Craig Bellamy

“I have so much to look forward to after football.”

“Life isn't just about football. The adventure starts when you finish, and I'm looking forward to that.”

“I've kept my nose clean when I've been asked to to play out of position, and I've done it.”

“Of course I want to keep playing; that's the best thing for any footballer. But I'm looking forward to not having to put my body through the pain, I have to say.”

“Teams do not make their debut in the first XI - individuals do - but it is the team that enables the individual to get the best out of himself. Football IQ, I call it, understanding roles and the team structure.”

“I don't like the Italian approach. I don't want to be involved in that kind of football.”

“I've always enjoyed the coaching side, working with young players, trying to improve them and to make them not only see football different but to see life differently.”

“Certain players need twice the recovery time of others because they run much more - not because they put in more effort but because they're playing different positions.”

“I've grown up with Kenny Dalglish; now, to be signed by him is a massive honour.”

“First and foremost, I am concentrating on staying fit. If I'm fit, I can challenge. If I ain't fit, I can't challenge.”

“Basically, we are all chimps. The human side is at the front of our forehead, but the chimp is the part that lashes out. When I play, I am completely chimp-orientated.”

“I've got belief that the Newcastle fans know how much I want to play for them.”

“I've always had this crazy thought that I have to win something; otherwise, my career's a complete failure. It's ridiculous. Will a trophy change me as a person? No. Will it make me a better player? No. So what the hell am I worried about?”

“I did get myself into little scrapes when I was younger and a bit stupid, but there is only one manager I have worked under who ever spoke a bad word about me.”

“John Hartson, he speaks fluent Welsh and has the tattoos all over him to prove his Welshness. But in my own world, no one is more Welsh than myself.”

“As a professional, you're taught from a young age to despise losing. But I began to accept that, in football, you will win some games, and you will lose some games, with draws here and there, too. That's just the nature of the game.”

“I played on anger for the first 15 years of my career.”

“The lads I played football with on the street when I was a kid in Cardiff were as good as me, and in many ways, my career is due to them.”

“I am reading the biography of Pep Guardiola. I find it really interesting.”

“I do have to pinch myself at times when I look back at some of the things I have achieved. I really do.”