Jose Mourinho’s sacking by Chelsea has left Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce uncertain what to expect from the struggling champions when his team visit Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Mourinho was given his marching orders on Thursday after a dreadful run of results left the club hovering a point above the Premier League relegation zone in 16th place, three points above Sunderland in 19th.
Chelsea attributed the dismissal to a “palpable discord” between the Portuguese and the players, and while Allardyce expects a reaction from the team, he is also intrigued by how the reaction from the fans might affect matters on the pitch.
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“I’m not sure whether it’ll make my job harder or not to be honest,” Allardyce said.
“Everybody expects a reaction when a manager gets sacked, and sometimes there is and sometimes there isn’t.
“I always think it’s quite a sad state of affairs when a team actually plays better when their manager has been sacked.
“I find it irresponsible from a players’ point of view, especially when they come out after the game and say: ‘We’ve done that for the old manager’.
“I think there will be a reaction from their players but I also think what happens with the crowd could be interesting.”
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Allardyce knows that inflicting a 10th Premier League defeat of the season on Chelsea could make a crucial difference to Sunderland’s campaign.
“It’s fair to say that if we were to win, it would put a huge amount of pressure on Chelsea because we’d end up on 15 points, the same as they are,” he said.
“That would take them further down the league and it would be a huge success for us.
“Their players haven’t seen this before. They have had huge pressure at the top but the pressure down here is different.”
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Day 3, Dubai Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Lahiru Gamage, the Sri Lanka pace bowler, has had to play a lot of cricket to earn a shot at the top level. The 29-year-old debutant first played a first-class game 11 years ago. His first Test wicket was one to savour, bowling Pakistan opener Shan Masood through the gate. It set the rot in motion for Pakistan’s batting.
Stat of the day – 73 Haris Sohail took 73 balls to hit a boundary. Which is a peculiar quirk, given the aggressive intent he showed from the off. Pakistan’s batsmen were implored to attack Rangana Herath after their implosion against his left-arm spin in Abu Dhabi. Haris did his best to oblige, smacking the second ball he faced for a huge straight six.
The verdict One year ago, when Pakistan played their first day-night Test at this ground, they held a 222-run lead over West Indies on first innings. The away side still pushed their hosts relatively close on the final night. With the opposite almost exactly the case this time around, Pakistan still have to hope they can salvage a win from somewhere.
