'I watched Premier League manager fight with Arsenal boss - we told him he'd get beaten up'

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Marlon Harewood teased Alan Pardew that Arsene Wenger would've pummelled him when the two managers fought in 2006. A late goal from the striker caused pandemonium at Upton Park.

Nearly 20 years ago, Pardew's West Ham and Wenger's Arsenal did battle at the Hammers' home. The Gunners were heavily favoured heading into the match, though with the 90th minute approaching, the game was goalless.

Enter Harewood, who popped up and tapped home a cross to win the game. The striker wheeled away in celebration and whipped off his shirt, but his manager was equally zealous. Pardew gestured in jubilation towards the Arsenal bench , angering Wenger. The French manager shoved Pardew and the two squared up, exchanging heated words .

Wenger could be seen calling Pardew a disgrace and the two didn't shake hands at full-time. Pardew later apologised, but in the dressing room after the win he was teased by Harewood and others, who claimed he would have been "beaten up" by the Gunners legend, who was later fined £10,000 for the ordeal .

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"We were hammering him and saying, 'You'd get beat up,'" said Harewood, speaking on In The Mixer brought to you by Sky Bet. "I didn't even know [they fought] because I was celebrating.

"Then we sat down in the dressing room and we had a big screen in front of us and saw the confrontation. We were like, 'Pards, what are you doing? You're gonna get beaten up!'"

Speaking on his connection with Pardew, Harewood added: "At that time it was amazing because I think I was one of his first signings and then the first time I met him he was like buzzing that I came.

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"Then one of the things that resonated with me, he said, 'It's gonna be tough but you're gonna be my number one.' To be fair, he stuck to his word because I remember being in the Premier League and I went probably about eight, nine games without scoring.

"When you don't score a goal, you get all that hostility from the fans and it's hard. But then he kept putting me in, kept putting me in and then I scored my first goal. That led to a hat-trick and then being top goalscorer."

Harewood admits that the pair's relationship ended on a slightly sour note after he fell out of favour, but understands the reason behind Pardew's choices. He said: "The second season, we were under a hell of a lot of pressure. And Pards was under a lot of pressure.

"We weren't doing as well as the season before. He was under pressure with me. So, for Pards, I don't know if I was scoring or not, I scored a couple of goals, but not as many to help the lads.

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"So we've got the likes of Carlton Cole coming into the team. You've got all these players you need to start playing because we weren't winning games. And as a player, when you're not playing, you take it out on the manager or whoever, inside.

"The relationship is not really there because you're not doing as well as you should be and it's difficult. So I wouldn't say the relationship turned bad but I'd just say the way we played just didn't help the situation."

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