Football players and managers are famous for being unintentionally funny in their use of the English language by making slips of the tongue 口误 or mixing metaphors¹ 混合隐喻.

In this week’s Off the Pitch we take a look at some of the funniest quotes from 2008 – see if you find them amusing too.

Steve McClaren, the English manager of a Dutch team, demonstrated his mastery of logic² 逻辑 and language when he spoke³ before his team’s match against Arsenal⁴ in the Champions League.

"It will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience that doesn’t come along that often," said McClaren, ex-England manager and master of the obvious.

Wigan’s manager Steve Bruce’s use of metaphorical⁵ language 比喻性的语言 left us with a rather nasty image in our minds after his team were soundly beaten 3-0 by Arsenal.

"They’ve kicked our backsides 臀部," said Bruce, "now we have got to lick our wounds 伤处."

Another disappointed boss, Doncaster’s Sean O’Driscoll, was left looking for a way to vent⁶ his frustration⁷ 发泄他的挫败感 after his team lost a game.

"I’d go home and kick the cat if I could – but I haven’t got one," said O’Driscoll.

Manchester United player Rio Ferdinand proved he wasn’t quite sure of the expression ‘take on the mantle’ 担任领导角色, which means to take on the responsibility of being leader.

"Gary Neville is the club captain but has been injured for the best part of a year now - and Giggsy's taken on the mantelpiece 壁炉台," said Rio, forgetting that a mantelpiece is actually a feature of a fireplace.

But it is not only the footballers and managers who make verbal gaffes⁸ 过失，丑态, sports commentators⁹ 评论员 are also more than capable of making the occasional howler 滑稽可笑的错误.

Rob Hawthorne of Sky TV proved his understanding of how football works when he spoke of Manchester City’s method of winning games.

"Man City have scored in all of their home wins this year," said Hawthorne, presumably forgetting how difficult it would be to win a game without scoring goals.

And BBC pundit¹⁰ 评论家 Martin Keown was clearly confused between prescription¹¹ 处方and subscription¹² 订阅 when he said that pay-per-view broadcaster "Sky gets its money from prescription payers". Are they broadcasters or chemists, Martin?

But the last word goes to the mother of Theo Walcott, the 19-year-old England player who scored three goals in an international match against Croatia, but forgot an important item when he left England.

"He rang me before he got on the plane to tell me he didn't have a key, so I waited up for him," said Mrs Walcott.