Haaland scored his ninth goal in his first five Premier League appearances when he bagged a hat-trick in Manchester City’s 6-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Wednesday. Quinn’s tally, from 1992 and in the colors of the less fashionable city of Coventry, was eight. Mickey Quinn’s record of eight goals in five games for Coventry in 1992 stood for 30 years Erling Haaland scores back-to-back hat-tricks for Manchester City, taking his tally to nine “I’m not one of those guys who says, ‘my record is there to be broken,’” the 60-year-old tells Sportsmail. B****cks! I didn’t want it to be. I am proud of these records. “Anyway, he couldn’t score in each of his first five games, could he? I did it. I also scored 10 in my first six games. He must try to beat that at Aston Villa. “I’ll ring Steven Gerrard and tell them to treat him or wherever they have their pre-match meal, put a sleeping pill in his tea!” Quinn says all this with a grin and a smile, but he’s not necessarily joking. It is this confidence and fierce pride in their craft that separates the great scorers from others who just play in the same position. He sees it in Haaland. Quinn said his goals were crucial to keeping Coventry in their opening Premier League campaign “It doesn’t matter if you have six bellies or six players, you’re going to score goals with that instinct,” says Quinn, who carried a rotund midfield in his career but looked like a board in the box. “He is born, that is. He has the same hunger as me. “It’s that desire to get into the box and score any kind of goal and be proud of it. “Some strikers hardly celebrate, but this kid loves to score. I scored 100 goals in training during the week and enjoyed every one of them as much as a Saturday. He has this joy about him. “Looks like the real deal. He is strong, robust, fast, understands the channels. I wasn’t one for canals, so I was more of a poacher. “But what I like about Haaland is that he’s also an old-school finisher. He’s in the box, lurking at the far post for a tap-in. Everyone counts the same.’ Would Quinn score in this City team? “I’ll throw it back at you — would Haaland score for Coventry? The names that came on TV this week with the goals scored in our first five games – Haaland, Quinn, Sergio Aguero, Diego Costa. They are in the top teams. “I was in mid-table, fighting against relegation – that’s why I couldn’t keep it for a season. My supply line was sold around me. The city keeps adding to its own! So, yes, I’d put buckets on this City team.” Haaland has come to life at City in brilliant fashion since his move from Borussia Dortmund Quinn was sold from First Division Newcastle to Coventry for £250,000 in November 1992, out of favor with Kevin Keegan. “Bobby Gould (the Coventry manager) said to me, ‘I want you to score the goals to keep us in the Premier League.’ Suddenly I’m thinking, “Wait, I had a £100 bet on Coventry to get relegated at the start of the season!”. But I kept us up — and the bonus goals soon covered the bet.’ In Quinn’s fifth game, the Sky Blues faced his boyhood club Liverpool at Highfield Road a week before Christmas. “My uncles and my dad came down. “We’re going to see our Mick. We hope he plays well, but we want Liverpool to crush them.” We beat them 5-1 and I scored two. City face Aston Villa this weekend with Haaland bidding for his third hat-trick in a row “I went into the players’ lounge afterwards. They are all standing at the bar with faces as far away as a horse. I said, “Me, won’t you congratulate your nephew?” What about you, Dad?’ All of them, through gritted teeth, “Ah, yes, well done.” “We took the minibus back to Liverpool to my dad’s pub. As I walked in all the Everton fans were buying me a drink! I didn’t have to buy a pint all night.’ Quinn won’t tell Haaland if he scores two more at Villa Park today. But he will do so if he surpasses Andy Cole and Alan Shearer’s record of 34 goals in a Premier League season. “He’s going to break all kinds of records if he stays injury-free,” says Quinn. “But he’s a big lad, he looks like he can take a kick. He could end up being the best we’ve ever seen, he’s that good.’ Quinn, as always, wants the last word. However, Steele did not score in his first five games.
