Pardew Doubles Down on Arsenal 'Asterisk' Jab After Laura Woods Fires Back

Alan Pardew isn't backing down from his provocative take on Arsenal, doubling down on his "asterisk" jab at Mikel Arteta's side despite drawing fire from an unlikely critic.

The former Newcastle and West Ham boss was commentating on Arsenal's 1-0 victory over Brighton at the American Express Stadium on Wednesday evening, and he wasn't shy about sharing his verdict. His observations were cutting, to say the least.

Speaking during the match for talkSPORT, Pardew laid into the Gunners' approach. "When I look at them with my football manager head on, they're very professional," he said. "They do every bit of gamesmanship to get it over the line. At the moment, it looks like Arsenal are going to see it through. But there'll be an asterisk next to their name. It's a professional, functional display. They're good and powerful, but there is nothing beautiful about them."

Those comments didn't sit well with TV presenter Laura Woods, an Arsenal supporter herself, who rang into the station to take Pardew to task. "Alan, I love you, but that is the most disrespectful thing I've ever heard," she fired back. "How can you say that? Because we take free-kicks, set-pieces and corners? I don't understand the thought process. If Arsenal win the league, none of us fans care how we do it. I don't care if you lot don't enjoy watching us. Why would we care if we're entertaining or not?"

When asked about Woods' broadside during Sunday evening's The Final Word with Majestic and Alan Pardew show on talkSPORT, the pundit sought to smooth things over—though his explanation only reinforced his original stance.

"I have been trying to keep out of the way of Arsenal fans. It's not easy, you know," Pardew explained. "Laura Woods, I love Laura, listen, there's no beef between—you have got to have two people to have beef, don't you? I ain't got no beef with Laura. I said it as a cheeky comment about the way, you know, and obviously it was a tough watch to watch them about Arsenal. There were plenty of tricks going on, etc etc, so I was a bit frustrated."

He continued: "I didn't really expect the reaction, one of the loves of my life, Laura Woods, to come across so hard on me. You have to take it, that's the point of being what we do. You call it as you see it sometimes. It's a tough watch. I want Arsenal to be remembered this year for, like, how many trophies they are going to win out of four competitions and they are favourites in two of them for sure."

Arsenal currently sit seven points clear at the summit of the Premier League table, though Manchester City have a game in hand to close that gap. The Gunners remain in contention across multiple fronts: they've progressed to the Champions League last 16, reached the Carabao Cup final, and are still competing in the FA Cup.