New Sunderland manager, Sam Allardyce has revealed he can’t stand Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger.
Speaking about the Gunners boss in his autobiography which is being serialised in The Sun, Allardyce referred to Wenger as a bad loser and an arrogant person. Reminiscing about his time as Bolton manager, Allardyce said the French manager hated his side.
“I enjoyed beating Arsenal more than anyone when I was in charge at Bolton. We’d really got to them and Arsène Wenger hated us.
“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 of arrogance. He’s not one for inviting you into his office for a drink after the game.
Allardyce who recently took over at Sunderland also noted that he enjoyed frustrating Wenger while accusing the 65-year-old of trying to influence referees through the media.
“The more I wound 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. It was a skill finding their weaknesses and how to exploit them. But when we succeeded the press were usually on about Arsenal having an off-day and the ref being soft.”
Sunderland will square up against Arsenal at the Emirates in early December.
