He has just been appointed as Sunderland manager and Sam Allardyce already launched attack on arch rival Arsene Wenger branding him ‘arrogant’ and a ‘bad loser’ in his new autobiography.
Wenger’s Arsenal in the past often stumbled when playing against Allardyce’s former club Bolton, where the new Sunderland boss managed from 1999 to 2007.
Wenger back then regularly would complain about the style of play Bolton used to approach. After the stint with Bolton, Allardyce was in charge of Newcastle, Blackburn and West Ham. He left West Ham at the end of last season.
In his book “Big Sam, The Autobiography”, the 60-year-old Sunderland Manager has revealed how he enjoyed the rivalry with Arsene Wenger.
Allardyce stated, “I enjoyed beating Arsenal more than anyone when I was in charge at Bolton. We’d really got to them and Arsene Wenger hated us. Of course, Arsenal beat us sometimes, but we drew with them or beat them more often than expected and Wenger couldn’t handle it.”
“There was one time he wouldn’t shake hands with me at Highbury because we got a draw. I saw him ripping his tie off and throwing it on the floor in anger. He takes it all very personally and has an air or arrogance. He’s not one for inviting you into his office for a drink after games.”
“He’s a fantastic manager, I cannot deny that. But the more I could wind him up, the more I liked it.
“He tried to influence refs through the media and create a perception that we were bullies committing all the fouls, while his team just wanted to play.
“It seemed he wanted a rule where they should be allowed to do what they wanted with the ball, without us being allowed to tackle them.”