Ahead of tomorrow night’s visit of Everton, Sam Allardyce has opened up about his time at Newcastle and his long-standing feud with Rafa Benitez – revealing that it originates from the fact he beat him with Bolton and ‘he didn’t like it’.
After turbulent spells with England and Crystal Palace, the 63-year-old is back in management with Everton and has been speaking about all things NUFC ahead of his return to Tyneside tomorrow.
Firstly, here’s what the Everton boss had to say when asked how he felt ahead of his return to St James’ Park:
“Fine,”
“I had a good time. It was difficult circumstances with a change of ownership but in the end it was chosen that I wasn’t to be and I moved on. For the first time in my life I heard a former owner of a club saying it was a mistake to let me go.
“I was grateful for that. It got settled and life is too short for grudges.
“Why get distracted by the past? My career has been one fantastic journey, from 15 to 63.”
Big Sam then spoke out about his feud with Rafa following Bolton’s victory over Benitez’s Liverpool side several years ago, admitting that he beat him and ‘he didn’t like it’, suggesting mind games might have been involved:
“We beat him and he didn’t like it. If it’s mind games, you can say that.
“At that particular time, Liverpool weren’t supposed to lose to Bolton. But people didn’t know how good Bolton were at the time.”
“If he wants a drink, or if they doesn’t want a drink [after the game] that’s fine,”
