QUOTES

Last updated : 14 December 2003 By Editor

SAF:

"He (Scholes) picked the right day but we know he's always capable of that.

"I thought we could have been three or four up at half-time - but credit Manchester City, they came back and made it a real contest until Paul put it beyond doubt.

"Obviously their manager had been at them - and was motivation there for them.

"And of course it's a derby game, so they'll have a go.

"Some derby games have been very poor but they're always engrossing, exciting and tense."

"Often, in my experience, derbies are poor games, but we played some fantastic football at times.

"We are competing with the others at the top of the league, and it is a case of not making mistakes. We can only concentrate on what we do ourselves, and I feel we’ll get stronger as the season goes on."


The Ginger Prince:

"I’m just happy to be back and scoring. It’s nice to score goals against City"


And a view from the Boo camp (KKK):

'I didn't throw any teacups (at half-time), I've never done that, but I was concerned that we weren't contesting the 50-50 balls.

'I was struggling to recall a single one we won and in a derby game that's the first thing you need. I just told the players that they could leave this ground with their heads bowed very low, or they could go out and try to make a game of it. I asked them to roll their sleeves up and compete, and they did. There were no angry words, but sometimes players need help.'

"They (the strikers) are not firing on all cylinders. It's not just one person though. The chances are falling to all the players.

"But we were up against a quality team. Sir Alex put out his strongest 11 players. They are always difficult to beat but I expected a bit more drive in the first half. We did not play well when we had the ball.

"Generally we were beaten by a better side but we are not that far behind them.

"Paul Scholes is an exceptional player. I had him with England and I know he has caused major problems for better sides than us.

"His greatest asset is that every time he goes into the penalty area, he believes he is going to score. It has a lot to do with confidence but it is also about courage.

"It would be easy to criticise the defenders for not closing him down but we would have been better stopping the crosses coming over in the first place