Francois Hougaard Quotes

I played football because I loved the game - but I didn't enjoy the focus on not making mistakes and the culture being essentially one of blame and a little fear.

If you don't perform, and you're part of the team, whether you're playing your first Test or 50th Test match, criticism goes hand in hand, so that's something you can't really get away from. If you don't perform, you will be criticised.

I was not a very good football player. My coach hated me - I don't know why, I guess it's probably because I wasn't very talented.

I think there is a difference between being critical of plays and being critical of players and coaches.

Sometimes I go home, put the game on, and think, 'How can I miss that?' It affects you; it also affects you to know your career also depends on the opinion of journalists, fans, directors, and sometimes they're not really qualified to judge.

As a player, if your attitude is questioned, it's horrible.

To be honest, I don't think I've played bad for England, I've certainly not been as bad as some people say. That criticism has been hard to take. I don't think I've let the country down too many times.

Sometimes I hear fans say that 'you should play for the emblem on the shirt.' I play for myself because after two inaccurate passes the fans are already cursing you.

I'm pretty professional. I'm very aware when I'm not playing well and what I need to improve. I'm pretty motivated to fix things. There are guys out there who are not realistic; they don't like to take blame for certain things they don't do well. That's the nature of doubles sometimes: it's easy to find faults in your partner.

I think we all have had better days in competition.

Coaches know that a parent publicly scolding his kid after a race will not help the athlete perform better.

As an actor, you can certainly, at any moment and at any time, discover 400 people who think you're stupid, fat and ugly.

I don't know if every player in the Premier League feels hurt when they lose a game. The right sort is very important. I was naive in thinking that everyone was like me.

You don't play against opponents, you play against the game of basketball.

For reasons that baffle me still, my high school sports coaches put me in the first division of the rugby, cricket, and soccer teams.

I can't begin to describe the amount of crap I've taken for being a lousy free-throw shooter.

Sometimes in the past when I played something might make me lose focus, or I would go home after a game where I thought I could have played better and I would let it hang over my head for a long time when it shouldn't.

I'm afraid of being average. I have a real fear of being just another linebacker.

Often, we are quick to find blame with others but yet are unable to give constructive responses. There seems to be a tendency to doubt almost everything. Do we not have faith in our own people's strengths and in our institutions? Can we afford distrust amongst ourselves?

It's fun to be there with the guys, to practice with them, arrange the balls, do this, do that, but when you play you can get some of this nervousness out of your system.

I hate letting my teammates down. I know I'm not going to make every shot. Sometimes I try to make the right play, and if it results in a loss, I feel awful. I don't feel awful because I have to answer questions about it. I feel awful in that locker room because I could have done something more to help my teammates win.

You learn as a player not to listen to the criticism. Many of the people who put out that criticism might not be as accomplished, might not understand the game as well from the inside-out.

I know I'm being judged, and anyone who works in the public eye will get some negativity at some point. It can be tough and it hurts. I can be very tough on myself. Occasionally, I hear or read something cruel and I'm shocked.

I'm my own worst critic. I could tell the critics a thing or two about my shows.

There is pressure every day as a footballer.