Survival Reaction: The £50 million goal

Last updated : 14 May 2007 By Paul Farrington
Paul Jewell

"The ideal scenario for the Premier League might have been for Manchester United to beat West Ham. Some people think West Ham have got off the hook a little bit.

"But I don't want to go down that route. The reason we had to go into the final game to stay up was that we weren't good enough over the 37 games before.

"I have been in football for a long time and I know when people have some doubts in their mind you have got to play on them. Sheffield United didn't have to win to stay up but we had nothing else in our minds but to win the game.

"I said to the players, they will be edgy because it's all in their hands. I feel like I've just run a marathon. It's a great achievement for a club of our size and we have had to overcome a lot of obstacles.

"People's persona of Wigan is that it's probably the least attractive club in the Premiership so we deserve great credit for being there for a third successive season."

Neil Warnock

"What goes around comes around and maybe Chelsea will win the FA Cup and AC Milan the Champions League.

"I was disappointed at United's team. You would have hoped and thought that, last game of the season, Cristiano Ronaldo, Nemanja Vidic and probably two or three more might have played.

"I think Sir Alex sold me a dummy in midweek when he said he would field a strong team. He has his own reasons, though. Maybe the FA Cup final next week is more important to him.

"At least I knew the players that were playing. I didn't even know two of those that played for Liverpool at Fulham last week. I'd never heard of them but when you are a foreign manager like Rafa Benitez, you probably don't give two hoots about what Sheffield United think.

"It's a long journey to Fulham, so the players are probably better off at home with their feet up. You are bound to feel bitter about the circumstances in our relegation but it's not going to get us back in the Premiership.

"You just have to get over the bitterness and move on but it's difficult at the moment. Fate is fate, though. Life is like that. It's a gut-wrenching and horrible feeling for all of us at the club.

"It's the worst feeling of my career because it would have been my greatest achievement to keep us up. All season we haven't made it difficult enough for other teams and have given goals away when we have been in good positions.

"Wigan haven't had to work hard for either goal and we've committed suicide really. The lads have been magnificent and tried their hardest and I couldn't have got much more out of them.

"But it's still very disappointing when you go down because of the thickness of a post."