Neil Warnock

“My son William and my daughter Amy are both really into their hockey now and I can enjoy watching that.”

“The chairman, Mehmet Dalman, he was brilliant for me. He helped me left, right and centre, he lives aboard now but he was my shoulder.”

“If you are a manager with a new owner who has more ideas than knowledge, all you can do is get your head down and do your best, which is what Malky Mackay did at Cardiff.”

“That's what you want to do as a manager, finish the game, get in your bath and think about the kids going home, the young kids going home.”

“Older players who have experienced failure in the past can sometimes be held back by the fear of it happening again, young ones just want to go out and play.”

“In the intervening 48 Christmases I have always either been a player, having to watch what I eat and drink, or a manager, worrying about what my players are eating and drinking, plus who is going to cry off tomorrow, who is suspended, who is carrying an injury, and the million-and-one other questions that fill a manager's every waking moment.”

“As a manager I always trusted my players on Christmas Day. I did not see any point in dragging them into the training ground - a three-hour round-trip for some of them on icy roads - when they could relax with their families instead.”

“Older readers will remember there used to be matches on Christmas Day. I remember leaving the fireside and the presents to watch matches on the day as a boy but such matches were rare by the time I began playing.”

“If I want another job, I'll get one. I haven't set a date of when to stop managing.”

“I do like reading autobiographies, if I'm honest.”

“I was fined £20,000 for TV interview where I barely said anything. The FA brought an outside barrister in to do me. A big place like the FA, they don't have their own in-house lawyer?”

“No disrespect to Cardiff but they probably needed me more than I needed them, when I was appointed.”

“I don't have a desire to prove people wrong, as such, because if you take a look at my Premier League record it's not too bad.”

“You need good staff with their own opinions - Mick Jones has been a great No 2 as he's not a yes-man - but at the end of the day the buck stops with you and the good managers are the ones who make more good decisions than bad.”

“I love the way the Cardiff fans get behind their team, which is why I do that clenched fist action at the end of games. They get really up for the match, I can hear them and I just help offer my own support in return.”

“I am finding I have to watch what I am doing otherwise I may as well be in full-time football again and, while I'm available if something interesting comes up to take me to the end of the season, I don't want a long-term commitment at this stage in my life.”

“When people say things about me, I'd love to come back and give my version, but I'd rather let others spout off until the time is right.”

“Who's been with me longest? Kevin Blackwell. I signed him as a goalkeeper at Scarborough in '86 and he's basically been with me my whole career. He's been my goalkeeper, reserve goalie, now my assistant manager.”

“On the plus side, leaving Leeds meant I have been able to spend a lot of time with the family, enjoying a very rare summer off and my first Christmas without work worries since I was a teenager. I was also able to accept an offer to work with BT Sport.”

“A few eyebrows have been raised at Adel Taarabt joining Milan. Having worked with Adel for two years, I am not as surprised as most people seem to be. He is a player of immense ability and, if he is handled right, and motivated himself, he can win games at any level.”