Big Sam Gets His Come Uppance

Posted by

After basking in his and Bolton’s ability to manhandle Arsenal whenever they felt like it, Sam Allardyce was predictably a victim of his own hubris as Arsene Wenger’s side finally put them away 3-1 after two late goals,

“Bolton produced some good quality tonight, but I felt we produced some exceptional quality and the game was electric,” Wenger stated.

“There was everything in this game. It was an exceptional game, played at an exceptional pace.

“There were patches of total football in there, undoubtedly one of our best performances of the season.

“When they came back to 1-1 I felt it was a good test to see once again how strong we are mentally and once again we gave the right answer.

“We started well and never caved in during the fight.

“Bolton have shown tonight they are a great side and we’ve shown we can match them and we created some exceptional football moments.”

It is a little odd to see Wenger celebrating that his side can “match” Bolton, but that’s more a sign of the work that Allardyce has done at the club than any crisis of confidence at Arsenal – making the fact that Sam hasn’t gotten a job at a “big” club a bit of silliness. Bolton play great football beyond the “long ball” nonsense that gets spouted by armchair rivals who have never seen them play, and this is surely the season that Sam is taken seriously by clubs and supporters as a candidate for any available job this summer.

Then again, a lot of people would’ve said the same of Alan Curbishley before that whole “make West Ham even crapper” business.