"Winning the championship is personal revenge for me. To
become the first Argentinian to win the Premiership is a
vindication and fills me with enormous pride. People said I
was a loser, that I hadn't won anything - but this time I
have had the last word. I had the chance to answer the
criticism on the pitch and nothing compares to this moment
in a sporting sense.
"A lot of people were saying it was all over for us at
Christmas but we have showed just how solid we are as a
club. We are a team which must win things and now we have
achieved that. It was a difficult time when we lost the
Worthington Cup final to Liverpool in the middle of the
season, when we were still a long way behind Arsenal in the
league. But we stayed strong because we had an obligation to
win something after finishing last season without a trophy.
"I was watching the Arsenal versus Leeds game on Sunday on
my own. I was locked away and perspiring so much it was as
if I was actually playing in the game myself. When Viduka
scored I shouted out loud for about 30 seconds. He might
have injured my knee but he also handed us the championship,
so everything is forgiven."