"At least one person in Newcastle will be able to talk proper English now."

- Message left by a Sunderland fan on the Sunderland Web Board, one of the club's internet discussion sites, following the appointment of Ruud Gullit as manager of "the enemy".

"I feel very unhappy for Kenny at the moment. If you have a good friend and he kills his wife or his mother, he remains a good friend."

- Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier stands by his pal Kenny Dalglish (but not the women in his life) in his hour of need.

"It's more difficult to throw out all the players than it is to get rid of the coach. I accept that."

- Ruud Gullit lets slip his views on the players he has inherited at Newcastle. And that was before yesterday's game against Liverpool.

"I think he had an undercooked missionary."

- West Ham manager Harry Redknapp explains why Samassi Abou, the club's Ivory Coast-born midfielder, was unwell before the game against Manchester United last week. Alf Garnett eat your heart out.

"In Great Britain, they are nationalists. In general, Italians are a pain in the neck to them because they dress well, know how to eat well and drink with taste. We are the centre of their envy."

- Lorenzo Amoruso, Glasgow Rangers's Italian captain, explains why he thinks the Ibrox faithful want Colin Hendry to be given the club captaincy.

"We're running out of superlatives to describe this lad. He's awesome. Absolutely awesome."

- Sky Sports's Andy Gray after Michael Owen's first-half hat-trick for Liverpool at Newcastle yesterday.