Former Sunderland goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon has claimed he "hated" Sam Allardyce at the Stadium of Light as he revealed how he was not a fan of his "strange" style of football.
Allardyce worked at Sunderland in the 2015-2016 season, earning admirers for his ability to pick up key results as he helped them avoid relegation against the odds - and his impressive work with the Black Cats helped him land the England job.
But goalkeeper Pantilimon was not a fan of the veteran boss after revealing the pair did not see eye to eye after losing his place in the team soon after he took over the club in October 2015.
The Romanian player started 17 games that season but eventually Allardyce opted for ex-Arsenal shot stopper Vito Mannone in between the sticks and he has now revealed how their relationship turned sour.
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Speaking at the launch of Ladbrokes' "Gaffer of all Accas", he said: "Honestly, I was not a fan of Sam Allardyce. But I think now I can say that's just because I didn't understand his culture. Until I worked with him, I never had the chance to work with a British coach, or a British manager. I didn't understand his way of playing football; long balls, sitting deep, all of these kind of things."
Now 37, Pantilimon - who also played for Man City, Watford and Nottingham Forest in his career before retiring in 2021 - also said Allardyce's approach to training sessions didn't sit well with him, saying his style was "strange".
"Even the schedule wasn't for me," he added. "You know, a day off during the week; that kind of thing wasn't for me. Luckily, for me, I didn't work with him for that long! If you can understand the culture, as soon as possible, then it's quite easy to work with that kind of manager.
"But if you're a player, coming from abroad, and you start working straight away with someone like him, you're just going to find it difficult. You'll find it strange. It's a different way of playing football, and not really something I understood. There's not much else I can say about him, to be honest."
Pantilimon revealed how his move to Watford in January 2016 came after their relationship broke down - but insisted he "couldn't blame" Allardyce because it was up to him to find a solution.
He did admit, however, that he "hated" the boss at the time - though he looks back with a different stance nearly a decade on from his spell under the manager.
"It's easy for me to look back like this now, but in those moments, I hated him so much," he said. "But now I've grown in maturity, and I understand you're put in a certain position when you take over a club as a manager; you're working hard behind the scenes. It's much easier to understand now that I'm older but, like I said, at the time, I couldn't talk with him."
Pantilimon played a total of 49 times for the Black Cats before moving to Watford - where he featured just nine times. He later played for Deportivo and Forest before spells in Cyprus and Turkey.
As for Allardyce, he followed his ill-fated spell with England - which lasted just 67 days following a Daily Telegraph sting - by joining Crystal Palace for one season, before short stints with Everton, West Brom and Leeds United.
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