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Quotes by Coach

"I followed an Italian manager and it cannot be easy when you follow a manager who thinks very differently."

"The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra."

"In the same way that I had to follow an Italian manager here, I can imagine that it was not easy for an Italian manager to follow me at Porto."

"But I think it's more normal for my team to have no success than it is to win two consecutive European cups."

"You have to win and especially, as I have, you have to win a trophy for the first time."

"When I face the media, maybe I don't feel it now, here with you, because it's a different sort of interview, but when I face the media before or after the game, I feel it as part of the game."

"The team is completely close. Anything you say outside, there is no chance it will go inside. So the team is really strong and compact. We know what we want and how to achieve it on the pitch."

"In five years I have never had a match where my team has had less possession than the opponents."

"When I go to the press conference before the game, in my mind the game has already started."

"At the very least we should be given a bit of credit and a little bit of space, and maybe the media should think we could help them discover why English teams do not win European competitions."

"Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming."

"Especially when you play at home, you need a good atmosphere behind you."

"The way I use to develop an aerobic condition is three against three, man to man, in a square 20 metres by 20."
Man,

"I was nine or 10 years old and my father was sacked on Christmas Day. He was a manager, the results had not been good, he lost a game on December 22 or 23. On Christmas Day, the telephone rang and he was sacked in the middle of our lunch."

"If you do not believe you can do it then you have no chance at all."

"The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team."

"When a guy takes off his coat, he's not going to fight. When a guy takes off his wristwatch, watch out!"

"As far as playing, I didn't care who guarded me - red, yellow, black. I just didn't want a white guy guarding me, because it's disrespect to my game."

"Adversity is the state in which man most easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then."


"Finish last in your league and they call you idiot. Finish last in medical school and they call you doctor."


"I think I've got an outstanding defensive assistant staff that's really going to help us have consistent, strong defenses. And offensively, we have an excellent staff. We've got some younger guys on offense, but that's what I coach and have my entire coaching career."

"My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me."

"Always have a plan, and believe in it. Nothing happens by accident."

"Never mistake activity for achievement."

"You need to play with supreme confidence, or else you'll lose again, and then losing becomes a habit."


"The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual."

"Its the name on the front of the jersey that matters most, not the one on the back."

"The job of arguing with the umpire belongs to the manager, because it won't hurt the team if he gets thrown out of the game."

"Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better."


"Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect."


"The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall."

"It's not tough at all as long as the fans are yelling, screaming and hollering."


"Winning isn't everything, but the will to win is everything."

"You've got to think lucky. If you fall into a mudhole, check your back pocket - you might have caught a fish."

"Georgia Tech beat us and Mississippi Southern tied us last year, and Texas beat us after we had the game won. We only played about five games the way we were capable of playing and lost one of those."

"Two kinds of ballplayers aren't worth a darn: One that never does what he's told, and one who does nothin' except what he's told."
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