Graeme Souness Quotes

In any footballer's head there comes a point where he recognises that he needs to be playing more games.

Everybody in the league has someone up in the box, or guys on the sidelines trying to steal calls. It's just like baseball. If you've got guys who can do, you do it.

I've always believed if a young guy has a chance to play, why would you explain where his weakness is? The only reason would be to help the other team, or to help a gambler.

In tournament cricket, with a new opponent each game, I think you actually need to play to your own strengths more.

I think in the NFL knowledge is power, and you try to get the knowledge by whatever means.

I had the opportunity to go with some other teams. But I didn't consider those teams to be contenders, and I was right.

You can teach all the other stuff, you know. You can teach shooting the ball, you can teach having a good touch... passing and whatnot, but when you get out there on the field, it's just a mindset you need to go into the game with.

When I'm in good form there are chances that rivals will worry more about you more than you about them.

My mental approach is totally different. My coach predicated everything on defense. He always talked about defense, defense, defense. I took it to heart that if you play defense, you can take the heart from an offensive player.

As coaches, we learn to accept criticism for our decisions. If a writer says you shouldn't have gone for it on fourth-and-one, we understand that's part of the job. We expect it.

The period before the game can be important to influence opinions, characters, personalities, feelings, and, of course, I use that to touch my players, to touch opponents, to touch supporters.

If you're well-prepared, you know what you're doing, and you have an idea what the opponents can do - what their strengths and weaknesses are - once you get into the game, those adjustments will be - I won't say easy, but relatively easier and more manageable.

Of course you think about the goalkeeper you are facing before a game. You have to prepare yourself for the game and think about the weakness of the players you are up against.

It's up to the coach to decide who is in the best shape to play each match.

I played international football for England, and in many games, we were technically inferior to the opposition.

I think all you can do is prepare properly for every game but you also have to be realistic. Be realistic about what you are as a team.

It's always nice to get a call-up when in decent nick as you can have that confidence coming into the game. It's what county cricket should do.

It's important to know as much as I can about the players.

As a playing group you don't go into the game thinking about whether you're the underdog or not.

When you are one of the best coaches in the world, it is normal to attract bad reviews if you lose a couple of games.

Teams are trying to get the advantage over the other team by what kind of reads we can get, how can we measure guys if they're tired - all these things.

I prepare the same for every opponent.

Through the regular season, if you get really good at what you do, teams will have a hard time adjusting to you.

Our players know that we try to come in each week and put ourselves in the best position to have a chance to win, and sometimes that means some people playing more than others; sometimes it means using different personnel groupings in different weeks.

By the time you get to the conference finals, you can't hide. It's not like your opponent is going to be experienced on how to try to exploit you. You have to have the right kind of habits and hopefully have been tested enough in those habits... to be able to still get to your identity.