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From the men who seemingly can only think with their feet to those who are always ready and willing with a witty one-liner,  football is an absolute mine of verbal entertainment.

With well over a century of material to gather, here is our list of the twenty best football quotes of all time in no particular order.

‘It’s often said that football is a matter of life and death. I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it’s much more important than that.’ Legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly in 1981 explaining just what football means to him. ‘Please don’t call me arrogant, but I am European champion and I think I am a special one.’ Jose Mourinho makes himself an instant tabloid favourite by bringing out this pearler in his first press conference. ‘I wouldn’t say I am the best in the business, but I’m definitely in the top one.’ Ok, we could have done a top twenty best Clough quotes without diluting the quality, but this has to be the best of the bunch. ‘No wonder he’s in the f***ing reserves.’ If you haven’t seen this on Youtube, get there now. ‘Arry Redknapp reacts with understandable fury after being hit by a wayward football. If he was leaning out of his car window, it would never have happened. ‘Chile have three options. They could win or they could lose.’ Kevin Keegan struggling somewhat with his maths. That could explain why he rarely completed a 38-game season. ‘They were lucky to get nil.’ Len Shackleton of Newcastle commenting on sorry Newport’s performance after a 13-0 drubbing. ‘Today’s top players only want to play in London or for Manchester United. That’s what happened when I tried to sign Alan Shearer and he went to Blackburn.’ Future Blackburn manager Graeme Souness temporarily relocating his future club 230 miles south-east. ‘Sometimes you lose a game, and sometimes the other team wins.’ Otta Rehhagel nearly perfectly summing up the sport of football. If only he didn’t forget about draws. Or penalties. Or abandoned matches. Yeah, he mucked that one right up. ‘I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.’ Football’s first playboy star George Best horrifies accountants all over the country with this quote. Aston Martin dealers in the Cheshire area were less concerned. ‘I was feeling as sick as the proverbial donkey.’ Sometimes there are just too many cliches to fit into a single press conference, so Mick McCarthy decided to economise and meld two together. Either that or he was just a bit of an idiot, but anyone who heard his Euro 2012 commentary knows that’s not true. ‘When seagulls follow the trawler it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.’ The poetic thug Eric Cantona at his post-kung-fu kick press conference bemusing and delighting journalists brought up on a diet of ‘At the end of the day I can only apologise to the gaffer, the lads and the fans that I’ve let down.’ ‘We must have had 99% of that match. It was the other 3% that cost us.’ Ruud Gullit getting his percentages hopelessly wrong. 102% as a whole? What about the other 8% Ruud? ‘If the ball had gone in, it would have been a goal.’ Joe Royle clearly failing to predict Pedro Mendes, Frank Lampard or Marco Devic’s attempts. At the time he felt foolish, now even more so. ‘I was really surprised when the FA knocked on my doorbell.’ Now I’m not entirely sure whether Michael Owen made a muck-up of this quote or the FA genuinely did knock on his doorbell. Either way, someone’s been a plank. ‘Liverpool will be thinking they should have won this 2-2.’ Ok, not the worst thing that anyone has ever heard Ron Atkinson say, but definitely one of the daftest. ‘If you can’t stand the heat of the dressing room, get out of the kitchen.’ Maybe if Terry Venables didn’t insist on a food preparation facility in every dressing room, England may have won Euro 96. ‘I never predict anything and I never will.’ Paul Gascoigne living up to his word for all of half a second. ‘For those of you watching in black and white, Spurs are the team in yellow.’ The ever-helpful John Motson differentiating between the team in grey and the team in grey. ‘Well we got nine and you can’t get more than that.’ The late, great Bobby Robson forgetting about the existence of the number ten. Oh, and 11. And all numbers above that. ‘Some people are on the pitch. They think it’s all over. It is now.’ The quote guaranteed to send shivers down the spine of any England fan came from the legendary mouth of Kenneth Wolstenholme.

It seems to be an all too familiar story with young players never reaching their expected potential.

Jaime Peters joined Ipswich in 2005 and before he left he was the clubs longest serving player. Many may be surprised to hear that in total he made 99 appearances for Ipswich. A lot of these appearances were from the bench so his appearances don’t really represent how much game time he actually had though.

When he was first linked the Tractor Boys it didn’t seem like we had much chance of signing him as both Chelsea and Manchester United showed an interest in the youngster. However, Peters chose to join Ipswich as he wanted to play as much first team football as he possible could to help him develop as a player.

The young Canadian was an instant fans favourite and has always been a very popular figure amongst the fans. He wasn’t popular just because he was exiting to watch but the fact that he turned down both Manchester United and Chelsea in order to get game time was very respectable.

He was still a teenager when he joined Ipswich and everyone was exited by the prospect of seeing Peters in a Town shirt. Being only 5ft 7in Peters had a distinctive style of play to compensate for his short stature. He used his height as an advantage and by having a low centre of gravity he was able to terrorise opposition defenders with quick tricks and turns. Without a doubt he was an exiting player to watch and although his game was far from complete he offered the team something they didn’t have.

After every season Ipswich hoped that Peters would develop and become a key player in the team. The potential was there but we never really saw much progression from him after each season.

He never commanded a place in the team and was never consistently good enough to become a key player. Both Magilton and Keane would often use Peters as an impact sub and this probably was the most useful role he could play at Championship level.

The real reason why Peters never developed into the player we all dreamed he could be was because he never had a complete game. His dribbling, agility and speed was at times amazing but he never perfected the art of crossing and being so small meant he struggled with the physical aspects of the game.

However, despite his downfalls every fan will have fond memories of Peters.

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He always worked hard, always wanted to be in the first team and most importantly always cared about the club. The highlight of his Ipswich career came in the League Cup semi-final first leg against Arsenal where he performed so well at right back that Andrei Arshavin had to be subbed off as he couldn’t get anything past Peters.

He was a great servant to the club and a player who will always be welcome at Portman Road. In the modern game it is rare to find a player who is both loyal and just wants to play as much football as possible so we were lucky to have Peters at the club. It looks like Peters will drop down to League One but whoever he plays for next will have a great player with a great personality.

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The Premier League has seen some world class players since its inception in 1992, indeed the likes of Thierry Henry, Eric Cantona and Dennis Bergkamp have lit up the division during this time, cementing their personal statuses as legends of the game. We’ve also seen some dreadful players during that time, players simply not fit to lace the boots of the iconic figures of England’s top division.

However, there are other players who have somehow gained a reputation as decent footballers that nobody can quite understand. You know the ones, those individuals who get picked every week by the manager but simply don’t deserve their place in the team anymore, either because of their dreadful current form or perhaps the fact that they’re way past their best. Yet, they continue to baffle all those watching by taking their place amongst the elite every week, only to turn in performances that are simply rubbish. We take a look at the Premier League XI who are living off their reputations rather than their form.

Click on Daniel Sturridge to unveil the XI

Last week James Lawton wrote a piece in the Independent, entitled ‘What the NFL can teach the Premier League about financial fair play.’ Taking Arsenal’s letter to Richard Scudamore as a chance to reflect on the way other sports – namely the NFL – organise themselves to create a league based on fair play. Lawton hinted at how the Premier League could be a more level playing field, eulogising the unity seen in American Football.

I want to look at the notion of a draft system and consider whether it could be implemented and if it were, how it might play out over here.

The draft system is a recruitment process where the worst team in any given year is given the first pick of that year’s talented crop of college stars. The Super Bowl winners obviously have less of a recruitment need and are accordingly given the last pick. In this instance, the Premier League champions would pick last and the 20th placed team get a chance to sign up the next Wayne Rooney. If the worst team in the league can make the right choice, the potential for success is huge.

Firstly, the Premier League is not a closed league like the NFL, where 32 teams compete against one another each and every year. A closed league makes it easy to spread the wealth of talented nascent superstars coming through college level and onto the professional scene. I don’t have to tell anyone of the many falls from grace experienced by countless managers, players and fans after relegation from an open league, never to reach the top flight again. Although, the relegation rule renders a draft system a pretty difficult idea to bring about.

Lets look at Andrew Luck, drafted by last year’s worst team – Indianapolis Colts – with a win/loss record of 2-14. With Luck they managed to finish the 2012/13 regular season with a record of 11-5, qualifying for the postseason and a chance to compete for the Super Bowl. The same applies to the Washington Redskins and RGIII, another bad team who made the postseason after picking the second overall pick behind Luck. These guys could potentially dominate the league for years to come. Although, there are a few anomalies in the draft, like Mr-Ugg-himself-Tom-Brady who was the 199th overall pick in the 6th round of the 2000 draft. He’s kind of like the greatest quarterback of all time (discounting the fact that he lost in the AFC Championship on Sunday night to the Ravens). Some people get overlooked and drafting isn’t a key to success – it just helps to level the field.

But imagine the Premier League is a closed league, and that young players are recruited for college teams (managed by more than capable coaches) before being drafted to the Premier League according to league position. We’re not going to come up with a solution here and the results of this fantasy game won’t exactly result in hard-hitting evidence, but it’s fun to make believe now and then. So we walk through the wardrobe and are transported to the land of drafting and fairness. Lets imagine again that when Rooney was 21, and performing pretty amazingly I might add (he scored 20 goals in all competitions and United won the league), that at 21, Rooney was picked up by last place Derby in 2007/08. Plus, he was accompanied through the doors of Pride Park by a few other key players in the 2007/08 draft, players who might compliment him in the 2008/09 season (a season where Rooney and United won the league again, by the way). Think of the difference it would make on both Derby’s season and United’s. Lets not forget that Derby finished 18th in the Championship after relegation. I feel pretty confident in saying that Rooney could’ve helped them back into the top flight if the relegation rule was still in place. Otherwise in a closed league I’m sure Rooney would help Derby compete, and consequently help to attract better players who might be at the end of their contract. What would that mean for a team like Derby? If the same theory were to be applied throughout the league do you think things would be a little more competitive? Unfortunately, it’s not possible. Why would the Premier League’s top six or seven teams agree to send the country’s top talent to the worst team? And if the relegation rule is still in place in our crazy world of fairness, would they want to see the best players go to the Championship? They wouldn’t. We haven’t even factored in UEFA, a European footballing organization with regulatory powers over Europe –but you knew that. All of the top leagues around Europe would have to agree to a draft system, leaving a lot of empty trophy cabinets and perhaps even a few empty pockets. We haven’t even brought up the EU, with the freedom of movement for workers opening up the draft to a potentially bigger market. The issue gets muddied, politicized and a little more complex the deeper you get into it.

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The idea, as Lawton implies, is something that the NFL can teach us. His headline exaggerates things a little, but the implication is that we could learn from American sports. Simply put, this isn’t something that the NFL can teach us. Such drastic changes are unworkable, but it doesn’t stop a few people from paying homage to an American sport with impractical ideas. I can’t see Barcelona training up the best of the best at La Masia, only to give them up to Deportivo. We can only learn from North America on a commercial basis. But perhaps there’s another solution to make the game fairer. To start with, how about a salary cap to stop teams like Manchester City and Chelsea from stockpiling players to warm their benches. It’s a waste of talent with wider repercussions – both financially and competitively – for the rest of the teams. City wouldn’t be able to bench a player on £200,000 a week if there was a salary cap in place. Instead, you’d have to start using cheaper, younger players hungry for an opportunity.  Personally, I’d like to see a little more fairness – spreading the talent around – for teams and fans who deserve to enjoy good football and the glory attached to winning silverware.

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Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry has insisted that his team-mate Mario Balotelli is happy at the club.

Reports have been circulating theta the Italian international is growing frustrated by life in the Premier League and that he yearns for a return to his homeland, where his partner Raffaela Fico is due to give birth to their child.

AC Milan are believed to be willing to offer the controversial forward as escape route, despite him having played for city rivals Inter.

But, Barry believes that Balotelli is content at his current club and doesn’t believe that he is not planning to move on:

“I think he is happy,” said the England international. “If you saw him day-to-day, you’d see no reason to think he isn’t happy.” He is quoted by The Mirror.

“He’s probably not played as much as he would have liked, but he’s kept his head as well as anybody else who isn’t getting chances.

“He started against Wigan (in City’s 2-0 win on Wednesday) and scored, so that will help him.”

Roberto Mancini has been vocal in his criticism of the player recently, but Barry feels that the 22-year-old has mental strength handle disappointment, as he showed during their win of the Latics:

“Anyone who knows Mario knows he’s not going to lack confidence,

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“If he misses two or three, he’ll keep trying the same things.

“Hopefully that goal will give him that extra bit of confidence in his play and he can improve from that.”

Imagine the perfect way to enjoy the epic highs and painful lows of your footy team in action. Imagine sitting in the company of a legend of your side, the painful intensity of another attack on your goal, the ecstasy of the ball screaming into the corner of the net, the glory of victory. Imagine if Carlsberg did Sport…

On Monday night a very special screening of the Arsenal v Reading match was held at The Carlsberg Sports Bar in the heart of London’s West End with ex-Arsenal striker Charlie Nicholas. As well as the opportunity to meet a footballing legend, football fans at the bar also received free food and drink and one lucky fan won two exclusive corporate tickets to the Boxing Day clash between Arsenal and West Ham which was presented to the winner by Charlie Nicholas & Danny Crates. The Casino at The Empire is also making a donation to the Sports Aid charity – helping young British sportsmen and women to achieve their ambitions by supporting them during the defining early years of their careers.

The Carlsberg Sports Bar have promised similar sporting surprises in the near future, so watch this space…

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It’s not often that Sir Alex Ferguson absorbs too much in the way of stinging criticism, but he was recently offered a harsh review of his current tactical foray at Manchester United.

Calling in ahead of United’s fixture against Chelsea last Thursday, an 80-year-old woman known only as ‘Margaret from Rochdale’ went on the attack during a phone-in on their resident television channel, MUTV.

The target of her fury? Fergie’s resurrection of the diamond formation within the Manchester United midfield. Despite the set-up bearing fruit for the Red Devil’s in the 3-0 win away to Newcastle United last month, Margaret was seemingly fed up of the formation’s defensive downsides.

Dubbing the formation ‘stupid’, she said:

“It isn’t entertaining when you’re 80 years old to watch goals going in from the other side. I don’t like it. It’s going to give me a heart attack and I’m 80. You wouldn’t like to give me a heart attack, would you?”

It was a lovely little anecdote at a time when the game is probably in need of a little comic relief. But beneath the novelty of the comments, Margaret did indeed touch upon a point that is both topical and highly relevant within Old Trafford at the moment.

Whether or not Ferguson was paying too much attention to MUTV last Thursday – he has in fact since jovially admitted to hearing her views – he did inadvertently heed to her demands to at least temporarily shelve the diamond, for the trip to Chelsea. Manchester United reverted back to a more traditional 4-4-1-1 at Stamford Bridge last Sunday, which despite the somewhat controversial nature of the game, paid dividends in a 3-2 victory.

It seemed like a slightly dampening bit of tactical acumen, given the excitable talk that surrounded the set-up in recent weeks. Fans have been waxing lyrical about the prospect of squeezing Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, Danny Welbeck, Shinji Kagawa and Tom Cleverley into the same line up. Fergie himself suggested that should the side continue to wheel out regularly, it would be ‘revolutionary’ with it going against how they traditionally play.

And in its box office exhibition against Newcastle United, it served to work an absolute treat. After a somewhat sketchy baptism in the 2-1 away to Cluj in the Champions League, the diamond came back with a bang, where it absolutely scorched Alan Pardew’s men for the opening 20 or so minutes of the first half.

Michael Carrick anchored the diamond, with Cleverley up to his left, Kagawa further forward to his right, and the mercurial Rooney as the spearhead. The deployment of four technicians so compactly consigned Newcastle’s pressing game to the chasing of shadow’s and Rooney in particular, was superb.

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The visit of Stoke City to Old Trafford saw Fergie tinker with a 4-2-3-1 set-up that, despite their now customary lethargic start, ended up producing a 4-2 win. But the Champions League tie against Braga, gave the United crowd a chance to see the heralded formation in action. A failure it most certainly wasn’t, but it represented neither an overwhelming success or dependable future blueprint.

Ferguson’s  side were 2-1 down at half time and despite some really quite quicksilver exchanges between the trio of Hernandez, Van Persie and Rooney, they were left bypassed at times in midfield. A twist of Shinji Kagawa’s knee saw Nani came on and the results were palpable. United looked both more fluent and comfortable in a more traditional 4-4-2.

Sir Alex Ferguson makes a very good point in that although you need width, you don’t necessarily need wingers to provide it. If the diamond is played with the fluidity and dynamism that Fergie will crave, than part of his mercurial attack can peel off and offer it, with say, a Wayne Rooney rushing in to fill the space.

But it’s very easy to let the potential attacking aesthetics, cloud the feasibility that the system offers for the rest of the team. Yes, Rooney as the spearhead of a diamond, has an almost infinite amount of potential. Acres of column inches have been afforded to his ‘natural gifts’ and how much of a domineering influence he could exert from that position.

Yet what about the rest of the team? Do Manchester United really have a set of full-backs in Rafael and the astute, yet fading Patrice Evra, to consistently provide the needed natural width, while responsibly covering the constant threat of attack down the flanks themselves?

It’s all very well neutralising Jonas Gutierrez, but when United come up against wingers with real race to burn and an ability to do damage, it could cause them problems. A seemingly permanent defensive injury crisis hasn’t helped matters, but they continue to look suspect at the back. A narrow focus of play would ensure their full-backs must stand up to the added pressure.

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And furthermore, the ever-grumbling debate about the merits of Manchester United’s engine room, offers some intriguing debate. The holding man in the diamond must be able to create as well as negate. It’s all very well having a holy attacking trinity in front of you, but without a strong influence at the base, life’s going to be very difficult.

Do Michael Carrick or Darren Fletcher bestow the all round game to make a claim for a permanent fixture there? Paul Scholes would look very good in a deep-lying play maker capacity. At 37, it might not be great future planning.

Either way, the diamond does offer a fantastic alternate outlet for Manchester United. Having tactical variety in both this league and in Europe is a superb commodity and the diamond offers an intriguing alternative for Fergie. But for the time being, it should remain just that.

Is the diamond formation a tangible solution at Old Trafford? Or are there any players in particular you feel could add to the set-up? Tell me on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus and bat us all your views. 

In a week that has been dominated by their move to the Olympic Stadium and the future of their manager its imperative that West Ham stay focused on the present. With manager Sam Allardyce confirming he will sign a new contract when Premier League survival is assured the message is clear. Despite four defeats in their last six Allardyce believes two wins from their remaining nine games will be enough to ensure the Hammers remain a top-flight club. Five home matches make up the bulk of their run-in starting with West Brom on Saturday and a win would put them well on the road to safety with Wigan, Newcastle and Reading all visiting Upton Park before the campaign is out.

The Baggies aren’t to be underestimated though as many clubs have found out already this season. Steve Clarke, formerly a number two at West Ham under Gianfranco Zola, has thrived in his debut season as a manager guiding the Midlands club to eighth. Qualifying for Europe is the objective now for Albion and can close in on the top-six with victory in east London. It would also see them reach their highest Premier League points total of 47 with seven games left to play.

Team News

Kevin Nolan (toe) and Joe Cole (hamstring) are fit to return for West Ham but fellow midfielder Mark Noble (shoulder) is out.

James Morrison (hamstring) is a major doubt for West Brom after he was forced to withdraw from the Scotland squad in midweek.

What the managers said…

“I don’t think we have to wait until we’re quite mathematically safe, with 38 points both parties would say that is enough this season. Hopefully we can get to 38 as quick as possible and hopefully get to 40 points if we can. It’s disappointing that we haven’t secured safety already with our concentration and sometimes lack of goals. It’s made us linger on this subject and we want to get it out of the way and look at next season” Sam Allardyce says he will sign a new deal at West Ham when safety is guaranteed (Daily Mail)

“We are professional, we want to finish as high as we can with as many points as we can. The next target for us is to get more points than we did in the last two seasons which is 47. If we win at the weekend we will equal that, and it will give us seven games to better it. For anyone to question our commitment or our desire to do well for the last eight games is wrong.” Steve Clarke is adamant West Brom have plenty to play for in the last two months of the season (Independent)

Pre-Match Statistic: West Brom will match their best-ever Premier League points total of 47 (set in 2010/11 and 2011/12) should they beat West Ham.

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Prediction: West Ham United 1-1 West Bromwich Albion

Make your bets ahead of today’s showdown at Upton Park by clicking on the banner below

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After the capture of Robin van Persie, Manchester United are still on the lookout for more talent and will sign Angelo Henriquez this week according to his club.

The 18-year-old Chilean forward will apparently cost the Red Devils just £3.5million and is undergoing a medical right now. Henriquez rumours will no doubt fuel more transfer speculation regarding both Javier Hernandez and Dimitar Berbatov, despite Sir Alex Ferguson claiming the pair still have future at Old Trafford.

Henriquez’ club Universidad de Chile, released a statement yesterday which read: “Angelo Henriquez will join Manchester United

 this month.

“The player is physically and mentally prepared to take this determining step in his career.”

Universidad president Jose Yuraszcek said: “Manchester United’s representatives told us that it was fundamental for them to take him now.”

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Queens Park Rangers forward Djibril Cisse has declared that Rangers’ derby with Chelsea is tame compared to what he has witnessed over the past few years of his career.

Cisse, who has featured in table topping local derbies in countries such as Greece and Italy, is relaxed going into Saturday’s clash with Chelsea as he has seen and heard a lot worse than this.

“Do not get me wrong, the rivalry between QPR and Chelsea is very strong. They are our local rivals.

“It’s a derby and it’s a big game for us — bigger than most. It is without doubt one of the most important games of the season, for players and fans.” Cisse told The Sun.

“But all the clubs I have played for have had big local derbies and, when it comes to bad behaviour on and off the pitch, this is not the worst.”

He added “The derbies between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos were just so intense.

“In the week building up to the game the fans would come to our training ground, hold meetings with players and tell us what the game meant to them and why we had to win.

“The pressure on the players was huge and the atmosphere was incredible. That derby had much more tension.

“I’m not saying QPR-Chelsea is a nothing game, it’s a huge game and a big derby.

“But Panathinaikos-Olympiakos is on another level — it’s pure hatred.

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“The players get called everything, including racist abuse. There are no boundaries and it is not nice.”