Mike Phelan Quotes

It took me 35 years of being involved at a decent level of football to become manager at a great club like Celtic.

If you become their property it is much clearer for you, for the club, for everything. It was a great experience to play in three different teams, different leagues, different experiences, but if I wanted to improve I had to break this cycle and make my own way. That's why I signed this contract to come to Stoke.

Once you have had 10 seasons at this level, the next season is not going to be so different. For a young player with only 20 appearances in the Premier League there is an opportunity to improve.

I'm more experienced, I've won titles at Juventus. I've been playing with big players like when I started at Man United, of course. I came back. I've not come back from the Academy now; I went to play somewhere else, and I came back, I would say, as a person, as an adult.

I've played for England Under-21s, in the Under-20 World Cup and I've been part of the play-offs in the Championship. But in terms of helping my career and getting me ready, going to Cheltenham Town was a massive experience.

In terms of my career, I am glad about the steps and moves that I have made.

I came to the Steelers after four years of high school and four years of college, and now I look on my stay here as 13 years of postgraduate work; I think I'm ready for the world.

I know from experience that careers do not always arise from a deep sense of destiny.

I feel like I have done a lot at United, I still have developed as a player and grown into myself, seen a lot of faces come and go.

The game of football has changed for me. It was a personal goal for me at first. But now it's a way to provide for my family. It's a way to provide for my daughter. I'm just ecstatic that I can do that.

My time at City and at Bolton was wonderful. I met a lot of good people at both clubs.

I have spent half of my career at Milan.

My two years at Juve were fantastic. I was just a lad when I arrived, and I was a real footballer when I left.

I left Arsenal because I wanted to develop and learn as a player and get to experience a new club.

My playing career that was a bit up but mostly down. I played in the Premier League at Southampton but most of my career was in the lower divisions.

When I look back, maybe I would change some things. Maybe the move to Germany was too early and I should have stayed at Chelsea a bit longer.

I didn't have the chance to play at West Ham, but in football, you always have a chance. When I went to Liverpool, I had the chance to show my quality.

If you're lucky enough to get into a Premier League or Championship team straight away, well done to you, but I feel really grateful for the experience that I had at the lower end.

It's not a secret. Everybody knows that it was a special place for me there when I was playing with the Eagles. I started there, they kinda changed my life for the better.

My father has played at Celtic before. He has told me it is really intense, and it is good to grow as a footballer by playing for this club.

I started lower down the leagues with Coventry, so I'd had that taste of first-team action at a young age. I'd already played 40 or 50 games before moving on, and when I got to Norwich, I had to bide my time at the start.

Since I made my debut at Sheffield United, I felt like I could step on and climb the leagues.

Going to Leicester, suddenly, football was just my living. This was the way I was going to support my family. That is when I started to mature as a player.

Monaco have been very important for me. It's the club that has helped me into the Selecao.

Being with Dortmund and playing in more big games there, it's just gaining experience.