In the intervening 48 Christmases I have always either been a player, having to watch what I eat and drink, or a manager, worrying about what my players are eating and drinking, plus who is going to cry off tomorrow, who is suspended, who is carrying an injury, and the million-and-one other questions that fill a manager's every waking moment.

It is a fine line between communicating and being too chummy. My players, when I've been promoted, have been upset by top-flight refs being mates with opposition players.

Most of the clubs I have had, they have been in a precarious situation when I have taken over and I have had to change it, even going back to Scarborough and all that.

That's what you want to do as a manager, finish the game, get in your bath and think about the kids going home, the young kids going home.

The chairman, Mehmet Dalman, he was brilliant for me. He helped me left, right and centre, he lives aboard now but he was my shoulder.

I was fined £20,000 for TV interview where I barely said anything. The FA brought an outside barrister in to do me. A big place like the FA, they don't have their own in-house lawyer?

It's difficult to motivate yourself to do the workouts when you get older but I train hard.

It's easier to sit at your desk and have a bun, but I've been really disciplined because I feel like I have to give myself a chance. You can't let yourself down on that. You have to be mentally sharp in this Premier League.

My teams have never been supposed to be able to do the things that they do.

There's got to be a role for an experienced football person helping the manager; not being a threat to the manager, but helping and sorting out a lot of the hassle he has, you know? Letting him concentrate on managing the football side.

If you look at my past in the Premier League, without going into too many details, I don't think I had much of a chance at any of them, for different reasons.

Everyone wants to be loved and liked - but you can't be as a manager.

As a manager, you know you're going to take the brickbats from other clubs and their fans. But I do enjoy making my own fans happy.

There's two or three managers I can't stand. I detest them and they know that.

I like soppy films, sentimental stuff with children.

When people say things about me, I'd love to come back and give my version, but I'd rather let others spout off until the time is right.

No disrespect to Cardiff but they probably needed me more than I needed them, when I was appointed.

When you're younger, you have three or four bad results and you worry about everything. You worry about injuries, because they always seem to be your best players.

I've played for managers who said one thing and did another and players find you out like that. You've got to trust them and they've got to trust you.

Trust is a big word for a manager. You expect certain standards and attitudes and they know if they lower those standards, I'll jump on them.

Neil Etheridge in goal and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, they've both come from lower league clubs and done brilliantly.

If I want another job, I'll get one. I haven't set a date of when to stop managing.

I find the quality of the officials in the Premier League so much better than the Championship.

I don't think the authorities realise how much fans in general invest in their clubs.

I used to think you needed a passport to go south of Watford. But when I came to London the people were fantastic, so good, right down to earth, my kind of people.

My son William is only nine but he's had four public schools so far, one in Cornwall, one when I was at Sheffield, one in Beckenham when I was at Palace.

I wanted to retire at 55. Now at 61 with two young kids, I want to spend a bit of time with them.

In football you never know what's around the corner, but by sticking together - directors, management, players and fans - we can look to do something.

I love the way the Cardiff fans get behind their team, which is why I do that clenched fist action at the end of games. They get really up for the match, I can hear them and I just help offer my own support in return.

People talk about flip charts, tactic boards and other rubbish like that. But the truth is that as a manager you just need to get the best out of the players at your disposal.

I don't have a desire to prove people wrong, as such, because if you take a look at my Premier League record it's not too bad.

When I do pack it in, there's plenty for me to do down in Cornwall. There are some decent local teams, like Bodmin, that I'd like to go and watch.

I'm not sure I will watch a lot of professional football once I've retired.

There is a version of me people see. I don't think I play up to it, I think it's more other people put it out there. People see the football side of me, but I'm a different character away from it.

I can't replicate how I feel when that whistle goes on nights like that, knowing you've won it, that people are going home smiling. You don't get that sat on my tractor in Plymouth or doing the shop in Tesco.

The players is what I enjoy, the training ground, making players better and believing in themselves because you can make a difference.

I enjoy working with players who want to work and I get more satisfaction with that than ready made teams or players.

My biggest achievement at Cardiff is bringing the whole club together in my two years here.

The way that I am, most of my time as a manager has been putting fires out and I don't enjoy dealing with chairmen and owners but I know it's part of my job.

You can only go so far in the Premier League before you have to spend.

It's not an easy challenge picking up players in January, I've always found it tough. Clubs don't want to release their better players.

Who's been with me longest? Kevin Blackwell. I signed him as a goalkeeper at Scarborough in '86 and he's basically been with me my whole career. He's been my goalkeeper, reserve goalie, now my assistant manager.

It's suggested I am big pals with Willie McKay. Am I? I don't think I am. He is an agent. You need these agents if you want to do a deal.

It doesn't bother me what division I am managing in.

Apparently I have 12 league games to go to get 1,500 and that is really tempting to me.

As far as I can tell most people in football do not take colour into account when judging people. I certainly don't.

I never thought I'd rather watch England's cricketers batting for a draw than their footballers in the World Cup but it was a lot more exciting.

Statistics can be so misleading. It is funny, though, how often at the moment you see one team had 60 per cent of the ball but still lost.

As I found at QPR, a club in the process of a takeover is paralysed.

I would like to wish Harry Redknapp the best of luck filling my old seat in the dugout at Queen's Park Rangers. It was one of the achievements of my managerial career getting QPR back into the Premier League after a 15-year absence and I would be very sad to see them go back down after all the hard work the players, staff and myself put in.