Best 41 quotes of Gary Lineker on MyQuotes

Ageing footballers never lose their commitment; they just lose their pace

A handball is when your hand touches the ball.

Chris Hughton has been sacked by Norwich. Now? With 5 games to go? Utterly bonkers!

Congratulations to Thierry Henry on a truly wonderful career. One of the great footballers of our time and a top bloke. Bonne chance.

Every act of kindness is potent and lingers long in the heart of the recipient.

Fella’s a genius. Best ever by a distance in my life time. Never really saw Pele… Souness, Gullit, Venables and now Rooney agree Messi is the best they have seen. He plays a game with which we are not familiar.

Footballers are more likely to work better if they get a pat on their back from the boss. A knife in the back is never the answer.

Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.

He's got great credentials by winning the World Cup, but he did it with Brazil - my granny could probably have managed Brazil to World Cup success.

I am not leaving twitter. If the mindless few defeat the thoughtful majority we are all doomed.

If someone in the crowd spits at you, you have just got to swallow it.

I know I could never be in a pop band. I honestly have an appalling voice.

I'm disappearing from twitter for a while. Need a break from the bile. Local prejudice just seems to bring out the worst in some people.

I try to avoid saying 'fantastic' too often and 'obviously' is a dangerous word for all broadcasters.

I've only got a Saturday job so my weekdays are generally pretty free.

I was only interested in scoring goals. I wasn't interested in anything else.

I was quite good at football once, although other than that my speciality would be maths. I'm great at sudokus and find all the spin-off games pretty easy too.

I wouldn't want to go out six nights a week and watch somebody's reserves playing to check out a footballer to see if we're going to buy him.

Messi always makes the right decision, whether it's a pass or a finish. He's a little genius.

Messi doesn't have to do it in the Premier League to prove himself. The Champions League is the ultimate club competition. If he was in the Premier League, he'd be the best player by some distance.

My eldest son George had acute myeloid leukaemia when he was a tiny baby, he is now 20 and doing very well. He is a mini-miracle in many ways.

My fiancee's brother-in-law was recently paralysed in an accident and it really brought home the fact that thousands of young people live with spinal injuries. It's an issue I wish had more coverage.

My wife Danielle and I love travelling, different cultures and good weather.

Ooh, it's too ­embarrassing to share my innermost romantic secrets - although I have written Danielle the odd poem. If anything they are more comedic than romantic. They used to be well ­received but that was before she started studying Shakespeare at drama college. Now I feel so ­inept.

Soccer is a game for 22 people that run around, play the ball, and one referee who makes a slew of mistakes, and in the end Germany always wins.

Speaking Spanish and Japanese has opened doors in my career and helped me bridge cultural differences, both in my personal and business life. During my football career I realised quickly what difference language skills can make

That's one of the magical things about the Olympics, Team GB will have someone challenging in a sport that we've never watched and all of a sudden it'll be the biggest thing ever.

The best, most successful managers in the modern era are those who can keep a player happy even if he is not in the team. Given the size of the squads and the use of rotation nowadays, that's tougher than it's ever been.

The big thing is, everybody says it's being in the right place at the right time. But it's more than that, it's being in the right place all the time. Because if I make 20 runs to the near post and each time I lose my defender, and 19 times the ball goes over my head or behind me - then one time I'm three yards out, the ball comes to the right place and I tap it in - then people say, right place, right time. And I was there *all* the time.

There's no in between-you're either good or bad. We were in between.

The truth is I don't feel too bad for my age. I actually have a better shape now than I used to.

The whole kiss-and-tell thing is a negative approach that often happens in a World Cup. We will see negative stories about the players and it can affect their confidence and the overall performance of the national team on the pitch, let alone the bid to actually stage the competition.

The World Cup is every four years, so it's going to be a perennial problem.

To be honest, it would have been better to watch it on Ceefax.

Very sad to hear the news about George Michael. An incredible talent who brought joy to millions of us with his music.

We are in the entertainment business and we all know if you are top of the tree you get the big money. Those of us who have been in it are the fortunate ones but we understand that we probably don't deserve it as much as the nurses or teachers.

We have got too many kids around the house to have a romantic meal at home. But Danielle is a ­fantastic cook. She does a brilliant ­lasagne, great roasts and a great chilli dish. She knows the way to my heart.

When I see old photos of me on the beach I don't look too bad... but it's hard trying to breathe in for such a long time when I spot the photographers!

When you're winning games, everyone thinks everything the manager says and does is fantastic. Then it goes the other way, and those earlier criticisms of players can backfire.

You can never really justify wages in the entertainment business, but it is what it is.

You've got no chance of reaching the top if you're just playing for money.