• Premier League

Allardyce accuses Wenger of trying to influence refs

ESPN staff
September 16, 2010
Sam Allardyce hits back at Arsene Wenger

Blackburn Rovers manager Sam Allardyce has accused Arsene Wenger of attempting to influence Premier League referees.

The Arsenal boss spoke out this week against the aggressive tactics employed by some teams, having watched Abou Diaby limp off on Saturday following a robust challenge from Bolton's Paul Robinson.

Wenger urged other Premier League chiefs to join him in his crusade to stamp out rough tackling - but Allardyce appears unwilling to take up the cause, as he believes the Frenchman is trying to make his players untouchable on the field.

"Arsene has most of the media in his pocket now and is almost - almost - affecting the officials so that you can't tackle an Arsenal player," Allardyce said. "That's something he's very clever at working on and it's almost working in his favour, you can see that.

"Read his interview before the Stoke City v Aston Villa match, what he said and how he said it - he's a very, very clever man in terms of influencing referees, officials and everybody in football.

"He can't be brought up for it because it's about another match - rather than just before he plays us. There is a perception that we kick everybody and Arsenal's motivation is that you can't tackle us as you aren't supposed to.

"In terms of saying people are trying to injure players he's trying to influence, through the media, the referees and that's something they shouldn't get sucked in to."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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