‘Sir Alf has picked the wrong teams. That’s all there is to the argument.’
On Sir Alf Ramsey’s failure to qualify for the World Cup finals 1973
‘I remember once taking the trouble on a Sunday morning to find Alf’s telephone number in Ipswich to ring him and let him know that a Derby player was unfit. “Thank you. But you could have rung me tomorrow” ... Well, I will never waste my time again on a Sunday for Sir Alf Ramsey.’ 1972
‘We have to deal with these people. But Bill Shankly wouldn’t have let them within fifty miles of Anfield. Bill would have gone barmy if he had to say to a player: “Do you want to come to Liverpool?” and the player had said: “I want to talk to my agent.” Bill would have hit him.’
On agents and his respect for Bill Shankly 1980
‘Bill Shankly talked more sense about football than the rest of the Football League put together. Mind you, I’m excluding myself from that assessment.’ 1974
‘Sir Matt Busby was a great manager, but he made one mistake in the boardroom. When Manchester United were looking for a manager, he didn’t pick up a phone and call the one man who could have walked the job. Me.’ 1975
‘Bill Nicholson used to say that a pat on the back isn’t too far from a kick up the arse. He was right.’
On Spurs’ double-winning boss 1982
‘I once asked Peter Taylor why people failed in football management. Men like Billy Wright, who must have known the game from A to Z. Those who fail are the ones who can’t impart their knowledge to us. Billy Wright couldn’t have talked football to my daughter Elizabeth.’ 1988
‘You know that little smile he has got, that pleasant manner? Well, he hates losing worse than me. I underestimated him, good old dear Bob. He had me sitting on a skip drinking Newcastle Brown Ale when he took over. “Come in and have a drink,” he said. “Nice to see you Brian.” They beat us. I haven’t sat on that skip since.’
On Liverpool’s Bob Paisley 1981
‘When they gave Kenny [Dalglish] the Anfield manager’s job, he didn’t just win the pools – he made off with the Crown Jewels.’
On the good fortune of being manager of Liverpool 1987
‘They caress a football the way I dreamt of caressing Marilyn Monroe ... Their speed of thought and movement are incredible and they are the supreme essence of skill. Wenger is one of the great managers. However, with respect, we were Nottingham Forest and they are Arsenal.’
After Arsenal overtook Forest’s run of 42 unbeaten League matches 2004
‘I hate to mention him because he’s a very talented man and I don’t like him ... I don’t like the way he goes about football either.’
On Don Revie 1974
‘He was so money-conscious it was incredible. I worked with him in television and do you know what he did when he bought a drink? He wrote it down on a little pad.’
On Don Revie again 1984
‘He couldn’t keep a clean sheet to save his bloody life.’
On Ron Greenwood at West Ham 2002
‘It never ceases to amaze me that so many people have so much difficulty in assembling a good football team. How can they make such a simple job so complex?’ 1989
‘The manager’s office on a Sunday morning when you’ve lost the day before is a very lonely place.’ 1990
‘I like the look of Mourinho. There’s a bit of the young Clough about him.’
On Chelsea’s José Mourinho 2004