Football365's Quotes Of The Week

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* "He was one of these kids who was seven stone wet through" - Dennis Irwin didn't think much of Ryan Giggs' skinny frame when they first met at Manchester United.


* "He has been blessed with a tremendous physique...He is not carrying any weight, he's not had any serious injuries and he manages himself really well" - Rio Ferdinand is a bit more impressed.


* "I don't think there is a better man than Harry Redknapp to take over England...I possibly shouldn't say that because it is not my job to talk about managers who are employees and are very happy with their job" - Don't worry Milan Mandaric, pretty much everyone else has had their say on Harry Redknapp for England.


* "I would think it was one of the most disappointing afternoons of my career. I apologise for the performance and I've never done that before. But the way we capitulated in the last half-hour is not associated with my teams...I always feel I'm the right person to do it" - Mick McCarthy claims he's still the right man to lead Wolves after the 5-1 defeat to West Brom.


* "Wolves have today announced that manager, Mick McCarthy, has left the club with immediate effect. The Board took the difficult decision to terminate Mick's contract after a run of form which has seen Wolves pick up only 14 points in the last 22 League games, after a promising start to the season, culminating in yesterday's 5-1 defeat at home to West Bromwich Albion...The Board would like to place on record their sincere thanks and appreciation to Mick McCarthy and he leaves with the very best wishes of everyone connected to the club" - The Wolves board see things a little differently.


* "I am fed up playing at left-back. I don't think I am good there - I want to achieve my highest level and I can't do that on the left. I play there to help the team but it gives me no satisfaction as I can't reach my best standard...I do my job but seldom feel content after matches. If the team wins I am happy, but it remains frustrating" - Thomas Vermaelen isn't too chuffed that Arsenal didn't sign a left-back in January.


* "Everyone knows Tevez is a top player and it probably would have been better for us if he'd been here. Carlos has the ability to change a lot of games. If he comes back next week, maybe he can help us in the last three months" - Roberto Mancini looks forward to the return of Carlos Tevez.


* "Dzeko was speaking Bosnian and Mancini would swear at him in Italian so it was a real mess...So I go and sit down and he doesn't see me because he's having this discussion. But then he turns around and sees me and you can imagine what happens. He's in the middle of an argument so then he tells me to keep on warming up and treats me like a dog" - It's not the greatest apology we've ever heard, Carlito.


* "It's disappointing but it's not the end of the world. We finished as the best defence and the best attack, so it's frustrating, but we must learn the lessons of this tournament" - Ivory Coast goalkeeper Boubacar Barry suggests it could be the midfield that cost them. Cheick Tiote will not be happy.


* "We wanted to honour the dead players and that strengthened us. Our first game was against Senegal and the team was on its way to Senegal for a match when the plane crashed (in 1993). The plane crashed in Gabon and we won the final in Gabon...It was a sign of destiny, written in the sky. There was a force with us. I think God has helped us and given us strength" - Zambia coach Herve Renard pays tribute to the squad of 1993 - who died in a plane crash - after his team's victory in the Africa Cup of Nations final.


* "I cannot stand the sight of players rolling around. It really goes against the grain of British football. But from what I've seen abroad and, in a few cases here, it's a growing disease. Players aren't even touched and they're falling over. It puts enormous pressure on referees...I watch Spanish football and they're regularly doing it over there and everyone just takes it as the norm. But I don't think it is clever. I think it's cheating" - Ahead of Stoke's Europa League match with Valencia, Tony Pulis has another grumble.


* "It was a great, great feeling...I am not that young, but it's just like I was living the dream of a young boy - to make your debut and score on your home ground, it's just amazing" - We're not sure David Moyes will be as pleased as Louis Saha at the striker's sudden return to form.


* "The reason I may be considered cool is because I don't take myself too seriously. This is why I can go on the pitch with my hair in a big afro. This is because my focus is giving 100% of myself on the pitch to make the fans happy" - Benoit Assou-Ekotto tells the BBC why he's a crowd pleaser.


* "Don't you wish your left back was B-A-E" - Before singing his favourite tune to the interviewer.


* "I loved every minute of it. I'm never popular anywhere I go but I like that. I love getting abuse, I really do. One of my old managers, Steve Parkin, always used to tell me that the reason rival fans shout at me is because I'm doing something right...I want to get abuse every week. I'm big enough and old enough to take it...I love winding up fans on Twitter. That's what it's there for. People can write what they want. If people want to give me stick on there, that's fine - as long as they don't mind getting some back!" - Call him fat all you like, but don't expect Grant Holt not to come back at you.


* "If I get a phone call, then I'll speak to him. I have always said that I wanted to go back into the Premier League" - No sh*t, Alan Curbishley. After three-and-a-half years since his last job, we'd expect the former West Ham manager was keen to talk.


* "There's not so much Playstation being played in this team, we're more about drinking maté (Argentine tea)" - Juan Roman Riquelme suggests the Boca Juniors team are a perfect example of maturity, not long before having a blazing row with Julio Cesar Falcioni, which led to the manager's resignation.


* "In Italy, tacticians are considered 'moreish'- like eating cherries, one leads to another. I continue to work with the same determination as the day I arrived...I would wipe the entire Roma match (a 4-0 defeat) from our memories, because as the President said, we didn't even step on to the field. That performance was inexplicable. A total black-out. It was a crazy 4-4 against Palermo before that and we were crazy too...None of us expected something like this. The team fights and the lads are relaxed. A game like we played at Roma seems impossible" - Claudio Ranieri tries to explain Inter's current slump, just hours before the team's shock 1-0 defeat to Serie A minnows Novara.


* "I won't play the Copa del Rey final, so I don't care if it's held here or in China" - Jose Mourinho gives his opinion on Real Madrid's reluctance to host Barcelona v Athletic Bilbao at the Santiago Bernabeu.