SAM Allardyce managed to keep his face straight when he speculated over the size of his transfer budget.

Asked if he thought he could get another year out of the legendary Youri Djorkaeff, he joked at his own expense: "It depends on what the board say. If they give me £50m-£60m to spend. I might not want him!"

An unlikely scenario. Allardyce can fantasise all he wants, but he knows that, when he goes to Euro 2004 looking for the eight players he reckons he will need if Wanderers are to continue their Premiership development, he will be shopping in the bargain basement again.

Big Sam knows his limitations. He is determined to see the England-France game on June 13, but only as an interested spectator. There will not be a single player on view in that opening group game he could even dream of signing.

But there could be rich pickings elsewhere in the tournament -- respected and recognised internationals who have either been discarded by their current clubs or have rejected contract offers in the hope of securing better deals in Serie A, La Liga or the Premiership.

They are the players Allardyce will focus on, just as soon as he has got his own house in order.

First up, he will attempt to secure deals with the handful of players in his current senior squad whose contracts are due for renewal -- the likes of Djorkaeff, Jay-Jay Okocha, Bruno N'Gotty, Per Frandsen and Emerson Thome. Only then will he know his requirements.

Then he will study the list of Bosman free transfers -- a catalogue he has become familiar with in recent years when financial restrictions have dictated his transfer policy.

"Players will definitely be available, if I'm going to watch them in the European Championships," he said, getting back to financial reality.

The decks have already been cleared for a recruitment drive that will eclipse anything Allardyce has done in the transfer market in his four-and-a-half years in charge. But, as he embarks on a major overhaul, finance will still determine whether he can improve his strike rate.

"Twice as many players have left this year than has come in," he said, "albeit only fringe players but we've probably moved about 14 out, starting with Gerald Forschelet and working right down to Jermaine Johnson to Oldham right at the death on deadline day.

"We've got our targets now but the problems come with the negotiations. We always start well but we never finish until the players have exhausted all other avenues. A club like ours can never tell players 'Take it or leave it', because they'll usually leave it, so that they can keep their options open in the hope of getting a better deal elsewhere."

The trouble is that, unless he can get his squad in place early in the summer, Allardyce fears he could encounter the cold start problems that have been a major bugbear of the past two seasons.

"I have to try to get players signed up as quickly as possible," he said, "because one thing we have learned is that our financial problems have caused us two bad starts. We've managed to claw our way back but we've given ourselves huge problems two years on the trot -- taking eight points from the first 10 games in year two and only 11 from the first 10 games this season is relegation stuff.

"We need the squad in place before we start pre-season training so that they can get bedded in. There's no question that the reason Kevin Davies started playing as well as he did was because he was with us from day one. He was part of the squad from July 1. We also did well getting Stelios in early last summer, but others had to wait. We needed Emerson Thome before the start of the season, but we didn't get him until after we'd lost the first three games.

"What people have to understand is that, while everybody starts with the highest of hopes and expectations, it's beyond your capabilities to have a good start if the players aren't ready, either individually or as a team.

"If you compared Manchester United's preparations with ours last season, it was frightening. They got ready to play us on the first day by playing Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, went to the Far East, then played Sporting Lisbon and Porto.

"We were scratching around in Malta, then had to go to Old Trafford in front of 67,000 and try to beat them."