YEARS after I, in this column, pleaded for Big Sam and the Sun Tan kid to be appointed as a management team, the Wanderers board listened and did the right thing.

What a fantastic job they have done thus far. Sure enough Sam has had his critics, particularly concerning his tactics and, yes, even I have found some of his decisions strange.

But looking at the big picture, it is truly remarkable.

Last season was about survival. This season is about survival and next year, hopefully with a quality striker, will again be about survival.

The bottom line is the longer we stay in the Premiership the more financially sound we become and before too many seasons we can aspire to reach the heights of the likes of Charlton Athletic.

Sounds daft, I know, only being on a par with an unfashionable club but, talking about management achievements, Alan Curbishley takes the top prize for me.

That is where we must aim for, the fringe of a European place and a sound financial base.

I understand that the U12 side is the best in the north. These players are under contract until they are 16-years-old and if I were a pessimist I think that if they are still the best then watch out because here come the top sides to pinch them.

However, being optimistic there are three more full seasons to play - in five seasons they will be U18s.

Why can this team not come through together a l Beckham, Scholes and the Nevilles etc? Stayingl in the Premiership helps make this dream become a reality. This is not my dream but Big Sam's.

Sam Allardyce wants to become the greatest manager Wanderers have ever had. He wants to leave a legacy that will live forever and I for one believe he will do it.

Forget the baffling substitutions, forget the hanging on for a point, look at the big picture. Sam, Phil Brown and Phil Gartside are smashing the myth that we are a sleeping giant and are taking us to a plateau that really is the big time.

Get behind the Bolton Evening News' campaign for the Whites and get behind Sam and the boys because the future could belong to Bolton Wanderers Football Club.

Mike Beatty,

Cambridge Drive,

Little Lever