I got booed by my own fans when I came on in my first game for England. You go through things that are ridiculous. But you get to the stage you realise everyone's got an opinion.

Tiger Woods and Roger Federer: those two are born winners.

Right from school, I got mockery for the way I look. I took it to heart early on. I admit there were times when I doubted myself.

I've been at Stoke for eight years... I think I've had the same towel for almost eight years.

I know my strengths and weaknesses, and I play to them.

I enjoy being different.

I wouldn't want to get my pigeon chest out in front of anyone. I don't think the world needs it. I'd probably get a yellow card anyway.

Des Bulpin discovered me and, along with my dad, would be the biggest influence on my career. I remember him telling me when I was 15 that Jermain Defoe and I would play together for England when we were older, and he hasn't been too far wrong.

When I was a kid, the FA Cup was the one: it was bigger than the European Cup, even. So to win that, for me, and my dad as well - we used to watch it together - was brilliant.

I'd like to think I'm an approachable fella, and if someone wants me to pose for a picture, I'll always say 'yes' even when I'm with my family.

Mark Hughes played until he was nearly 40 at a decent level, and I think I can do the same.

Even when I was at the top, playing in the Champions League final for Liverpool and playing at the World Cup for England, I've never let it go to my head.

I was a million miles from being a Premier League player. You see some people, at 18 they are ready. At 21, I wasn't. Physically nowhere near.

The Championship is a ferocious league, physically demanding, and it simply does not allow players the luxury of cruising through.

Kevin Muscat scared me. You know, people would say 'I'm going to break your legs' - when he would say it, you genuinely believed him.

I used to pretend I was into speed garage when I hated it.

There is one thing you must know about Marko Arnautovic if you want to understand what makes him tick: he believes he's the best player in the world.

I've got a good record, but maybe, for whatever reason, it's not built up by people. I wouldn't say I'm hard done by. But it's true that I sometimes don't get the praise.

A little voice keeps telling me an Aston Martin really isn't me, but a louder voice is telling me that, as an England international playing for Liverpool, the old rules no longer apply.

I'm lucky: whatever I eat, I've never wavered from just under 14 stone.

I'm 6ft 7in, so I have a massive bed.

So many kids want to be football players, and to still feel like I'm living the dream at 37 is amazing.

I didn't think too much about people who didn't believe in me. It hasn't really affected me.

I was always quite technical as a player, but when you are the size I am, if you are crap in the air, it is going to look bad.

I am not the sort of character to get carried away.

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 made so many mistakes when I was younger.

The jokes about how I look have actually made me stronger.

I've been promoted, relegated, won big trophies, gone months without scoring, played for my country at World Cups, been bought, sold, loaned, and called 'a freak.'

You should never get ahead of yourself car-wise; no Merc when you're still in the youth team, no Porsche unless you're a Premier League regular.

I once walked out of a nightclub with my team-mates to see our star midfielder reclining across the bonnet of a Ferrari, arms folded, waiting for girls to come out so he could wink at them and then progress it from there. I have no idea how long he'd been waiting. I do know it wasn't even his Ferrari.

Because of how I looked, there was definitely a prejudice against me. People didn't think I could play. I could see why: I weighed about eight stone and was six foot bleeding seven.

If you're different in any way at school,then you're going to get a bit of abuse. You learn to deal with it in a way where people don't come back at you again.

I didn't come from a council estate like a lot of the lads do.

People tend to assume I was terribly self-conscious about my height. In fact, I've always been perfectly comfortable with the way I am. And if anyone gave me any stick, they soon found I was quite capable of giving it back.

I'm very aware that you lead a very peculiar existence as a professional footballer, being flown everywhere first-class and never having to queue up for anything. Of course, that's attractive, but if you're not careful, you end up living in a world where nothing is really real.

I think it's helped me that I've always been very grounded, very down to earth. Lots of my friends are people I've known from school, and when I'm away from football, they're the ones who I knock about with.

I've played for England; I've been lucky enough to do this for a long time. So why can't you do it with a smile on your face?

If you go from being a kid at school to being on £60,000 a week, that can be hard to deal with. I didn't have that, and maybe that's kept me a bit more grounded than some players.

Looking around at the faces of the home support at Gillingham, the irony was never lost on me that these people had the cheek to call me a 'freak.' Perhaps they should have taken a look at themselves first.

I really enjoy tennis, but football's the game for me.

I know I can play, but people who haven't seen me and look at me on a football pitch think, 'He's tall, and he's there to head the ball.'

There's no hiding place for someone of my size.

Footballers are very superstitious.

When some kids get a sniff of the first team at a big club, you see them change. They can become big-time, especially so if they happen to be captain of the youth team.

I don't think I was ready for the Premier League until I was 24 at Southampton.

Analysing games on the TV is something that appeals to me, and anything where you watch football and get paid for it is not a bad living!

I can keep the ball and pass it, and I've always felt comfortable with the ball at my feet.

I've never asked for a transfer anywhere, but I've been constantly moving around. It's frustrating.

Some people have never fancied me, but there have been plenty others who have backed me.