Everybody wants things now. If I hadn't been given the time at Stoke, or at other clubs earlier in my career, I don't think I would have ever been successful.

To tell you the truth I thought I was going to be in the building trade, I worked in a builders' merchants in Stoke.

The German police were actually after me when I was first in Stoke. They had put pictures of my face on the trees in Bremen and said: 'Find this guy.' They said I had an �80 fine to pay or something. But I spoke to my lawyer and I didn't owe anything.

The VAR was introduced to reduce controversies, and instead, they have increased - possibly because we Italians like to stoke them.

Of course it's a big change from Stoke to Liverpool. Liverpool is a big, big team.

I might have made more money if I had outsourced to India, and I knew I'd find it easier to hire senior managers in London. But I wanted to be in Stoke. What could be more satisfying than creating work for 3,000 people in my home town?

The perception is that the Stoke players were one-dimensional: that they could only play in a certain way, and that was the top and bottom of their capabilities.

My ambitions are to be the Stoke number one and England number one, but there are other things I want to achieve in my career as well.

I would like to think that during my time at Stoke - and other clubs I was at - I was always a manager that wanted to play in the right way, with purpose, with drive, and to try to dictate to the opposition if you could.

I have really got into watching the unsigned bands. They play mad venues like the Sugarmill in Stoke and all sorts of underground, grimy places.

I came to London. I spent nine months doing domestic work and gardening because I knew I wanted to get a West End show. So, when I was offered jobs in Stoke or Leicester or whatever, I'd say no. Eventually, I got 'Godspell.' It was gently building.

I knew I didn't want to be stuck in Stoke Newington for the rest of my life, hanging about with idiots. That wasn't for me. I wanted to go out and have a look around.

Stoke's a depressed area, so people are working hard to get out of it.

I've grown up a lot in England since I arrived at Stoke.

The four and a half years I had at Stoke is something I will always look back on with pride because it was a huge achievement. To be able to last in a high profile job as long as I did showed that, for the most part, I did a decent job there.

Here at Stoke, I cannot exert too much influence, simply because there is a lack of quality around me.

I feel secure in my life, and I'm happy with where I'm at. I realise in some ways how enchanted my life's been. I could have ended up on a bench outside Stoke station begging for money. I was one of the lucky ones.

The forces that have worked hard to stoke populist anger against reform are the very ones that benefit from a health system which puts profits ahead of quality care for its patients.

Houston is my team, always and forever. But with the new TV packages, it's so easy to watch every league in the world, and my overseas fandom is driven by the American guys. If Sunderland's on TV, I'll watch Jozy Altidore. I try to watch Geoff Cameron at Stoke. When Clint Dempsey was at Tottenham, I watched a lot of his games.

My brother was an avid Stoke City fan and a good footballer. We shared a room, growing up, and the walls were covered with 1970s Stoke players, like Peter Shilton, Gordon Banks, and Jimmy Greenhoff.