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‘No broken bones. The nation can stop praying now’

IAN COLE’s round-up of quotes this week includes Tiger Woods, Jose Mourinho, Rupert Murdoch, injury updates on Wayne Rooney and Cesc Fabregas, plus heavyweight world champion David Haye’s challenge to his rivals

“Them guys are a disgrace to boxing. You’ve got to come in with an athlete like myself. If I hit them with the shots I was hitting Ruiz with, both of them go over” David Haye, right, after his successful defence of his world heavyweight crown against John Ruiz, dismisses the threat of Ukraine’s Klitschko brothers.

“There is no bone damage, no serious ligament damage. So the nation can stop praying” Sir Alex Ferguson appears relieved that Wayne Rooney’s ankle injury will not keep him out of the World Cup.

“You have to stay focused and look forward, because if you look behind at things and how they could have been, that is no good” Carlo Ancelotti and his Chelsea team put their Champions League exit behind them and return to the top of the Premier League with a 2-1 win at Manchester United.

“I am very happy at Inter but not in Italian football. I don’t like Italian football and it doesn’t like me, simple” Jose Mourinho, the Inter Milan manager.

“Tell me Tiger, how did you find the time to become the best player in the world?” Lee Westwood suggests a first question for Tiger Woods at The Masters.

“Whatever I did, I lied to myself, I lied to others and just because I was winning golf tournaments, that doesn’t mean a thing” Woods in his pre-Masters press conference on Monday.

“They play good football here and they’re a great side. We love Arsenal’s great football, but when they are rolling around getting people sent off, it makes you not want to see them do so well. Arsenal moan a lot, their players go down like a sack of spuds and you hear about it for weeks” Karl Henry, the Wolves captain, is not impressed by his visit to the Emirates.

“Wolves like to take three minutes every time they have a throw-in or a goal-kick and it’s frustrating. They wasted a lot of time, so there was a lot added on” Nicklas Bendtner offers a different view of the match.

“We coach our players to play football, we don’t coach them to dive” Sam Allardyce, the Blackburn manager, reacts with indignation to Swedish midfielder Martin Olsson’s admission that he dived to earn a penalty against Burnley.

“I want to be successful on the pitch and that is my only concern. I like to get my points on the pitch by playing well and beating the opposition” Gianfranco Zola shares Hammers’ fans incredulity that the club should accuse Fulham of fielding a weakened team ” just four weeks before they go to Craven Cottage for a vital relegation game.

“He’s not the man that people think he is. He is actually a closet liberal, but he hides it really well” David Yelland, the former Sun Editor, on Rupert Murdoch.

“There have been some very black days and more than a few moments when I’ve doubted the wisdom of taking on this job. I never had any trouble sleeping after a game when I was a player, even when we lost. As a manager it lives with you 24 hours a day” Martin Johnson after two seasons in the hot seat as England rugby manager.

“I took the penalty quite strongly and then went to get the ball and after that I couldn’t walk any more. I don’t think it’s going to be good news” Cesc Fabregas equalises from the spot for Arsenal against Barcelona then heads for a scan, which shows a shin fracture.

“This situation remains remarkably uncomplicated. Soane and Saracens have signed a legal document. I am not sure what part of that is unclear” Edward Griffiths, the Saracens chief executive, dismisses Northampton’s attempt to start a tug-of-war over Tongan prop Soane Tonga’uiha.

“Today the omnipotents at the England and Wales Cricket Board appear to think that they can even control the weather. At best this is another example of tunnel vision; at worst it is crass stupidity” Vic Marks in The Observer, is less than enthusiastic about the earliest ever start to a domestic cricket season.


SJA dates for your diaries
Mon Apr 12: SJA Spring Golf Day , to be staged at Surbiton GC. To book, contact Paul Trow (07973 862747).

Thu Apr 15: SJA 2010 Annual Meeting, at offices of UK Sport. For more details, click here

Mon Apr 19: SJA/LOCOG guided tour of Olympic Park, 2pm For booking details, click here.

Sun Apr 25: SJA Cricket Day. Enjoy corporate hospitality with friends and colleagues, and bring along your partner, as Lancashire take on Surrey. Tickets £65 each. Click here for booking details.

Wed May 19: A Question of Boris:The SJA’s second “Sporting Question Time”, this time with London Mayor Boris Johnson at City Hall. This will be strictly for SJA members only. To book your ticket, click here to send us an email with your name, SJA membership number and address, writing “Sporting Question Time with Boris” in the subject field

Mon Sep 13: SJA Autumn Golf Day, Muswell Hill GC. To book, contact Paul Trow (07973 862747).

All dates and details subject to change.


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