QUOTES
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1 "Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that." Bill Shankly |
2 "If Everton were playing at the bottom of the garden, I'd pull the curtains." Bill Shankly
3 "The trouble with referees is that they know the rules, but they don't know the game." Bill Shankly
4 "A lot of football success is in the mind. You must believe that you are the best and then make sure that you are. In my time at Liverpool we always said we had the best two teams in Merseyside, Liverpool and Liverpool reserves." Bill Shankly
5 "If you're in the penalty area and don't know what to do with the ball, put it in the net and we'll discuss the options later." Bob Paisley
6 "Liverpool was made for me and I was made for Liverpool." Bill Shankly
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7 "Liverpool without European football is like a banquet without wine." Roy Evans |
8 "Mind you, I've been here during the bad times too - one year we came second." Bob Paisley
9 "I hate talking about football. I just do it, you know?" Robbie Fowler
10 "Sometimes I feel I'm hardly wanted in this Liverpool team. If I get two or three saves to make, I've had a busy day." Ray Clemence
11 "Anyone who doesn't learn from Ian Rush needs shooting." Robbie Fowler
12 "Liverpool are magic, Everton are tragic." Emlyn Hughes
13 "I'd kick my own brother if necessary... it's what being a professional footballer is all about." Steve McMahon
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14 "It was like playing in a foreign country." Ian Rush on his time with Juventus in Italy |
15 "I said to Kevin (Keegan), 'I'll go near post' and he replied, 'No, just go for the ball.'" Tommy Smith
16 "Anybody who plays for me should be a bad loser." Graeme Souness.
17 "It's best being a striker. If you miss five then score the winner, you're a hero. The goalkeeper can play a blinder, then let one in… and he's a villain." Ian Rush
18 "Of course I didn't take my wife to see Rochdale as an anniversary present, it was her birthday. Would I have got married in the football season? Anyway, it was Rochdale reserves." Bill Shankly
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19 "They compare Steve McManaman to Steve Heighway and he's nothing like him, but I can see why - it's because he's a bit different." Kevin Keegan |
20 "Bruce Grobbelaar will play on until he is 40 - and at the top level." Bruce Grobbelaar
21 "He's better than Brian Lara because he's 600 not out. What a guy." Roy Evans on Ian Rush's 600th appearance for Liverpool
22 "Should the aggregate score be level after 90 minutes, extra time will be played." Fulham's matchday programme for the second leg of the Littlewoods Cup tie in 1986-87. Liverpool were 10-0 up from the first leg
23 "There are those who say maybe I
should forget about football. Maybe I should forget about breathing."
Gerard Houllier
24 "Nobody likes being criticised, particularly by players who will
be in Disneyland this summer on their holidays rather than the World Cup
in Japan." Phil Thompson responding to criticism from Frank de Boer
of Barcelona who said Liverpool were boring
25 "Son, you'll do well here as long as you remember two things. Don't over-eat and don't lose your accent." Bill Shankly to Ian St John
26 "If you are first you are first. If you are second you are nothing." Bill Shankly
27 "Don't worry Alan. At least you'll
be able to play close to a great team!" Bill Shankly to Alan Ball
after he signed for Everton
28 "Shanks was the father figure but Roger Hunt was something
special. It might sound daft but just picking up his sweaty kit gave me
satisfaction.” Phil Thompson
29 "As Arnold Schwarzenegger said, 'I'll be back." Gerard
Houllier
30 "There is no way the second half can be as entertaining as the
first." Alan Hansen during the UEFA Cup Final v Alaves with Liverpool
leading 3-1 at half time
31 "We don't have any splits here. The players country is Liverpool
Football Club and their language is football." Gerard Houllier
32 "It's there to remind our lads who they're playing for, and to
remind the opposition who they're playing against." Bill Shankly
about the 'This is Anfield' plaque
33 "Just go out and drop a few hand grenades all over the place son." Bill Shankly to Kevin Keegan
34 "It broke my heart to leave Liverpool." Kenny Dalglish
35 "Ay, here we are with problems at the top of the league." Bill Shankly suggesting to a journalist that Liverpool were in difficulties
36 "Where are you from?" "I'm a Liverpool fan from London." "Well laddie, what's it like to be in heaven?" Bill Shankly to a Liverpool fan
37 "Yes Roger Hunt misses a few, but he gets in the right place to miss them." Bill Shankly to a reporter
38 "With him in defence, we could play Arthur Askey in goal." Bill Shankly after signing Ron Yeats
39 "Steve Nicol never gives more than 120 per cent." Kevin Keegan
40 "At Liverpool we never accept second best." Kenny Dalglish
41 "Bill was so strong it was unbelievable. You couldn't shake him off the ball. It didn't matter where he was playing, though I suppose his best position was outside-left. He could go round you, or past you, or even straight through you sometimes!" Bob Paisley on Billy Liddell
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42 "We will beat them one day, I can promise you that!" Gerard Houllier on Manchester United |
43 "If anybody thinks either myself or my team are afraid of Liverpool, they can think again. I believe I've got a team that can go out and do the business against them." Coventry manager John Sillett before a match with Liverpool in 1987. Liverpool won 4-1 with Sillett declaring them champions elect in August.
44 "For me Liverpool can have Everton's title right now! Everton are good but Liverpool are better. They are the best in England – the side we can all learn from." Coventry boss John Sillett on Liverpool's title chances after Kenny Dalglish's new look team's second match of the season. Sillett was to be proved right as the 1987-88 Reds side of course went on to win the league
45 "You can't build a cathedral in a day. A look at the club's history tells you these things take time." Gerard Houllier
46. Barnes did what we expected him to do. He made a goal, scored one, and entertained. You remember that." Kenny Dalglish after John Barnes Anfield debut for Liverpool in a 2-0 win over Oxford in 1987
46 "He couldn't play anyway. I only wanted him for the reserve team!" Bill Shankly upon hearing Celtic's Lou Macari had snubbed Liverpool in favour of a move to Manchester United."
47 "Laddie, I never drop players, I only make changes." Bill Shankly to a journalist who criticised his team selection
48 "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!" Celtic manager Jock Stein on Bill Shankly
49 "We’ve got a lot of Cockneys in the team, but really, it doesn’t matter where they’re from – we’re all playing for Liverpool.” Robbie Fowler
50 "It's great grass at Anfield, professional grass!" Bill Shankly comparing the Anfield pitch to other grounds
51 "I owe Bob more than I owe anybody else in the game. There will never be another like him." Kenny Dalglish on Bob Paisley
52 "I go by records and Bob Paisley is the No 1 manager ever!" Alan Hansen.
53 "Liverpool wouldn't be the club it is today without Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley and the players who played there. When I first went there it was a typical Second Division ground and look at it now!" Ian Callaghan
54 "If Shankly was the Anfield foreman, Paisley was the brickie, ready to build an empire with his own hands." Tommy Smith
55 "I was Bob's first signing. He changed my life, as he did so many others. He gave us great memories and you can't put a price on that. He made me an adopted scouser." Phil Neal
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56 "Bob's knowledge of players and the game in general is unsurpassed. Football has known no equal in management or prize-winning, but his modesty and dignity were overwhelming as he led this club from one triumph to another. His name will always be synonymous with Liverpool." Liverpool chairman David Moores on Bob Paisley |
57 "Hold on a minute, John Wayne hasn't arrived yet." Bill Shankly to the awaiting TV crews and journalists for the press conference to announce he was retiring from football
58 "Liverpool had such a marvellous group of players. It was no surprise the trophies kept coming." Kenny Dalglish
59 "I may have left Liverpool but the city and club will always be part of me." Kenny Dalglish
60 "If Liverpool had waited until the summer, and then asked me to go back as manager, I would have gone back." Kenny Dalglish, having had time to reflect on standing down as Liverpool manager in 199
61 "He was the greatest person I know." Ron Yeats on Bill Shankly
62 "I always carry a picture of him, he comes into my conversation a lot; I learned a lot from him and owe the man a great deal." Kevin Keegan on Shankly
63 "The difference between Everton and the Queen Mary is that Everton carry more passengers!" Bill Shankly
64 On awaiting Everton's arrival for a derby game at Anfield, Bill Shankly gave a box of toilet rolls to the doorman and said: "Give them these when they arrive – they'll need them!"
65 "If Shankly had been paid overtime, he'd have been a millionaire." Tommy Docherty on Bill Shankly
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66 "He's better than Platini, certainly better than Rumminegge and Maradona. For me he is the greatest footballer in the world." Graeme Souness on Kenny Dalglish |
67 "I used to stand on the Kop when I was here in 1969. The atmosphere and passion on the pitch as well as the terraces was intoxicating and Liverpool became part of me from that day on." Gerard Houllier
68 "Our job is to make the fans happy. When we win, 45,000 people go home happy. When we lose, it not only affects them, it affects their cats." Gerard Houllier
69 "We don't destroy our heroes today when we worshipped them yesterday." Gerard Houllier.
70 'The only pleasure I take is that the fans are happy with the team. But I don’t believe in anything other than my team." Gerard Houllier.
71 "I notice a former captain of ours said recently that this squad is so good that we don’t need a manager. I took this as a great compliment. He must have changed his mind since leaving as he said at the time that Phil Thompson and I would drag the club down. On that point I suppose he was right - we dragged the club down to Cardiff three times in the last 10 months." Gerard Houllier referring to comments made by Paul Ince
72 “We scored 127 goals - the third highest total in the club's history. Although, if you believe everything you read in the papers, 126 probably came from a breakaway from the edge of our penalty area. The other one was probably an own goal.” Gerard Houllier
73 "Liverpool players must play like a lion, give his all. There must be determination, commitment and resolve to be a Liverpool player." Gerard Houllier
74 "These players are my true heroes." Gerard Houllier
75 "Players have responsibilities, because, whether they like it or not, they are public figures. They have to be aware that the people who come to the ground spend fortunes in relation to what they earn." Gerard Houllier
76 "When I see the Bill Shankly statue, I look at the sentiment on the base. It says: 'He made the people happy’. Well now the modern Liverpool is making the fans and the city happy. And that makes me so proud." Gerard Houllier
77 "To me, the team is more important than any individual member of the squad, and the players have to realise that and accept that my priority is to pick a side with the best possible chance of winning each match." Gerard Houllier
78 "I want to keep an English heart to the team. I believe in that. Michael Owen is that. Never think Michael is afraid of anything." Gerard Houllier
79 "At a football club, there's a holy trinity - the players, the manager and the supporters. Directors don't come into it. They are only there to sign the cheques". Bill Shankly on boardroom meetings
80 "I'm just one of the people who
stands on the kop. They think the same as I do, and I think the same as
they do. It's a kind of marriage of people who like each other." Bill
Shankly on the fans
81 "If he isn't named Footballer of the Year, football should be
stopped and the men who picked any other player should be sent to the
Kremlin" Bill Shankly on Tommy Smith
82 "It was the most difficult thing in
the world, when I went to tell the chairman. It was like walking to the
electric chair. That's the way it felt." Bill Shankly on the leaving
of Liverpool
84 "The only thing I fear is missing an open goal in front of the
Kop. I would die if that were to happen. When they start singing 'You'll
Never Walk Alone' my eyes start to water. There have been times when I've
actually been crying while I've been playing". Kevin Keegan
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85 The goal looked as big as the Mersey Tunnel." Ian St John after his winning goal in the 1965 FA Cup Final against Leeds. |
86 "If a player is not interfering with play or seeking to gain an advantage, then he should be." Bill Shankly on the off-side rule
87 "Take that bandage off. And what do
you mean about YOUR knee? It's Liverpool's knee!" Bill Shankly to
Tommy Smith, who had a bandage on his injured knee
88 “Ladies and Gentlemen, yesterday at Wembley we might have lost the
Cup but you the Liverpool people have won everything. You have won the
admiration of the policemen in London and you have won the admiration of
the public in London." Bill Shankly after losing the FA Cup in 1971
to Arsenal
89 "Chairman Mao has never seen a greater show of red strength." Bill Shankly
90 "It is our fifth trophy in just a matter of months and that shows what can be achieved when you have a united team who have great trust in each other." Gerard Houllier after Liverpool won the Super Cup in Monaco
91 "This was a special atmosphere only Anfield can produce. This was St Etienne part two and the fans cheered every tackle and it's one of the greatest nights in this football club's history." Phil Thompson after Liverpool's 2-0 victory over Roma in the Champions League 2002
92 "I will never forget today and I want to thank all the fans who gave me such a great ovation. They were immense. I thought I would get a decent reception but that surpassed all my wildest dreams. That sort of ovation is normally reserved for players who have won European Cups for a club. It was a brilliant day and it was nice to hear the Kop's humour at its best again when they were telling me to go back to Coventry." Gary McAllister after his last game for Liverpool at Anfield
93 "Playing Roma in Rome in the European Cup final and scoring a penalty in the shoot out to help us win it. That was my very last kick for Liverpool and it doesn't really get any better than that." Graeme Souness
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94 "We are the real people's club." Sammy Lee |
95 "He has not changed his religion." Gerard Houllier to a reporter when asked if Nick Barmby would become a recluse following his move from Everton to Liverpool
96 "I used to hate Ian Rush when I was young, because I was a devout Evertonian in those days, and he seemed to score every time Liverpool played against us. It's strange to think he used to support Everton too when he was a kid. He was brilliant to me at Anfield always giving me good advice." Robbie Fowler
97 "I was once offered Eric Cantona at Liverpool." Graeme Souness admitting he turned down the chance to sign the Frenchman during his reign as Liverpool manager
98 "You may have found me mean and thirsty in my search for trophies, but the bad news is the man who is taking my place is hungrier than me. Fagan's the name and I don't think he'll need any help from the Artful Dodger!" Bob Paisley on Joe Fagan
99 "If you can't make decisions in life, you're a bloody menace. You'd be better becoming an MP!" Bill Shankly
100 "I just hoped that after the trials and tribulations of my early years in management, someone up high would smile on me and guide my hand. My plea was answered when we got Kenny Dalglish. What a player, what a great professional!" Bob Paisley