"I’m a big believer that if someone’s happy off the pitch, or has the least amount of stress in their life off of it, then that will help performance."

"Performance ultimately doesn’t matter, it’s the human that comes first."

"Playing in boys’ teams can be really difficult. It’s a test of your character. You have to push yourself out of comfort zones and try and view it as a challenge if it’s something that you really want to do."

"It’s what happens next and how you react to it that matters more than the actual mistake."

"You’re always going to remember the negative, but I think that’s what pushes you and that’s what gets you to the level you want to be at."

"I’ve always tried to eventually adopt a short-term memory. As athletes, you could do 100 things right in the game, but you’ll remember the one ball you gave away or the tackle you missed or the opportunity you didn’t see."

"My motivations are mainly to be the best that I can be as a player on the pitch, but also off the pitch and how can I also bring out the best in others. That’s a real motivator for me because you can do that every single day, and that’s what I try to do."

"There’s such a great dynamic when you’re part of a team – when you can do things for others and want to be the best, not only for yourself."

"When you lead, you’re also allowing others to lead too."

"Reporter: Bang, there goes your unbeaten run. Can you take it? Strachan: No, I’m going to crumble like a wreck. I’ll go home, become an alcoholic and maybe jump off a bridge. Umm, I think I can take it, yeah."

"Gordon Strachan is as he is. He can be a prickly character to interview. I just think that, just occasionally, we all need to take a step back. This isn’t done for a national audience or for national television - this is the opportunity the manager has to speak to supporters of his club. If that’s how you want to address fans it is entirely Strachan’s responsibility, but I think he needs to revisit that a bit."

"Reporter: Gordon, Do you think James Beattie deserves to be in the England squad? Strachan: I don't care, I'm Scottish."

"Reporter: So, Gordon, in what areas do you think Middlesbrough were better than you today? Strachan: What areas? Mainly that big green one out there..."

"Reporter: This might sound like a daft question, but you'll be happy to get your first win under your belt, won't you? Strachan: You're right. It is a daft question. I'm not even going to bother answering that one. It is a daft question, you're spot on there."

"I've got more important things to think about. I've got a yogurt to finish by today, the expiry date is today. That can be my priority rather than Agustin Delgado."

"Reporter: Welcome to Southampton Football Club. Do you think you are the right man to turn things around? Strachan: No. I was asked if I thought I was the right man for the job and I said, "No, I think they should have got George Graham because I'm useless.""

"I think there’s a lot of coloured players in all the major teams and there are lots of coloured players who are probably the best in the Premier League. If you look at 25 or 30 years ago it was probably in a bad way – not as bad as some of the other nations on the Continent – but certainly there is always, always room for improvement."

"I don't think there's anything guaranteed 100% in life. I want to have discussions for sure and there's lots of talking to be done. I'm not saying I don't want to be Derby manager, I'm saying that I don't think in life anything is 100% guaranteed. Now we'll sit down, have a chat and see what happens. I'm not prepared to discuss it at the moment and I'm not prepared to go into specifics. I've never said I'm leaving but it was always my intention to get to the end of the season and have a discussion."

"But I am very confident that David Pleat, the director of football or whatever his title is now days – I am very confident that he, with all his media commitments around the world, knows the market place."

"The situation is clear. I trust in my ability, I trust in what I do and, if people put their trust in me, I will deliver for them."

"If he's happy to sit on an electric chair and tell a truth or a lie then I'm happy to sit on an electric chair and we'll see what the outcome is, because I've got no doubt in my mind what happened."

"Under no circumstances will any supporter try to tell me what I should do. That is why I have the track record that I have got."

"We have to bring in quality, to give us the quantity we need."

"My greatest challenge is not what's happening at the moment, my greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their fucking perch. And you can print that."

"All my staff stood by me, the players stood by me, you stood by me, and your job now is to stand by our new manager. That’s important. My retirement doesn’t mean the end of my time at the club. I’ll now be able to enjoy watching them, rather than suffering with them. But, if you think about it, the last-minute goals, the comebacks, even the defeats, are all part of this great football club of ours. It’s been an unbelievable experience for all of us, so thank-you for that. I want to say thank-you to Manchester United. Not just the directors, coaching staff, medical staff, the players, the fans, but to all of you - you have been the most fantastic experience of my life. I’ve been very fortunate. I have been able to manage some of the greatest players in the country, let alone Manchester United. All the players here today have represented this club the proper way. They won the championship in a fantastic fashion, so well done to the players. To the players, I wish them every success in the future. You all know how good you are, you know the jersey you are wearing, you know what it means to everyone here and don’t ever let yourselves down."

"That's one of the most stupid questions I've heard. I'll go with Mascherano."

"Sometimes you look in a field and you see a cow and you think it's a better cow than the one you've got in your own field. It's a fact. Right? And it never really works out that way."

"Sometimes we can get too emotional as a club with things that are happening but we are both of a common denominator; we don't want the club to be in anyone else's hands. That is the way that the club stands with that. I support that."

"Football, bloody hell!"

"I don't believe everything Bill tells me about his players. Had they been that good, they'd not only have won the European Cup but the Ryder Cup, the Boat Race and even the Grand National."

"Football is nothing without fans."

"We did it by playing football. Pure, beautiful, inventive football."

"Celtic jerseys are not for second best, They don't shrink to fit inferior players."

"I always think in English football that it’s nice to have a combination of different types of players, so then they can all gel together."

"Every time I turn on the television and hear a manager from the lower divisions, they’ve usually got a Scottish accent. I don’t know the reason for that but let’s hope it continues. I like the philosophy of Scottish managers, they’ve always got this will to win and this work ethic, which I believe in."

"I’ve always thought I’m a perfectionist – and that might not be the truth! – but you always look and see if there are any weaknesses."

"That’s the only thing I would say that I wanted from all my players: to have that philosophy of hard work when we haven’t got it and perform when we have got it."

"In football, yeah, sometimes you get these multitalented individuals where that’s all they want to do: when the team’s got the ball, I’ll play but, when we haven’t got the ball, I’ll go and have a rest."

"The goalkeeper is the jewel in the crown and getting at him should be almost impossible. It's the biggest sin in football to make him do any work."

"I am against him both as a foreigner and as someone not good enough."

"If England had Fergie, Wenger or Mourinho in charge, they would win the World Cup."

"Charlotte, can you tuck this down here for me?"