Liverpool are a massive club with a big history that has won many trophies over the years, and as soon as I was told of the possibility to come here, and I knew the manager wanted me, I said yes.
There was interest from a lot of clubs, not just Manchester United, but as soon as I knew Liverpool were interested, I just felt it was the right club with the right coach. It was right for me to come here.
As soon as Liverpool declared their interest in signing me, it was a simple decision to make. A club with Liverpool's history wants you? Come on, you just pack your bags and go. It will be an honour to wear the famous red shirt.
Because I knew how hard I worked, I knew the pain, I knew the sacrifice, I knew the tears, I knew everything. Despite everything, I stuck to it. I toughed it out, and I kept my head in the game, even when the odds were against me.
Celtic are the club I supported as a boy, and I loved every moment I was there. For me to leave there, I knew I was going to have to not just come to a club, but I had to come to a special club that was going to allow me to connect with the players and hopefully the supporters, too.
Real Madrid were the ideal club for me, and, when I knew they were interested, I couldn't think about anything else.
When I went to Spain two years ago, I only knew three Valencia players. I didn't know anything about La Liga, and within six months, I knew everything. I was speaking another language and knew everything about the game, so I am a fast learner.
My desire at Liverpool was to help get the club playing in the elite because they had been five years without it. We used to talk about it in the dressing room. If Liverpool are not in the Champions League, it is difficult to get the best players to come to the club.
People who rooted for me and were impactful in my career knew everything about me. They knew my goals, my likes, my dislikes, what I wanted out of my career.
I knew I'd never make it back to the major leagues as a player. Lee MacPhail came to me and asked if I wanted to manage the Yankees' Fort Lauderdale club. I thought about it for a day or two and decided to take the job. That was the turning point. I knew it was what I wanted to do.
Room 40 knew a U-boat was heading south to Liverpool - knew the boat's history; knew that it was now somewhere in the North Atlantic under orders to sink troop transports and any other British vessel it encountered; and knew as well that the submarine was armed with enough shells and torpedoes to sink a dozen ships.
When I was done with high school, I knew that music was really important to me and I knew I didn't want to be a cellist, but I wasn't really sure if I wanted to be a composer, or think about - I was just interested in the ideas behind music, I was interested in mathematics.
[Phil Wood] knew about wine. He knew about food. He knew about art. He knew about classical music. He was interested in things.
I remember my last game for Newcastle in the pre-season, when their fans were singing that they wanted me to stay, but when the opportunity came to play for a great club like Liverpool with such a great history, I had to take it. I hope they understand why I made that choice to go to Liverpool.
I was, from early on, interested in science. And my parents were very obliging about that. My father used to take me to the museum of natural history, and I knew much more scientific stuff early on. From the time I was 11 or 12, I wanted to be a mathematician.
But in my defense, I knew enough about her to know I wanted to know everything else; I knew as much about her as she wanted me to know; I knew as much about her as anyone ever knows about anyone. And isn't love just curiosity at the beginning anyway?