Wanderers 4 IPSWICH TOWN 1:THE timing was perfect. Sam Allardyce walked into the interview room just as Sky TV pundit Rodney Marsh was offering words of wisdom on the day's Premiership action.

In their playing days Big Sam might well have gone in with one of his trademark challenges but, with the lippy Londoner out of harm's way in the safety of a television studio, he reacted with a less physical but equally effective line of attack.

"He does talk some s***!" the Wanderers' boss muttered in a put-down as bone-jarring as any tackle.

It was a remark that could have been aimed at any one of the countless critics who, like Marsh, dismissed Allardyce's Wanderers as Premiership no-hopers, cannon-fodder for the big guns and red-hot relegation favourites; the critics who said the flying start was a flash in the pan and that normal service would be resumed as the season wore on; the cynics, including many supporters, who reckoned Allardyce was wasting his money on "mercenary" foreigners; the so-called experts who are now eating their words and having to acknowledge that, although not yet mathematically certain of survival, Wanderers are almost there.

And doubly satisfying it is too with those self-same international "has-beens" having played such a vital part in the rescue mission.

Whatever they are costing in wages - and the figures being bandied about are quite breathtaking - the investment in Youri Djorkaeff and Fredi Bobic has paid handsome dividends, justifying the time, effort and the money it took to entice them to the Reebok.

Allardyce always knew there was an element of risk and, mindful that the clock was ticking, feared they may take time to settle in the Premiership. But fortune favours the brave and Wanderers have been rewarded for their bold buying policy.

The point could not have been better illustrated with Bobic helping himself to a hat-trick - the first by any Bolton player in Premier League football - and Djorkaeff chipping in again on the day they all-but secured a second successive season in the top flight.

The champagne remains on ice but Big Sam could not resist making the point: "It now lays all doubts that people outside the club had about bringing in the players we brought in and the quality of those players, because they have helped.

"The whole team has played a major part, of course, but these two - particularly Youri and now Fredi - have made a major impact on our season."

Whether either has a future at the Reebok will only be known in the fullness of time but they have played key roles in a famous chapter in Wanderers' history and - barring an upset of catastrophic proportions - given Allardyce the distinction of becoming the first manager to secure back-to-back top flight seasons since he was a towering figure himself in that Ian Greaves side that survived in similar fashion in 1979.

Ipswich and Derby are still clinging on but, six and 10 points adrift respectively, they are praying for miracles in their remaining four games.

He has not conceded defeat but George Burley knew in his heart of hearts as he left the Reebok on Saturday evening that the game was up for his Tractor Boys. This was effectively their last chance, the must-win game that might just give them a lifeline to cling to as they prepared to stem the red tides of Championship chasing Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool and in-form Middlesbrough.

But the way they floundered after Bobic pounced so instinctively inside the first 90 seconds suggested they were already washed up. They had given themselves a chance after Christmas when they hauled themselves out of the bottom three but eight games without a win had caused the confidence to drain again.

Burley had taken a leaf out of the Allardyce book by engaging a sports psychologist to motivate his team. But the players did not respond and it is probably the most damning indictment of those professionals that, in a game that mattered so much, they offered so little in the way of resistance.

Ipswich may still have a mathematical chance but they surely cannot come back from this morale-shattering experience.

Conversely, Wanderers will go into the Tottenham game on April 20 with their spirits higher than at any time since kicking off the campaign with wins against Leicester, Middlesbrough and Liverpool and with their first "double" of the season as a bonus.

They could not, in their wildest of dreams, have expected it to go so well. There was one scare when Anthony Barness had to make what turned out to be a vitally important block to deny Tommy Miller an equaliser but, that apart, the first 45 minutes was a walk in the park.

And, in truth, they did not have to play that well. On numerous occasions during the 12-match winless run that harvested just six points - coincidentally after the win at Ipswich - Wanderers produced more attractive, flowing football. But, much to Burley's bitter disappointment, Ipswich made it easy for them.

They had no answer as Djorkaeff delivered the telling pass and the industrious Rod Wallace the first thrust before Bobic powered in a diving header for his second on the half hour and they looked a sorry bunch when Bobic and Wallace combined to tee up Djorkaeff five minutes later after Andy Marshall had fluffed a clearance.

There was little anyone could have done to prevent Bobic securing his hat-trick with a textbook glancing header from Ricardo Gardner's carefully-delivered corner but, at that point, it looked like Wanderers could have scored at will.

Injuries to Gardner and Paul Warhurst took some of the shine off the first half rout and Allardyce reckoned he was "worried as usual" at half time as he urged his players not to concede an early second half goal that might have given Ipswich encouragement.

He need not have worried. The second 45 was a non-event compared to the first but that was down to Wanderers successfully shutting up shop and frustrating Ipswich at every turn as they tried to salvage a semblance of pride until the final minute when Jamie Clapham finally got lucky and fired in a consolation.

There was a hint of irony in the result considering the score Wanderers were looking to settle after being so cruelly and controversially beaten by Ipswich in the play-offs two years ago.

But the satisfaction would have been even greater had a certain referee shared in the suffering.

Unfortunately - or fortunately perhaps - Mr Barry Knight was elsewhere.