Gordon "the wee man" Strachan

I love that guy, I absolutely do. He was one of the greatest Scottish players during his playing days and earned a reputation for performing minor managerial miracles after he hung up his boots. His coaching career has had its ups and downs, mainly relegation with Coventry followed by the salvage job he excelled in with Southampton.. turning a perenially relegation-threatened team into a side that could break into the top 10, even qualify for Europe. He just came back from some time out of football and has filled the void left at Celtic following Martin O'Neill's departure in order to spend time with his ailing wife. Gordon Strachan has got to be one of the most entertaining managers of all time when stood in front of a microphone.. I'm quite delighted now that he's finally back in the world of football.

Here are some samples of Mr. Strachan's sharp Scottish wit (lifted from a few sources off the internet):

Reporter: 'Welcome to Southampton Football Club. Do you think you are the right man to turn things around?'
Strachan: 'No. I was asked if I thought I was the right man for the job and I said, 'no', I think they should have got George Graham because I'm useless'.

Reporter: 'So, Gordon, in what areas do you think Middlesbrough were better than you today?'
Strachan: 'What areas? Mainly that big green one out there'.

Reporter: 'Gordon, Do you think James Beattie deserves to be in the England squad?'
Strachan: 'I dont care, I'm Scottish.'

Reporter: 'Bang, there goes your unbeaten run. Can you take it?'
Strachan: 'No, I'm just going to crumble like a wreck. I'll go home, become an alcoholic and maybe jump off a bridge. Umm, I think I can take it, yeah.'

Reporter: 'There's no negative vibes or negative feelings here?
Strachan: 'Apart from yourself, we're all quite positive round here. I'm going to whack you over the head with a big stick.. down negative man, down.'

Reporter: 'Gordon, can we have a quick word please?'
Strachan: 'Velocity' [walks off].

Reporter: 'Gordon, you must be delighted with that result?'
Strachan: 'You're spot on! You can read me like a book'.

Reporter: 'This might sound like a daft question, but you'll be happy to get your first win under your belt, won't you?'
Strachan: 'You're right. It is a daft question. I'm not even going to bother answering that one. It is a daft question, you're spot on there.'

Strachan: 'I've got more important things to think about. I've got a yogurt to finish by today, the expiry date is today. That can be my priority rather than Augustin Delgado'.

And to finish the post off, I leave you with an excerpt from Gordon's days as a TV pundit on the BBC and Sky Sports (a way to fill the time between jobs, I suppose):

Strachan was on Sky on Sunday morning. He saw John Terry's goal and said he was impressed that Terry goes up expecting to score. He contrasted this to Claus Lundekvam, the Saints central defender, who goes up for every dead ball and never ever looks remotely like scoring. He said, "If there was a dead body lying in the penalty area the ball would hit it on the head several times a season, which is more than Lundekvam can manage". He said referees should book Lundekvam for timewasting every time he goes up for a corner. When the co-commentator said to the cameras that if "Lundekvam is watching, Strachan was only joking", Strachan assured him he was deadly serious.