As 2014 is consigned to the record books, NORMAN GILLER challenges your memory of who said what on the sports scene during the last 12 months. Count yourself a winner if you get eight or more right
Sir Chris Hoy receives the SJA President’s Award from Sir Michael Parkinson last month. The six-time Olympic champion deserves a statue, but he is too nice to ask for one. See Question 11
1. “The players can have normal sex during the World Cup. Usually normal sex is done in a balanced way, but some like to perform acrobatics. No to that!”
a) Roy Hodgson; b) Luiz Felipe Scolari; c) Louis van Gaal; d) Fabio Capello
2. “That was the best punch of my life. You define a good punch from what it means, and what that meant was the whole saga and the history of the fight came to an end.”
a) Amir Khan; b) Tyson Fury; c) Chris Eubank Jnr; d) Carl Froch
3. “I always have high expectations of myself – but to win the whole race is far beyond my expectations.”
a) Lizzy Yarnold; b) Jodie Simpson; c) Jo Pavey; c) Vicky Holland
4. “It’s special to train three successive Derby winners, but we are very lucky to have such well-bred horses to handle. When the lads bought this horse from the sales, we thought he was very good and he had the pedigree to go with it. He’s a very special horse with class and speed,”
a) Aidan O’Brien; b) Michael Stoute; c) Dick Hern; d) Nicky Henderson
5. ”This medal in Glasgow is up there with my Olympic gold.”
a) Greg Rutherford; b) Nicola Adams; c) Usain Bolt; d) Laura Trott
“Boo Rhys Priestland, and you boo me”. See Q7
6. “ A few months ago, I was the flavour of the month and now I’m favourite to get the sack. It’s part and parcel of this wonderful life of working in football management. It’s short-termism.”
a) Brendan Rodgers; b) Alan Pardew; c) David Moyes; d) Sam Allardyce
7. “If you boo Rhys Priestland, you boo myself, you boo Warren Gatland, you boo Leigh Halfpenny, you boo the Welsh jersey.”
a) Sam Warburton; b) Scott Williams; c) Shaun Edwards; d) Mike Phillips
8. “It was like something out of Swan Lake – the dive was that blatant.”
a) Gus Poyet; b) Steve Bruce; c) Harry Redknapp; d) Mark Hughes
9. “Do I think it’s right that he jumped the ship in the middle of the series? No I don’t, I think he let the England team down. The head coach called a meeting and said he’d let the team down. The Mood Hoover said he didn’t think it was right and a lot of the players felt very aggrieved. He blames his elbow – absolutely fine – but I reckon he could have held on for a couple of weeks and stuck by the lads, definitely.”
a) Kevin Pietersen; Matt Prior; c) Jimmy Anderson; d) Stuart Broad
10. ”It is the greatest day of my life. 2008 was a special time, winning my first title, but this means even more than the first one. The feeling I have now is way, way past that and above and beyond.”
a) Alistair Brownlee; b) Ronnie O’Sullivan; c) Lewis Hamilton; d) Rory McIlroy
11. “I think there should be more made for Chris Hoy. Stick a whopping great statue outside, because it doesn’t hit you straight away that it’s his velodrome. He won’t complain because he’s far too nice, so I’ll complain for him.”
a) Bradley Wiggins; b) Mark Cavendish; c) Jason Kenny; 4) Chris Frome
12. “Am I afraid of failure? He is a specialist in failure. I’m not. So if one supposes he’s right and I’m afraid of failure, it’s because I don’t fail many times. So maybe he’s right. I’m not used to failing. But the reality is he’s a specialist because, eight years without a piece of silverware, that’s failure.”
a) Arsene Wenger; b) Manuel Pellegini; c) Roy Keane; d) Jose Mourinho
On behalf of all at the SJA website, to members and welcome visitors, we hope you enjoy a 2015 that brings only good tidings and sporting performances and behaviour of the highest calibre.
Answers here: 1. Luis Felipe Scolari; 2. Carl Froch; 3. Lizzy Arnold; 4. Aiden O’Brien; 5. Nicola Adams; 6. Sam Allardyce; 7. Shaun Edwards; 8. Steve Bruce; 9. Kevin Pietersen; 10. Lewis Hamilton; 11. Bradley Wiggins; 12. Jose Mourinho.
