Quotes from Steve Bruce

Call me old fashioned, but we're now holding umbrellas up as our players get off a plane. Do they need that? It's a few spots of rain. OK, they might get wet. Well, let them get wet. That's what happens when it rains.

We can all take criticism as long as it's constructive. When it's complete lies, that's when it's disappointing.

Without that real spectacle of a big, noisy St James' Park or Old Trafford or the Emirates, the certain beauty of watching a game of football even live on the telly is not the same as far as I'm concerned.

It's not always about money, we got Hull promoted with a collection of loans and waifs and strays.

I was player-manager at Sheffield United. I played my last ever game for them. It was terrible. We lost 4-1, I think to Sunderland. Fancy that, a Geordie, being forced to retire because of a defeat to Sunderland.

One of the most enjoyable parts of the job is seeing a young fella who you give a debut to or you buy and see them progress.

Flexibility isn't a bad thing.

When you're 1-1 against Manchester United and you're trying to get the winner with five minutes to play, the fans play their part then and give you that little bit of adrenaline.

The one thing that's easy to do is go and sign players. What you've got to try and do is try and improve them, and get better.

The reason you come to manage Newcastle is to be in front of 50-odd thousand every week, even if you might get a bit of stick along the way.

A lot of businessman come into football find it difficult. They think because they have more money to throw at it, that will work. Of course money helps but it doesn't guarantee success.

When I was younger, I was a bit awkward to work for, hence why I had about five clubs in two years. I was a bit petulant, shall we say. But you're never too old to keep learning because every day in management, something is thrown at you which throws you a curveball.

When I got the sack from Huddersfield it hurt me badly. I became reclusive, I never went to a match, don't think I left the house for five months.

As a player I had some good times but people forget I had a lot of hard times to get there; seven years in the lower divisions.

You lose a game and you lose confidence and we get that back through hard work.

Whether I'm 'head coach' or 'manager,' it doesn't bother me at all.

I was headstrong when I was younger and maybe I've had too many jobs in my time.

The North East is a tough, working-class area. Its people boast great humour. But for two days every year, when Newcastle and Sunderland play football, it's absolute chaos. And very nasty. It borders on tribal hatred.

They rejected me as a player. Newcastle said I wasn't going to be big or strong enough to make the grade, Burnley said the same. Most people said the same to be fair.

Only those who have lost their parents will know what it is like. It is horrific, it is hard and it breaks your heart, it really does.

When I heard the word 'cancer,' I was in bits. I panicked, I think everyone does, it was very scary, horrible. Thankfully, the melanoma does not appear to have spread. They'll continue to monitor me, I've got scars on my face, on my back. Good thing I was never worried about my good looks.

What people resent, in sport, is if you go out with a whimper.

When I was younger I was a nightmare. I let people down. I resigned from Sheffield United because things were promised to me that weren't forthcoming. I let people down when I was younger, certainly in management.

I believe in what I do on the training ground.