Sam Allardyce promises Arsene Wenger he won't be a 'wind-up merchant' in Arsenal clash

Best of enemies: Allardyce insists he and Wenger have put their enmity behind them
Julian Finney/Getty Images
James Benge3 December 2015

Sam Allardyce has assured Arsene Wenger that the days when he used to “wind him up” on the touchline are long gone as he prepares to bring his Sunderland side to the Emirates.

The former Bolton and West Ham manager has been something of a bête noir of Arsenal in the past, with Wenger having failed to find victory in 12 of the pair’s 28 meetings. Allardyce has not hidden his disdain for Wenger in the past, saying in his recently released autobiography that he felt the manager had “an air of arrogance”.

But the Sunderland boss, who will not be able to call on injured pair Jermain Defoe and Sebastian Larsson, revealed on Thursday that any disagreements between the pair are firmly in the past.

“I have had some good fun with him,” he said. “Those early days were years and years ago and it's been much more amicable, our meetings, not just on match days, but also off the field when we have bumped into each other.

“But I have always had a huge amount of respect for Arsene and his quality as a manager. Winding-up became a procedure that we all use if and when we feel it necessary. I have always thought he is a fantastic manager and he's done a fantastic job. I might have wound him up a time or two, but never disrespected him.

“That's a long time ago. It seems to be a part of the world of football sometimes and whether it makes a difference, I don't know. People seem to think it did, so when the opportunity arose, if you felt it was the right thing to do, you did it.

“But at the end of the day, it's about 11 v 11 on the field. I'm not so sure what you do when you wind a manager up that it makes a difference your players when they go out. I'm not so sure it does.”

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Allardyce was drafted in to Sunderland’s latest bid to stave off relegation in October and has since begun to turn around the Black Cats’ fortunes. Having taken over with the team winless in their first eight games he has guided them to three wins in their following six and moved them out of the Premier League bottom three.

He is keen to continue Sunderland’s upswing in an away fixture where both manager and club have struggled in the past.

"I've never won at Arsenal with any of my teams - drawn a few, but never won,” said Allardycew.

"The club has not won there since the '80s when our kit man was in the squad and Paul Bracewell played, my assistant manager, so it shows you how long it's been.

"But anything can happen on any day in the Premier League, so let's hope it's our day. Let's hope we get a little bit of good fortune, let's hope we play very, very well and if we can do all that, we might get a result."

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