Brian McDermott

“I irritate the wife because of my private dancing.”

“You do have demons throughout the week; every coach does.”

“I can't go against my nature because I am what I am. I don't try to be anyone different to who I am.”

“I don't believe in an 'all-about-me' culture. It's about the group.”

“It's really important how you say things because people won't necessarily remember what words you used, but they'll remember how you made them feel.”

“If you ask me why I've succeeded, it's because I was in the Royal Marines. You have this unbelievable sense of achievement and of overcoming adversity. That's the confidence it breeds.”

“Sometimes you have got to look at things really positively - without putting your head in the sand, you have got to manage the negatives and keep putting a positive slant on it, keep trying to find answers.”

“Football is all I know.”

“People ask me about my interests outside football, but I haven't really got any.”

“My parents are Irish, my grandparents are Irish, my great-grandparents are Irish. I was born in England; my blood is Irish.”

“I love music, from shanty sea-songs to Calvin Harris.”