A week of sport and journalism in quotes, by IAN COLE, featuring Apple’s Steve Jobs, Roy Hodgson, Sam Allardyce and Steve Bruce, Freddie Flintoff’s retirement, and England cricketers’ defence of their integrity
“We are deeply concerned that our integrity as cricketers has been brought into question. We refute these allegations completely and will explore all legal options open to us. Under the circumstances we have strong misgivings about continuing to play the last two games of the current series. We urge the Pakistan team to distance themselves from Mr Butt’s allegations” Andrew Strauss, the England cricket captain, replies to Pakistan Board chairman Ijaz Butt’s claim that England players “threw” the one-day international at The Oval.
“Until we win that trophy I’m not going to die a happy man. That’s a fact. I will never give up hope of winning that trophy. I owe it to every Chelsea fan because of what happened in the final in Moscow. I let the fans down by missing that penalty” John Terry can’t forget how close Chelsea came in 2008.
“I spoke to him and asked, in a jocular way, if we were still going to be on speaking terms. At least he didn’t put the phone down on me, but there was some cutting remark I can’t quite remember” Roy Hodgson, preparing for his first trip to Manchester United as Liverpool manager, recalls breaking news of his appointment to Sir Alex Ferguson.
“I’m not suited to Bolton or Blackburn. I would be more suited to Inter Milan or Real Madrid. It wouldn’t be a problem for me to go and manage those clubs. I would win the double or the league every time. Give me Manchester United or Chelsea, it would be the same, no problem” Sam Allardyce, the Blackburn boss.
“Even with all Mr Wenger’s antics, you can’t get away from what he’s done at Arsenal. For me, he’s a genius. He doesn’t like to get beat, but none of us do. He’s never had a drink with us, but that’s up to him” Steve Bruce scrapes a point against Arsenal with a goal 4min 15sec into stoppage time.
“The ref was on at me the whole time. I don’t know what the actual time limit is, how fast you have to get the ball and sprint back and kick it. Then they go and celebrate for 30 minutes in the corner and I go ‘How about them time-wasting?’ and he booked me. Typical” Marcus Hahnemann, the Wolves goalkeeper, endures a trying afternoon in the 3-1 defeat at Spurs.
“He will be remembered as an exceptional cricketer who had one great series. Ian Botham, for example, was a great cricketer. Full stop” Nasser Hussain on Andrew Flintoff’s retirement.
“It’s terrible. Something that will live with us for a long time. To know we were so close, within touching distance of the trophy…so far away when Notts got that third wicket” Marcus Trescothick on Somerset losing the County Championship to Notts on games won.
“If I had been in Monty’s shoes I would have picked me, 100 per cent” Padraig Harrington needed captain Colin Montgomerie’s wild card to get into the European Ryder Cup team.
“You need a lasso or a poison dart to stop him. He’s very elusive. One of the tries he set up he skipped past about six of our players. You know what he’s going to do a lot of the time but you still can’t stop him” Justin Morgan sees his Hull Kingston Rovers side taken apart by Wigan’s Sam Tomkins in a SuperLeague play-off.
“Please leave us alone” Steve Jobs (it appears), the chief executive of Apple, in an email response to an American journalism student seeking an answer to some questions to the company press office.
“It’s been heartbreaking having my piano in storage. There’s nothing for me to do. I really miss it. It helps me perform better when I’m relaxed at home. You need something to take your mind off rugby” Joe Worsley, the Wasps flanker, explains his struggle for early-season form.