“I just couldn’t walk away on that note. I just couldn’t. We were all devastated by the All-Ireland final. It was a terrible experience. It was not the point that I would want to end my inter-county hurling career on.”

– Tony Browne on why he’s giving it one more year.

 

“The players are not coaches themselves – Dónal Óg [Cusack] himself had done a bit of coaching with his club, they’d reached three county finals and failed to win one.”

– Gerald McCarthy gets in another dig.

 

“This is absolutely nothing to do with professionalism. Thirty players asked the County Board asked not to put the man in place.”

– The strike leader raps a riposte. If it’s any consolation Ger, only 22 lads asked that Offaly football manager Richie Connor be sacked. He did the right thing, though, in getting out of there straight away, as Justin did here. Lose the dressing-room and that’s it, there’s no coming back.

 

“If I ever do a book, the headline will be ‘Don’t Google me’.”

– Craig Bellamy suggests he’s a few regrets. I think you mean ‘the title’ by the way.

 

“Does it surprise you he opened his mouth? You go to a restaurant sometimes, you know why the fish is on the table? Because it opened its mouth.”

– Avram Grant about Chelsea predecessor Jose Mourinho on Talk Sport’s Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast. (Tune the car stereo into LW 1089 if you’re interested.)

 

“We don’t see him as a number two keeper… we see him as a back-up to Shay.”

– Newcastle assistant Chris Hughton on Steve Harper’s role at the club before Given’s getaway.

 

“I engaged in behaviour which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment. I’m 23 years old and despite the successes I’ve had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me.”

– American swimming sensation Michael Phelps on being exposed by the ‘News of the World’ for inhaling cannabis through a bong at a college frat party, resulting in a three-month suspension from the sport.