Alex Ferguson quotes:

The time I have already spent at Harvard has been a stimulating experience, and I look forward to developing my relationship and activities with the students, faculty and friends of the Harvard Business School community.

In England, it's a rare thing to see a player smoking but, all in all, I prefer that to an alcoholic. The relationship with alcohol is a real problem in English football and, in the short term, it's much more harmful to a sportsman. It weakens the body, which becomes more susceptible to injury.

Critics have always questioned whether players like Pele from the 50s could play today. Lionel Messi could play in the 1950s and the present day, as could Di Stefano, Pele, Maradona, Cruyff because they are all great players. Lionel Messi without question fits into that category.

The culmination of three trophies was the pinnacle of my career and it has been rewarded with a knighthood.

Football management is such a pressurised thing - horseracing is a release. I'm also learning to play the piano - I'm quite determined - it's another release from the pressure of my job.

If ever there was one player, anywhere in the world, that was made for Manchester United, it was Cantona. He swaggered in, stuck his chest out, raised his head and surveyed everything as though he was asking: 'I'm Cantona. How big are you? Are you big enough for me?'

David impresses by his example on the field. He never stops running, he plays with supreme confidence, he always tries his hardest and he scores important goals. (on David Beckham)

I can't believe it. I can't believe it. Football. Bloody hell.

He could start a row in an empty house.

I'm a Pele fan from way back when I was a kid, and then there was always this thing later about Pele and Maradona. I was young and impressionable as a kid but it was always Pele for me.

Sometimes in football you have to hold your hand up and say, yeah, they're better than us.

At the last minute, from what I can gather, either Emmanuel Adebayor or his agent phoned us after they had agreed a deal with City and then did the same with Chelsea. He was desperate to get to either Chelsea or us.

They say he's an intelligent man, right? Speaks five languages! I've got a 15-year-old boy from the Ivory Coast who speaks five languages!

When an Italian tells me it's pasta on the plate, I check under the sauce to make sure.

All they can talk about is Manchester United.

David Beckham is Britain's finest striker of a football not because of God-given talent but because he practices with a relentless application that the vast majority of less gifted players wouldn't contemplate.

The work of a team should always embrace a great player but the great player must always work.

He's a normal, likable, straightforward boy. (on David Beckham)

I think his team are mirroring Stuart Pearce as the player he was. (on Manchester City)

Never give in or give up easily on a cause.

I do believe in fate.

If he was an inch taller he'd be the best center half in Britain. His father is 6 ft 2 in - I'd check the milkman.

Football, bloody hell!

When he's at the top of his game, there's not a team in the world that can handle Giggs' speed and penetration

If you're going to be a footballer, be a great one.If you're going to have a dream, dream big.

I was doing all the coaching schools so that I'd be able to stay in the game, and I gave myself a chance by doing that. I was only an average player, could score a goal or two, that sort of thing, but I wasn't a Bobby Charlton or a Messi, or Ronaldo. There are very, very few really great players who have become great coaches.

I tell the players that the bus is moving. This club has to progress. And the bus wouldn't wait for them. I tell them to get on board.

They say it was Cesc Fabregas who threw the pizza at me but, to this day, I have no idea who the culprit was.

Football management is such a pressurized thing - horse racing is a release. I'm also learning to play the piano - I'm quite determined - it's another release from the pressure of my job.

That lad must have been born offside.

Distinguish between power and control, delegate, be decisive - and always remember people's first names.

I was lying in bed on a Saturday morning, reading the paper, when my phone went. The caller was Rangers director, Jack Gillespie, and he offered me the manager's job at Ibrox. I was flattered but declined with thanks. John Greig was a good friend of mine and I had no intention of being involved in ousting him.

You can't applaud a referee.

The pace of the game demanded a referee who was fit. It is an indictment of our game. You see referees abroad who are as fit as butcher's dogs. We have some who are fit. He wasn't fit.

Well he's only 20. Without question, he's the best youngest player I've seen in my time... If he keeps developing and matures ? goodness knows what he will become. At the moment he's a breathe of fresh air. (on Wayne Rooney)

I remember the first time I saw him. He was 13 and just floated over the ground like a cockier spaniel chasing a piece of silver paper in the wind.

Everywhere I go the coaches all tell me that Scholsey is the player they admire. But if they think they'll get him they're wasting their time! Paul is a Manc lad pure and simple. He loves the club and there's no chance of him leaving here. If ever he decided to go there would be a stampede, but he won't be going, he's here for life.

Only true champions come out and show their worth after defeat- and I expect us to do that.

I have nothing but praise for the boy. He is easily the best player in the world. His contribution as a goal threat is unbelievable. His stats are incredible. Strikes at goal, attempts on goal, raids into the penalty box, headers. It is all there. Absolutely astounding.

To not apologize for the behavior of the players to another manager is unthinkable. It's a disgrace, but I don't expect Wenger to ever apologize...he's that type of person.

Gianfranco Zola once sent Gary Pallister the wrong way to such an extent that he needed a ticket to get back in.

Myths grow all the time. If I was to listen to the number of times I've thrown teacups then we've gone through some crockery in this place. It's completely exaggerated, but I don't like people arguing back with me.

I'm going to tell you the story about the geese which fly 5,000 miles from Canada to France. They fly in V-formation but the second ones don't fly. They're the subs for the first ones. And then the second ones take over - so it's teamwork.

I feel sympathy for the working class lad. I've always championed about ticket prices and try to equate that to people's salaries.

Her Majesty said she hoped I would have time for my horses - I own two and have shares in four.

I don't like losing but I've mellowed. I maybe have a short fuse but it goes away quicker now.

You are responsible to each other because when you win a game of football, you only need eight players to perform well.

I've never played for a draw in my life.

If I have my health I can carry on. There will be a point when I do quit but I have absolutely no idea when that is.

There is no evidence that changing your managers repeatedly leads to success, but there is evidence at Manchester United, I was managing there for 26 years I won 38 trophies.

I always used to say to players at half-time, 'Be patient. The last fifteen minutes throw the kitchen sink at them. It's worth a gamble'. You are going to lose the game anyway. There is nothing better than when you get to that last fifteen minutes and you actually win the game late on. The fans are going out of the gates I gave it a try and it worked.

It was the most emphatic display of selflessness I have seen on a football field. Pounding over every blade of grass, competing if he would rather die of exhaustion than lose, he inspired all around him. I felt such an honor to be associated with such a player.

Hard work will always overcome natural talent when natural talent does not work hard enough.

The work of a team should always embrace a great player, but the great player must always work.

I think he was an angry man. He must have been disturbed for some reason. I think you have got to cut through the venom of it and hopefully he'll reflect and understand what he said was absolutely ridiculous. (On Benitez)

We once went 13 games without winning. There's always pressure here. Winning is always important here. How do you handle yourself and compose yourself is important. (on Manchester United)

I bet him he wouldn't get 15 league goals and I'm going to have to change my bet with him. If he gets to 15 I can change it and I am allowed to do that because I'm the manager. I'm going to make it 150 now!

My greatest challenge is not what's happening at the moment, my greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their f*****g perch. And you can print that.

If you were in a game of football always think you need maybe eight to win the game. Three can on an off day or semi off day but you always hard. And the players recognize that and they'll do that extra to make sure they get winning. The essence of the team is to understand and trust each other and to trust me.

Keeping players happy is not easy and I think anyone with a big squad will tell you that.

Go make your mistakes in the first team. You'll learn more in a month in the first team than you will in two years in the reserves.

Ronaldo could play for Millwall, QPR, Doncaster Rovers or anyone and he'd score a hat-trick. I'm not sure Messi could do it. Ronaldo's got two feet, he's quick, he's good in the air and he's brave, though Messi's brave too of course. I just think Messi is a Barcelona player.

I always say prepare to be a coach to anybody who wants to be a coach. At 24 years of age when I left engineering to become full time in football, I made sure that I was never going back to engineering.

Sometimes you look in a field and you see a cow and you think it's a better cow than the one you've got in your own field. It's a fact. Right? And it never really works out that way.

If we can play like that every week well get some level of consistency.

He was taking 30 seconds to book a player. He was needing a rest. It was ridiculous.

It's great news. The reality of negotiations today is that they take time. But these have always been conducted in a good spirit and we are very pleased with the outcome. We can now look forward to the future.

We are very focused this time and our preparation has been better. We maybe made one or two mistakes last time, but not this time.

You are not going to be happy if you lose to a goal in the last minute. It is difficult to take and difficult to get out of your mind.

Sometimes you're not sure about a player. Sometimes you doubt. Sometimes you have to guess. Sometimes you just know.

Well, football is a hard game; there's no denying it. It's a game that can bring out the worst in you, at times.

Evolution happens. There's no football team in the world that has stayed together for time ever more.

You start with what you believe in. I believe in building a football club rather than building a football team.

He has an awareness of what's happening around him on the edge of the box which is better than most players. As a kid he always had a knack of arriving in the penalty area just at the right time, but he's proving just as effective from outside the box because he's using his experience in the right way. It doesn't matter who I am thinking about bringing into my midfield, Paul Scholes will be included, as he would in any side in the world.

Pippo Inzaghi was born in an offside position.

The philosophy of a lot of European teams, even in home matches, is not to give a goal away.

Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles.

Players know that they can trust me which is really important. They know that I had the ability to adapt to change, and they have seen that many times over the years. I think these are important parts of being in control of footballers.

I think Sepp Blatter is in danger...or has reached a point now, where he is being mocked within the game. Whether he's getting too old, I don't know. But things can happen to people in power. Look at some of the despots in Africa... From a position of great power, he has uttered so many ridiculous statements that he is in danger of seriously damaging his credibility.

Promise is one thing. Fulfilling that promise is quite another.

There was one or two offers that did come along during my time at United, but I always came back to this point; why would you leave United? Where is the bigger challenge? And the thing about challenges is, once you have won something, you can't live on that. Not at Manchester United - you have got to win the next one. And that's the challenge. Maintaining that consistency of winning which is a mentality that I have had.

Manchester United might not win Premier League every year, but we'd always be up there competing for it every year.

I used to have a saying that when a player is at his peak, he feels as though he can climb.

Funnily enough we have never had one enquiry for Paul Scholes. You know why? Because they all know he will never leave. in my time he would be in the top six or seven (best United players ever) without a doubt. His contribution and quality have been great, even without the fantastic goals he has scored. [ . . . ] He has that wonderful velvet touch on the ball. When he gets it, it goes stone dead. It is wonderful to see that amidst all the mayhem that can happen in a football match.

Cole should be scoring from those distances, but I'm not going to single him out.

I think that fear does come into it in some respect in the sense of when I lost my temper I didn't hide behind a bush on it in respect to the times that I did lose my temper. But you know the quality that I had when I lost my temper, I never, ever brought it back again.

Lampard, for me, was a marvellous servant for Chelsea, but I didn't think of him as an elite international footballer. And I am one of the few who felt Gerrard was not a top, top player.

The lads really ran their socks into the ground.

The most important thing in a game like that is to win it.

I do like to try and see myself in football players. Everybody is different and express themselves in different ways. There are different kinds of talents of course and there are many who I would never have had the talent that they have when I was a player. But I still had that determination to be successful and try my best.

You have to put all the criticism of this club down to jealousy. United have produced more players who have played for their country, more world-class players and more players who have won European Footballer of the Year than any other team in this country, so we must be doing something right.

Jose was one of those guys on a surfboard who can stay longer on the wave than anyone else.

As with every young player these days, Ronaldo is 18.

But there is always that unpredictability about a derby match and that's what it was today.

It was our worst-ever day, the worst result in my history, ever. Even as a player I don't think I ever lost 6-1.

Once you shake hands with the devil, you have to accept they are in control.

In any normal season, most of the teams below Chelsea would think they are doing quite well.

He's such a great threat because of his power and pace. (on Cristiano Ronaldo)

He is improving all the time. He is only 21 and who knows what he is capable of. (on Cristiano Ronaldo)

I tried it 100 or a million times it couldn't happen again. If I could, I would have carried on playing.

It's a conflict of parallels.

I'm privileged to have followed Sir Matt because all you have to do is to try and maintain the standards that he set so many years ago.

Scholes was probably the best English midfielder since Bobby Charlton. He was such a brilliant long passer that he could choose a hair on the head of any team-mate answering the call of nature at our training ground. Gary Neville once thought he had found refuge in a bush, but Scholesy found him from 40 yeards. He inflicted a similar long-range missile strike, once, on Peter Schmeichel, and was chased round the training ground for his impertinence. Scholesy would have made a first class-sniper.

I'm-A-God-Look-At-Me.

Jose understands winning and losing are twins in a way. When you win you don't gloat and when you lose you don't go bananas.

Wayne is truly blessed. He doesn't just have ability, he has a fire inside him.

Pardew has come out and criticized me. He is the worst at haranguing referees. He shoves them and makes a joke of it. How he can criticize me is unbelievable. He forgets the help I gave him, by the way. The press have had a field day. The only person they have not spoken to is Barack Obama because he is busy. It is unfortunate but I am the manager of the most famous club in the world. Not Newcastle, a wee club in the North-East. I was demonstrative. I am always demonstrative. Everyone knows that. I am an emotional guy but I was not abusive.

We got anxious at the end of the weekend in our urgency to try to score the winning goal. Ended up playing far too many long balls forward. That style of play doesn't suit Manchester United. We must continue to play football and enjoy the game. If we do that, eventually things will come right for us.

We have to try to beat Everyone.

He's fiery, he's competitive, ... I think it was an unfair booking, and Wayne reacts like this against injustice.

Kindness is a universal language regardless of age, nationality or religion.

Everest in his slippers. That's what he was like.

I'm no f****** talking to you. He's a f****** great player. Yous are f******* idiots.

If Chelsea drop points, the cat's out in the open. And you know what cats are like - sometimes they don't come home.

I'm going to tell you the story about the geese which fly 5,000 miles from Canada to France.

The credit to them, the better team won and there's nothing we can do about that now.

You can't do anything about them...

He's a novice - he should keep his opinions to Japanese football

Everyone remembers Stuart Pearce as a determined, aggressive player, who played with great heart and enthusiasm that gave him a great career in the game.

If my parents were still alive, they would be very proud. They gave me a good start in life, the values that have driven me, and the confidence to believe in myself.