Steve McClaren Quotes (71 Quotes)

We perhaps should have built on our advantage but credit to Wigan. They have some good players and a never-say-die attitude and a few visiting teams will come unstuck here this season.

The 1-0 defeat is not a bad result. We are even delighted with it, because it could have been worse.

I don't need to spell out how important Gareth is to the team. Now we feel it's best for the club and for Ugo that he moves on to pastures new.

Myself and the chairman (Steve Gibson) have had an excellent working relationship for the last four-and-a-half years.

If we want to improve on last season then this is a side we have to beat,

What a great performance from a young player. He came in and took responsibility and was one of those players who came out of the game with credit.

It's a great scalp and it's a massive victory for the club. It was excellent European performance, full of patience, discipline and control. We deserve the plaudits we will get. These are very exciting times here. Roma are one of the best sides in Italy but we controlled the game and defended ever so well and we are always capable of scoring. It gives us a good platform for second leg and our away record has been very good, so we should go there with confidence.

It's a night for experience. We want to get as much experience out there as possible.

I can't say I'll be here for the next 20 or 25 years, that isn't possible,

In the last two games we've involved every fit player at this club, including the kids, and we might have to do that again in the next few games.

This is a big lesson, a big experience for them. This will make them better players in the future but at the moment it hurts. We took a beating today.

I didn't think lightning could strike twice but it did tonight ... it was an immense night.

We have got a maximum, I think, of 12 or 13 games we could play - we want to make sure we play 12 or 13 games.

You can't lose people like that, they are the lifeblood of the club and we're very pleased.

I said before the game this was going to be difficult. The hard work was done last week and we just had to make sure we got the right result to take us through.

I thought lightning couldn't strike twice but it has here. The players have shown magnificent resilience and they deserved it.

We had a series of plans right up to Z. I always felt we'd score and we should have had two penalties in the first 20 minutes but we knew there'd be twists and turns. I always thought the substitutes' bench would be important and the heroes might come off it.

I could easily say we had two penalty appeals turned down but I am not going to make excuses.

You need a performance from your defenders and from your goalkeeper, and that's the performance we got. In defining moments, Mark made vital saves at the right time, and that's what we needed.

I thought lightning could never strike twice in one place. We deserved that, but we're doing it the hard way. Let's go one step further and win it.

The goalkeeper pulled off two great saves at the right time, and you don't win football matches unless you keep clean sheets.

I was very surprised, very shocked and very disappointed. Really, it was accepted reluctantly on our behalf. But as always, you only want players who are happy here, who want to play for your football club, and Mark has made it known he wants to move on, so we have reluctantly accepted that.

You can't come to places like this with six teenagers on the park, and with Thierry Henry in the form he is in they can rip any side apart.

To reach the final is a phenomenal achievement for a small town in Europe. But now we want to win it.

A great European performance, full of experience, concentration and discipline. We got an early goal...I was disappointed we couldn't get a second. It's half a job done, the tie is evenly balanced. We are capable of scoring away from home.

For 24 hours we'll allow ourselves to wallow with pity, but Tuesday we'll get on with the job.

The acquisition of Ray is very important. I have admired him throughout his career. He has tremendous talent and ability and a great attitude. You know what you are going to get, week in, week out and he is a winner. We need that and we are delighted to have him here.

We have (Adam) Johnson who has potential, Manny (Pogatetz) who can fill in there and Franck can change over and provide some creativity going forward. It's not ideal but it's what we've got at the moment.

It was one of those strange games you get that is a manager's nightmare. But the fans love it.

Everybody has their opinion and likes to state it, and if that's what he wants to say, then that's what he wants to say,

A week is a long time in politics and even longer in football at times. We have had an eventful couple of months. But credit the players for this win. Through all the criticism, all the performances and the results, we have always stuck together. There has always been a great spirit and it rewarded us today.

It's certainly not improved his boyish looks. He's got a big shiner and a big nose, but he's recovering well and hopefully he'll be okay.

I have to stress again that what we have done so far is to simply create an opportunity to make this season historic for the football club. We haven't won anything yet, but we are determined to give it our best shot.

I was a little disappointed we missed the opportunity to get a second. When you get the opportunity, you've got to take it. It would have been the icing on the cake.

I don't know why this has come out at this time but I want to clear it up. I feel this is a private matter but in view of speculation about myself and the England job, I felt I had to clarify the situation.

We learnt a lot last season about three games in a week,

The biggest thing I learned from Sir Alex is to trust the players when they are out there.

With Roma scoring before half-time, it opened up the game and we knew the next goal was going to be very important. With half an hour to go, that's a long time, and it was the longest 30 minutes I've had for a long, long time.

We've got to enjoy this moments like this don't come along too often and the players deserve it, they were fantastic today.

As the chairman Steve Gibson stated earlier, and I will state now, we don't want to lose our best players at this football club - and Mark Viduka is one of them.

We have got to wait to hear from the Nigerian FA, so there's still a long way to go before we can actually say he's with us for January.

When you have had a long injury lay-off, first and foremost you have to come back and you have to be right and you have to be playing at the level you were before you got injured.

We would like to think it gives us a real opportunity as long as we take it. Hopefully, we will get our preparation right and be ready for it.

We need to win games in the Premier League. We need to collect points.

We have to guard against a repeat performance against Coventry because that would make the season even worse.

He is a big-game player and this is a big game. He has trained in the last couple of days lightly and we will make a decision as late as possible before kick-off. He will play some part, but maybe not at the beginning.

Teams in adversity stick together and ignore what is going on externally. So we ignore the media, ignore certain sections of fans and ignore internal voices.

It was a fantastic performance, full of character, grit, great football, opportunities. This is a historic night and what a way to do it. There's no better way to win a game than how we just won that.

We'll come through this spell. It's where you end up, not where you are after 18 games but we've got to make sure it doesn't become a really big issue.

Relegation is never out of your mind, but I am looking up now. Beating Birmingham has put us 11 points clear of them and it has taken the pressure off.