Maybe I am just being cynical here, but when I hear people that have previously taken great delight in tormenting Arsenal and our manager change their tune and start to say nice things about Arsene Wenger and the club I cannot help but question their motives.
And Sam Allardyce, the current manager of Sunderland who will be the visiting team at the Emirates on Sunday, has a long and well established reputation of being one who has loved to get under the Frenchman’s skin, both with the style of football his teams have adopted against us and with the things he has said.
As reported by the Daily Mail, the former boss of Bolton, Stoke, Newcastle and West Ham did not try to pretend those past clashes had not occurred but he did try to distance himself from them and threw a bit of praise for his rival in as well.
Allardyce said, “I have had some good fun with him. 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.
“But it’s also good publicity for you lot, isn’t it? We have to be worried about our image these days, don’t we? If we haven’t got the right image, then we are not very good managers, so we have to be careful.
“I’ve never won at Arsenal with any of my teams – drawn a few, but never won.
“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.”
Yes mate and you might get a serious backlash from a wounded Arsenal as well. That would not have anything to do with you suddenly being nice to us would it? Don´t forget that we heard the same sort of thing from Jose Mourinho this season, strangely enough when his Chelsea team was bang in trouble, and how long did his nice guy impression last after the final whistle?
All the managers do it.
Arsene will say his squad is
ravaged by injury while Sam will
say his whole squad cost less than Ozil
Sam will say his team has no chance while
Wenger will say Sunderland is better than
Barcelona Real and Bayern combined.
Manager talk 🙂
who cares what either of em has got to say???
Arsenal fans do. you my man are NOT an Arsenal fan
You obviously don’t understand the posibility that others have a different view to you. I am an Arsenal fan and want them to do well whoever is playing and whoever is managing.
You are just a hater that gets off on insulting other fans
I am afraid I have to agree with you G-Rude. Soopa, you start talking about football nstead of hijacking every thread with your hate, or you will be banned forthwith…
what right have u got to call me a Non-arsenal fan???
.
NONE WHATSOEVER!
It’s hard to expect Arsenal to hand out a backlash to Sunderland with our ever so depleted squad.
We just have to wait and see if Walcott starts and of course what kind of team wenger puts out.
Going by our results against teams that haven’t beaten us for 10 years or so (this season) it doesn’t look good,
They got a 0-0 draw the last time they visited the Emirates.
I just hope that Arsenal are not in a charitable mood come Saturday.
Manager Arsene Wenger on Thursday said he did not know the exact prognosis for the pair, but Press Association Sport understands playmaker Cazorla’s ailment is more long-term than forward Sanchez’s hamstring problem. Wenger is convinced Arsenal are capable of coping in the absence of two of their most influential players. “It’s always a disappointment to lose the players at an important moment of the season,” Wenger said on arsenal.com. “But on the other hand, it’s a great challenge to take for the team and a great opportunity to show that we are ready for a fight and we can deal with it. “We prepared ourselves to go through periods like that, and I’m convinced the players are ready.” Despite his comments, Wenger could come under pressure from supporters to recruit during the January transfer market with his squad rocked by injuries.
Wenger wants the crowd to get behind the team and help them…. So don’t forget to bring your kit and boots ??
At dis point, i hate Arsene Wenger.
We knew dis was coming, we all said it aloud, but he thought he knew best…. That’s STUPIDITY…
Another season could be slipping away…. Arsene’s stubbornness… When will this Change?
Injury or not, if we can’t beat this mediocre Sunderland side(no disrespect to them), we should hide our head in shame and shut the f**k up throughout next week. I’m tired of the excuses. We’re not the only club in ‘injury crises’. Utd, city & liverpool all have their fair share and they are hanging on just fine….1pt from a possible 6(WBA & Norwich) is pathetic . These are games we ought to be winning.