Howard Wilkinson

Howard Wilkinson is a former English football player and manager.

Attributed

• "But it just seems that when we get into those kind of situations, there seems to be somebody who says, 'Hang on, you don't want to get too happy too soon', and bang."
  • On managing Sunderland A.F.C..

• "At the moment, I know where we are. We're bottom of the table."

• "Our remaining home games hold no fears. We really got that monkey off our back today"
  • As manager of Sunderland, having lost 3-1 with all three Charlton goals coming from own goals.

• "In the relegation zone it's three from four because, in my mind, we're already out of it."
• "It's like pushing custard up a hill with your finger"
  • On Sunderland's predicament, well adrift at the bottom of the table.

• "I'm not some lunatic going against history. There's a precedent which plays an important part. The 1982 Sunderland team was in the same position as us and there have been teams in the last 10 years both in the Football League and Premiership in a similar position. It's happened so why shouldn't we join that happy band?"

• "The dual carriageway that Liverpool were travelling on has now become a single carriageway."

• "A lucky goal or the run of the ball can be triggers but they can only be triggers if you have gunpowder"

• "Kevin Phillips has gone from Golden Boot to Rubber Welly"

• "When I arrived, he (Tore Andre Flo) looked like a baby giraffe who had just popped out on to the veldt."

• "It could be said that some of Tore's performances have been 'long, weak and sickly'"

• "If we don't bring in any new faces it isn't the end of the world. What you don't have you won't miss"

• "Our problem was that we scored three own goals in the first half"

• "We are in a lifeboat, rowing and bailing out water and there is only so long you can do that. That's the bottom line."

• "I don't think I have ever experienced a more demanding set of supporters."
  • On Sunderland's supporters

• "I've experienced more demanding sets of supporters than turn up here."
  • On Sunderland's supporters

• "We are not putting our cape over the tunnel; we are putting our cape in the tunnel."

• "If you make it a game of life or death, you'll be dead a lot."

• "Most people are on their best behaviour, come back when we've been married a year."

• "Of course I'm disappointed not to win, but a third of a bottle of milk is better than none."
  • After a drawn game.

• "I can't tell you if it [relegation] means selling a washer or getting rid of a tractor!"

• "The only thing I know about Upstairs Downstairs is that it used to be a sitcom"
  • After there was talk of Howard being "moved upstairs" to become Director of Football.

• "Sixty-eight games and 15 wins - it's a long time to be depressed, isn't it? If you're in hospital they give you a white coat if it's that long and send for the van."
• "At the moment we're not producing what we can do. We're Tiger Woods in the depths of a depression that's lasted about 21 months."
  • The great man reflects on Sunderland's predicament.

• "That first half was like an American soap. There were lots of breaks for adverts."
  • Howard starts as he means to go on, reflecting on his first game as Sunderland manager,

• "As one door shuts, another one closes"

• "Our squad looks good on paper. But paper teams win paper cups."

• "He's got the look of Denis Law about him, although I don't want to give him a specific tag"

• "Zinedine Zidane could be a champion sumo wrestler. He can run like a crab or a gazelle."

• "If they hadn't scored, we would've won."

• "I am a firm believer that if you score one goal the other team have to score two to win."