Big Sam - a man with a mission!

He does not set out to get on people's nerves but that is often an unavoidable by-product of his fierce determination to get his own way.

On only rare occasions does he not get what he wants and then, he openly admits, "I spit my dummy out!"

You see, Sam Allardyce is a man on a mission. Proud as he is to be manager of Bolton Wanderers, he has no intention of becoming just a name on the list of stewards who have influenced the club's fortunes over the last 125 years.

Big Sam wants to take Wanderers to levels of achievement unparalleled in modern times and, when his work is done, he hopes to leave a legacy - a structure that will stand forever as a testimony to his devotion to duty, above and beyond the terms of his contract.

And heaven help those around him who do not share his enthusiasm.

"I'm on a journey and I want others to get in the taxi with me," he explains. "There are some people who don't want to take the journey ... that's their choice."

In less than three years, Allardyce has guided Wanderers from a club in turmoil - languishing in the lower reaches of Division One, under severe financial pressure and with morale severely dented after an abortive attempt to scramble back into the Premiership - into a respected top flight team.

Yet the wrong appointment following Colin Todd's departure and there could have been echoes of the past - the freefall that followed the team's relegation from the old First Division in 1980, when Sam was a player.

But the Bolton directors, who had rejected his previous applications for the job, had been sufficiently impressed by the work he had done at Blackpool and Notts County, where his unrivalled knowledge and passion for the game shone through that they decided he was the man they could trust to get things back on an even keel.

Finance has been a handicap, of course. His first two signings were modest - John O'Kane and Gareth Farrelly, initially on loan from Everton before being secured for nominal fees - and today's strategy is similar - begging, borrowing and bargain hunting - except that the players involved are now world class stars such as Youri Djorkaeff and Jay Jay Okocha. True legends in the game.

The progress has been breathtaking.

Get him to stand still long enough to reflect on how far he has taken Wanderers in such a short space of time (and that is not easy with a workaholic who never seems to have a moment to spare) and Big Sam can hardly believe he has been able to lure such glittering stars to the Reebok.

"When somebody does sit you down in a quiet moment and point out just what you have achieved and what you have done, it's scary," he admits.

"It's a joy to be talking with and dealing with the type of player we're working with now.

"It started last season when, all of a sudden, quality players from around the world wanted to start talking to us. I wondered how I could possibly get them to the football club but in the end, it was achieved and it's gone on from there.

"I suppose it has been massive, massive progress in a short space of time. You often don't realise just how far you've come because in my job you're always 'at it'.

"You can't take time out to look at the progress or the distance you've travelled. There's no time and there's no credit for what you do either because the minute you achieve one thing, people's expectations immediately rise and suddenly you're under pressure to deliver again.

"There's no getting away from the fact that, if you don't do your job, you'll get the criticism.

"You're forever guarding against that, no matter how much you improve things.

"And it doesn't matter whether you've got any money or not ... if you don't get results, you'll get the criticism. That's the game."

It is hard to believe a man as single-minded as Sam Allardyce being unduly concerned by the opinions of others. He has an unwavering confidence in his abilities to go with the drive, determination and the energy to see his plans through.

But not everyone shared that confidence.

Looking back on his early days in the job, when his assistant Phil Brown lay in hospital nursing the injuries from the much-publicised fracas with Andy Todd, he says he was shocked to be told by certain members of his backroom staff that he was wasting his time trying to stamp his own personality on the club.

"They told me I would never, ever change this club," he recalls. " They said I had no chance!

"Today we have 32 full-time staff on the football side, including the Academy, compared with seven when I came, and I strive every day of every week to make us better and the club better in every department.

"I believe the whole club has to be focused on the way I want it to go and not just on the football side. I have dragged the whole club along with me, with my ambition and my drive and I won't stop.

"I probably wouldn't do it at any club other than this one because anywhere else it would only be the short-term prospect of achieving what I was being employed to do - to make the first team successful. Here it's different. Here it's about leaving a legacy. My ultimate ambition is to achieve things here that have never been achieved before."

Anyone refusing to subscribe to the Allardyce mission statement pays the penalty.

The two members of the backroom team who doubted his ability have long since gone and there are many more involved at the Reebok, in

various capacities, who have quickly learned that there can be no let up when Big Sam is around.

"I'm just a nuisance," he says, fully aware of how he gets under people's skin.

"I mither everybody to death and get on people's nerves. I say what I think and, unfortunately, if you don't like it, it's hard luck. It's only what I believe and it's only what I strive for.

"I know what I want to achieve and I know that the way I go about it does create an awful lot of problems.

"Sometimes people don't want to take the journey but I won't stop. Whether they want to or they don't, I'll just keep driving on until they change their minds.

"I don't always get what I want and spit my dummy out but I persist in doing what I think is right until I eventually get my way, if I believe it is for the good of the football club.

"I'm not one to take 'no' for an answer."

Despite the satisfaction of having brought success to the club he regards as his spiritual home and the ambition to hit even greater heights, Big Sam is making no promises for the coming campaign. Having negiotiated Premiership survival last season and added the likes of Djorkaeff, Okocha and Bulent Akin to his burgeoning squad, expectations are high enough without the manager adding to the pressures with public proclamations.

He believes the current squad is on the threshold of taking Wanderers to a 40-year high by finishing in 11th place or above and that, by definition, any team in the top half is in with a shout of Europe. But Sam Allardyce is no Kevin Keegan and, unlike the Manchester City manager, you won't hear the Bolton boss making any rash predictions. He draws on his playing days at Burnden Park, when his old boss Ian Greaves spent "big" for his second season in the First Division and ultimately came to grief.

"We felt at the time that we had a bigger and better squad," he says with painful recollections of that 1979-80 season.

"We signed Len Cantello, Dave Clement and Neil McNab - more money than the club had ever spent - and finished bottom of the league, well bottom!

"So while we all think we've got a greater squad and a greater talent and bigget squad in strength and in depth, we've got to make sure the players achieve a level of performance on a regular basis, week in and week out.

"It's going to be no use winning a game here and another there. We have to get to that secure spot as quickly as we possibly can. Then and only then can we talk about bigger achievements.

"In my mind now, there will be no bigger achievement than picking up enough Premiership points to make sure we are safe. If that arises in January then we can talk about Europe ... but we really can't look beyond that at the moment.

"You put yourself on the line when you start building up everyone's expectations with talk of Europe. Expectations are strong enough without me adding to them.

"Our fans think, because we've got Youri Djorkaeff and Jay Jay Okocha, that's it - our Premiership status is guaranteed before we've even kicked a ball. That's the pressure you put on yourself by bringing these players in.

"But if one of them gets injured or we have some bad luck, we could easily end up at the wrong end of the table, especially with the start we've got - Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal. We'll find out how good we are when we've played them!"