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Honest opinions? Will Sunday be his Anfield farewell?

I encounter them on a daily basis and they make me laugh. Alot.

HERO! BELIEVE!

We had the (in) famous John B quotes in the mag for the last 60 years (or 3 editions ) -heres some quotes that weren't covered in that piece Also issueing a Fight disclaimer- just in case I get hammered again I was already an adopted Liverpudlian. I was asked if I now truly feel like an adopted Merseysider. Yes, I do. I feel that I truly belong here." November 2001 "I feel a bit embarrassed when the fans sing my name but my name represents the team. The players are the most important people in the game. I want to share the credit with the people around me. You don't win as just one person." "Liverpool are a club who mark people for life. Liverpool are a club who affect your life in a way that makes you want to continue the involvement. Former players stay because this club is special." "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." "The Liverpool fans are something special. I remember that, when we were struggling a couple of years ago, they were still supportive and patient." "I have to say that the Liverpool fans have been magnificent with me and that's all that matters. The true accolade is from the fans." "...I like it too much here. I'm a bit like Arsène (Wenger) in that respect. We like the people, we like the country, I like the culture. A Premiership game is always exciting, you know?" when asked if it was true he was leaving Liverpool to return to France. "I think I am a British manager of a British team. When you live in a culture you are really embedded in it. If I didn't enjoy the style and culture I wouldn't be here. I don't think people look upon me as French, but as the manager of this club." May 2001 "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." May 2001 "I find it a bit embarrassing. I don't want to be compared with the managers of the past, just as I am sure my players don't want to be compared with the players of the past. We are not up to the level of the big names of the past. I don't think it's fair to make comparisons. We are just trying to do our own thing." On being compared to Bill Shankly. May 2001 "Let's deal in reality. This team is a bunch of winners. You do not win five trophies, finish third and sit on top of the league after 10 games if you are not winners and that is what we are. I came to this club with a vision. In fact, if you'll pardon the expression, I came to this club with double vision. I want this club to be the best in this country and I want this club to be the best in Europe." December 2001 "You do not, over the course of 63 matches, average over two goals a game by playing with a negative and boring approach. In fact, I hope we can be as boring this season." "We have come so far that I will not let anything or anyone stop us going even further." "Let's just say that somebody up there must like me. I personally feel I was in the right place with the right people with the right expert hands. It was not luck that things happened the way they did. It was fate." November 2001 "I won't make that mistake again. When you are a manager you must look after yourself. If you are tired it has an impact on your decisions." Speaking about his illness. November 2001 "Will football ever get out of my life? I tell you straight away. NO! ...... My whole life is about football." November 2001 "Football is my oxygen." November 2001 "....when my Liverpool team wants a result together they can get it. They have everything it takes to win." Nov 2001 "I don't know whether it's down to jealousy or what, but some people want us to fall flat on our faces and it is beginning to get on my nerves." May 2001 "It really gets on my nerves when people say we are a boring team who only know how to counterattack. I don't see Bayern Munich playing too differently to that, yet they are described as efficient and solid." Ever protective of his Liverpool team! "Do not worry, though. We will cope. We take comfort from the fact that Liverpool's success is clearly annoying a lot of people. They are upset and unhappy because we are doing well. My message to them is that we will clear this hurdle and continue doing well." On the Premier League's refusal to move a fixture due to Liverpool's involvement in so many cup games. "Returning to the European Cup means pride. It means a feeling of growing fulfilment of what this club are about." August 2001 "I don't want players sitting between two chairs. They are either with us and want to commit to us, or they're not. If they're not then they will leave." May 2001, a rightly ruthless GH on players commiting to Liverpool for the long haul or not at all! "I was comfortable where I was. The job of technical director in France is much bigger than it is in England. I had the choice of sitting by the fire or going to war, and I chose to go to war." on giving up his job as technical director of the French Football Federation to sign for Liverpool FC. "Last season was history; it was historic. It was an absolutely unprecedented achievement, but we have to forget about it now." "A game of football is never a nuisance" on the suggestion that the Charity Shield would be a nuisance to his team due to a heavy schedule of games. "We know where we are, we know where we want to go, and we are just on the way to it, that's all." From "The Liverpool Way". "I'm so grateful to my staff. We work as a team. Everyone talks about the old Liverpool boot room. We have what we call `the Bunker' in which we have a meeting every morning, where we prepare things together." "You can't build a cathedral in a day. A look at the club's history tells you these things take time." "I remember getting to Anfield and finding I was staring at a blank page but that was all right. I needed to focus on a new objective. I have to be working as part of a team and setting myself a strategy, and that is what I am doing." 'I don't live in the past. I live in the present and I look to the future. But I take lessons from the past." "Nobody knows everything about football but I am prepared to live and die by my ideas.'' "We have the talent, we have the personnel and if whoever plays gives their all for the shirt, we can be good. The world wasn't made in a day, though. So let's keep progressing, let's keep building and gradually we'll get bigger and bigger." The ever cautious Gerard! "The problem here is that players think they can drink. Drinking alcohol is as silly as putting diesel in a racing car." "I'm very demanding in terms of work and spirit. I think I'm a very nice man but I can be a very nasty man if someone is not behaving right. If someone upsets the harmony of what we are trying to do, I am 10 times nastier than anyone else." November 2000 "I don't want to talk about the start of something special. I'm just doing my work." March 2000, after Liverpool's best performance at Old Trafford in years. 'I believe in educating rather than dictating, and it has yielded results so far. I will be a dictator if need be, though. If it is necessary to get the point home, then so be it." “One of the things I am in the habit of saying is that the only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.” "At the top level, you can't succeed if you don't have physical and mental toughness." March 2000 "Sometimes football can send you from the attick to the basement without the aid of a lift" Jan 2000 Jamie's so full of passion and commitment, so eager to learn. It's a joy to watch him at work." On Jamie Carragher "I have always had faith in him. Outstanding players sometimes do silly things, but I love the boy and he knows that I have always been behind him." On Robbie Fowler. "He could have an England future, that's for sure, but I had better not make much further comment because the next thing I know, there will be stories all over the place that I am trying to sign him." On Chris Kirkland, April 2001 "My heart goes out to Sander. I acknowledge what he did for us in the winning of the Treble last season but if any player does not put in the required amount of energy - mental and physical - then his place in the squad will be jeopardised. I know that sounds a bit ruthless but that's the way it has to be." on Sander Westerveld after signing Jerzy Dudek and Chris Kirkland. "Sometimes as a manager you have to make some tough decisions and you have to separate your heart from your head - that was the case with Sander Westerveld, with whom we won five cups." December 2001 "My pride at the moment is for a guy like Danny Murphy. Who would have thought two years ago that Danny would be in the England squad? He wasn't even in the Liverpool team back then. I am very proud of what he has done. It shows what can be achieved through hard work, application and focus." Oct 2001 "Don't make me laugh. Probably Macca thinks Liverpool is just an academy for developing players. " In reaction to Steve McManaman's suggestion that Michael Owen should go overseas to better his career. "I am pleased to hear some people call him a bargain now because I heard so many funny stories when I bought him!" on Gary McAllister "Gary's a great man, a fit man who sets an example to everyone with his quality of preparation and fitness." On Gary McAllister "The boy has come from Leicester to Liverpool, which is like you going from a local paper to suddenly writing for a national paper." On Emile Heskey in an interview with Henry Winter. "The first thing I said to him was to shut up, because speaking out the way he did showed a lack of respect for other players. I have just advised him nicely to keep his mouth shut in future. He is not going to attract my attention or demonstrate his commitment to the cause by complaining in the media and making comments like these." GH tells it as it really was, regarding Christian Ziege. "As far as David is concerned, he never heard he was leaving the club on TV. He knows quite well that I spoke with him a fortnight before. Anyway it was time for him to start on a new challenge. Maybe he lost a bit of the confidence of the fans, the press and the club. I still think he's a good goalkeeper." On David James' claim that he heard of his departure from Liverpool on TV. "Jamie is a good leader. He sets a good example with his work ethic on and off the pitch. He's a good dressing-room man. He signed a long-term contract which indicated his level of commitment….He is a good symbol for Liverpool." On appointing Jamie Redknapp captain. "He's tall and good in the air, which is an indispensable assest when you play centre-back in England. His passing is good, right or left. He's very confident. But I'm not getting carried away. I know that sometimes Sami will have difficult games. But he's a clever boy. He can hold the defence together." On Sami Hyypia. "Patrik is like a sword. He gets the ball and goes straight into the heart of the opponents' defence." On Patrik Berger "I think he will play for England. Danny has made a lot of progress....He can achieve things for us and I do think he is good enough to go on and play at international level." On Danny Murphy, December 2000, Gérard the prophet! "He has been portrayed as a national hero one minute and a villain the next. To my mind, he is somewhere in between and I intend keeping a sense of perspective about his development." On Stevie Gerrard "He has to live for the job. If his mates want to go to a nightclub, let them. By the time he has finished, he can buy one of his own.'' On Stevie Gerrard. "David is a very nice man and a fantastic player. I bear no grudge. What I regret is the way the media put it." On David Ginola. If you defend well you can attack freely and score more goals. A strong, solid defence provides the basis for strong attacking play." October 2001 "Football is always going to be difficult, but it's made even tougher if individuals start thinking only of themselves...... Firstly, it shows a lack of consideration for team-mates. Secondly, you are on the way down to defeat. You're not sure to win if you're together, but you have no chance at all if you're not together." May 2001. "My philosophy is that you must compete, you must run and fight until you have nothing left. If we don't, then people are entitled to criticise us as much as they like, because it would be totally unacceptable." "If someone is not committed or not prepared to give his all, you have a problem. Believe me, though, it is one I would not tolerate for long." "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." "I am only concerned about the present and future and having players who are ready and eager to leave the bench and step in at a moment's notice. I will not have people feeling sorry for themselves. When you have a Liverpool shirt on your back as part of the squad, you will do anything to make sure you preserve what it stands for." "...I know the game has moved on, but I think that we have at some stage to keep up the good philosophy of football, in fact it is exactly mine that we have to build up from behind, we have to show some imagination and creativness in the game." From "The Liverpool Way". "No one player is bigger than this team." "I tell the players, `You have to die for the shirt'." "All I can say is you have to prepare for success. You don't programme it." "Yes, you need to have talent, but you also need winners. Players who hate to be defeated, who hate to lose out in the tackle." "For 10 years, players have got to live for the job. After that, they will live thanks to that job. But for those 10 years they have got to commit themselves totally to what they are doing. If you get the right people, they will do that." "One of my principles is `Think Team First.` I do not want players who only think of themselves." "I believe in hard work and determination to solve your problems. When things don't go your way you have to force matters in order that they do. You've got to make your own luck." Oct 2000 "A player needs to be a winner every day in training. Every function, every exercise, he should be striving to win. We assume they go out on match day with that attitude but I expect to see it all the time, when they are working behind closed doors." February 2000 "The objective of returning to winning ways as soon as possible will only be reached through greater effort, more concentration, better discipline and the total commitment of our players" From the Press Conference after taking sole charge of Liverpool FC - November 1998 "Nous ne pouvons avoir des joueurs qui pensent à eux-mêmes et qui disent qu'ils voudraient jouer à la place de quelqu'un d'autre. D'abord, c'est un manque de respect vis-à-vis de l'autre joueur, et ensuite c'est le meilleur moyen d'en arriver à la défaite." (We don't want players who think of anything but themselves and say they want to play instead of somebody else. It's a lack of respect for the other player and it's the best way to end in failure). You are what your players do. The most important people in a club are the players. Your players make you, and the players here deserve a lot of credit for the progress and success they've achieved." Typically deflecting the glory away from himself. "The players played for immortality because this final will always be remembered. In terms of events, it was great, fantastic." After the UEFA Cup Final "At the beginning of the season there was one game - I won't say what it was - and my subs came on and they made my team worse! I can tell you I'm never angry, but that was one day I nearly hit a player. I had to be calmed down by Phil Thompson, which was something funny. But, really, he had to stop me." "We must have unity and if anyone raises even a finger against the team then they will be out." April 2001, it's all about team! "I told the players before the match that the will to win was as important as the skill to win." After the FA Cup Final. "We were playing for history, for Liverpool's first European trophy in 17 years. The team played for immortality." May 2001 "It was a massive performance at Charlton. Before the game I thought the players were human - now I think they are super-human." May 2001. "For the first time in as long as I can remember, I felt like pouring myself a beer and just reflecting on what I'd seen. Our composure and attitude were so good and I couldn't have asked for more in terms of striking the right blend between attack and defence. To go to Rome and take on the Italian League leaders without ever looking the least bit ruffled or panicky was most pleasing." after winning in Rome in the UEFA Cup "I didn't expect to be manager of the year because I'm a foreign coach, and I think it is always a little more difficult for foreign coaches to gain credit in England. It's not a problem, it's simply that there is not a culture for bringing foreign coaches into England, and so when they do arrive there is a little bit of suspicion." Houllier's typically humble view on the incredibly bizzare decision not to name him Manager of the Year in 2001. "My enjoyment as a manager comes from seeing people happy. It is a very difficult job and you've got to stay strong mentally." May 2001 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." GH takes a swipe at Paul Ince! December 2001. "We also 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." December 2001 "Don't worry. He is worth more money than me, but I am more urgent!" To LFC team doctor Mark Waller who was treating Emile Heskey when GH was taken ill, and somehow still managing to joke about things! October 2001 "Put it this way: in France there would be a revolution! Here, we just say thank-you and we play. But, as with anything, you either adapt or you've had it." August 2000 on having the two first games of the season in such close succession. ``In any case, to most Liverpool supporters it won't matter if 11 Martians bring the championship back to Anfield, as long as it comes.'' On critisism leveled at him for signing so many Foreign players. "It is not an ordinary job. It is not like being manager of Aston Villa.'' On managing Liverpool. ".....humour helps. I don't take myself very seriously.'' On how he copes with the pressure of being Liverpool manager. "We mustn't act like Father Christmas, which we did that day because we gave two goals away." Oct 2000, before the Worthington Cup tie against Chelsea. "Knowing the way Barcelona and ourselves go about their football I would be very surprised if there are no goals scored on Thursday night." April 2001, before the infamous 0 - 0 draw at the Nou Camp! "It is difficult to be manager of a club here and step up. After the usual six months of honeymoon, they just try to fire you. And it's a very frustrating job. It's like sleeping with the most beautiful girl in the country once a month. What do you do the rest of the time? It is better to sleep with the most beautiful girl in the town on a regular basis." GH says it as only GH could - on why he wouldn't want to manage England, May 2001 "......Of course, he is right. We just wanted to play football in Manchester, while our wives had the chance to do some shopping." GH's nicely sarcastic response to Alex Ferguson's comments that Man Utd where the only team who tried to win the 1-1 game in March 2000. "When you spit in the air it sometimes lands on your face." in reference to Crystal Palace striker Clinton Morrison outspoken views on Michael Owen's finishing. "Look at the size of our players. They've got a lot of strength and solidity. Yet people are trying to make out that I have a team of juniors. They must be confusing some of us with the small guys in the youth academy." On some critics' claim that Liverpool where a soft touch. "The last one to be caught was me, in a team talk". On the mobile phone ban he put in place at Melwood / Anfield. "We need time and the fans understand that, it took us three years to win a trophy and as the Scouse humour says, 'typical Liverpool - you wait years for a trophy and then you get three all at one time'." "Qualifying for the Champions League is more vital to us, but it's a trophy and the players haven't won one for a long time. It must be all of three months now." On the 2001 Charity Shield "I phoned Gerard to wish him good luck against Alaves in the UEFA Cup Final - and to tell him I hope they get stuffed at Charlton." David O'Leary.

I called into the club shop this afternoon after renewing my season ticket. They had little figurines of players and managers past and present. Dalglish, Keegan, Paisley, Souness etc. There were 20% reductions available for Houllier and Heskey for obvious reasons. I asked if their were any discounts on the Bruce Grobbelaar figure. The shop assistant replied "No sir, no savings with that one".