Tomorrow marks a double landmark for Bolton manager Sam Allardyce who celebrates both his 50th birthday in his fifth year in charge at the Reebok. And, with the club currently sitting in fourth place in the Premiership, there is no doubt that Wanderers have made giant strides during the impressive reign of their popular boss.
Just over a decade ago, Bolton were lying midway in the old First Division and not even the most optimistic of Trotters fans could have dreamed that ten years down their line their club would be looking down the league table at the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle.
"We have been transformed from a First Division team into a firmly-established Premiership club," said Allardyce with a justifiable hint of pride. "The standard of football we play and the quality of players we attract has continually improved during that time."
Although not able to compete with the majority of top flight clubs in terms of huge transfer funds, Allardyce has been notoriously skilful in attracting high-profile players to the Reebok.
International superstars, the likes of Jay-Jay Ococha, Fernando Hierro, Ivan Campo and Youri Djorkaeff, have all been signed on free transfers by Allardyce in recent seasons and the no-nonsense former central defender seems to have an uncanny knack of getting the best out of players who have been overlooked by other clubs.
Indeed, during the summer months, Allardyce even came close in an audacious bid to add former World Player of the Year Rivaldo to his squad, before turning his back on the deal because of the Brazilian's high wage demands
"I'll carry on bringing players in until the chairman tells me I cannot have any more money," said Allardyce. "If I can't find enough (players) as cheap as we are getting them we are in big trouble because we can't get them any cheaper than we are."
The impressive achievements of Allardyce - the club finished eighth in the Premiership last season as well as reaching the Carling Cup Final - have not gone unnoticed by others. In fact, he was reported to have been top of Newcastle's wanted list when Sir Bobby Robson left St James' Park earlier this term.
In an era when foreign coaches have become the favoured choice of the so-called elite, Allardyce, Steve McClaren and Alan Curbishley have proved that English managers can still hold their own at the highest level. Furthermore Allardyce, who is also a respected member of the League Managers' Association, believes it is only a matter of time before a British manager is given the opportunity to coach one of the Premiership's leading sides once more.
"The vast majority of managers in this country have to get in the Premiership by promoting their own club," he said. "There's only David Moyes who has been taken from the Football League. We did have Paul Sturrock at Southampton, but he wasn't given a long enough opportunity to show he could be a success.
"But the foreign coach element is down to the owners of the clubs. Because Arsene Wenger has done so well at Arsenal, maybe that's why they feel they have to go that way. We (the British managers) won't be able to prove them wrong until one of us is deemed to be good enough to manage one of those clubs - sooner rather than later I hope."
He added: "But if you manage to survive in the Premiership - and you've myself, Steve and Alan with small teams finishing in the top half - then actions speak louder than words."
