"I'll be here for at least another two years.
"I know some people want to get rid of me - but they won't. [laughs]
"A lot of people have been talking about my successor but they will have to put up with me for a while yet.
"I have a couple of years left in me. I have a bit of time. When you are fit and healthy that is the only thing you can think of. If you are not, that is a different issue.
"I couldn't be enjoying the job any more than I am now. You can't help but enjoy it with the team we have and the way we are playing. We have done everything the right way and there is a fantastic spirit in the club.
"It's not my role to say who the next manager is going to be but what I would say is Carlos has the qualities to manage any top club.
"I wouldn't like to say he should be manager because I don't want to put the pressure on anybody but all I would say is that he is capable of doing the job. He's intelligent, he's experienced and he knows the game inside out.
"Carlos has been tremendous with Ronaldo. It has been a great advantage to have them together. The boy looks on Carlos as something of a father figure. He's a young boy who lost his own father in tragic circumstances a year and a half ago and obviously it hit him very hard. Cristiano's mother is a fantastic woman, absolutely brilliant, but sometimes you need another cushion you can fall back on."
"He came back to us feeling disappointed and frustrated that he didn't get the support he should have got.
"It took fantastic character for the guy to get through that season with all the problems.
"When Real got rid of him I was desperately keen to have him back. The great quality that Carlos has got is his fantastic perseverance. He keeps on and on and on with the players. At one time there was some speculation of friction between him and the players; but it was greatly exaggerated."