An excerpt from Sam Allargdyce’s new book, ‘Big Sam, The Autobiography‘ explains the West Ham boss’ rivalry and supposedly good record against our manager, which is completely untrue.
In his book, Allardyce has taken it upon himself to fabricate some amazing record that he apparently has against Arsenal, which would be all fine and dandy… if it was true.
“I enjoyed beating Arsenal more than anyone when I was in charge at Bolton,” the book says. “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.”
It continued, “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.”
When you actually look at the stats, in 28 matches against Arsenal, Allardyce has only won five. Five wins from 28… He’s lost 16 and drawn seven. This is hardly us beating his team ‘sometimes’, that’s beating them all the time! It’s not even close!
Perhaps Big Sam should consider actually contributing facts to his autobiography, rather than complete fiction.
The manager also plays up his fierce rivalry with Wenger a bit too much, making it seem as if he’s a thorn in Le Professeur’s side or that he’s managed to get under his skin, which isn’t strictly true. With all due respect, I don’t think Wenger cares that much, to be honest.