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19th March 2016
03:27pm GMT

"Liverpool lost to Allardyce's Bolton in 2004, sparking a spiky rivalry between the two managers." "Rafa has never liked Allardyce since their first meeting in August 2004 at Bolton. That was Rafa's ‘welcome to England’ game, when he saw Sami Hyypia get his nose broken by Kevin Davies during one of the aerial assaults on our goal. We lost 1-0 and Rafa couldn't believe what we had faced."I don’t buy this idea, though, that Allardyce was some sort of bogeyman for Benitez. Allardyce has not achieved anywhere near as much as Benitez as a manager and how could he have got under his skin when Rafa has won seven of the 12 matches — including all six at home — when they have played against each other?
"Where Rafa didn't help himself was making comments that rubbed other managers up the wrong way. I always felt that when we played against Allardyce’s teams, they wanted the points off us more than they did against Manchester United."
"Do not doubt how much Allardyce would love to relegate Benitez — he has never forgotten a gesture Rafa made to imply Blackburn were finished during their 4-0 defeat at Anfield in April 2009."
"Sunderland have the better chance of survival because Allardyce has had a transfer window, a five-month head start in terms of working with his squad and now he has a slightly more inviting run-in than Newcastle."
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