Talking sense. . .

"Of course it's too much money for a footballer - I've seen shopping centres built for less than United had to pay for me."

- Manchester United's Jaap Stam on the £10.75m fee the club paid for him.

"Stress has always been around, but I thought it related more to a 29-year-old at Rochdale with a mortgage and three children who had only three months left on his contract. I wonder what someone like him is making of all this."

- A bemused John Gregory responding to Stan Collymore's claims that he is suffering from stress.

"It's not pressure, pressure is Kosovo where people are not getting food and their country is getting bombed. I call this enjoyment. You play football, you express yourself in front of a lot people and you get paid a fantastic amount of money to do things you always dreamed of doing. That to me is a great time."

- Dwight Yorke (right), in the build-up to the title decider against Spurs, puts it all in perspective.