By Trevor Huggins

Sam Allardyce was facing an uncertain future on Wednesday after being accused by agents in BBC TV's Panorama programme of taking bungs on transfer deals.

Big Sam's wheeling and dealing in the transfer market have transformed Bolton Wanderers, lifting them from the old Second Division to the upper reaches of English Premiership football.

Bluff and straight-talking, his policy has been to scour the market for top players, often in the latter stages of their careers and often signed as free agents, thereby sparing the club an outlay on transfer fees.

Together with an ambitious board, he has helped put Bolton - the team that won the legendary first FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium in 1923 - back on the footballing map after decades of mediocrity.

Two signings stood out in 2002, the arrival of Nigeria captain Jay-Jay Okocha on a free transfer from Paris St Germain and France's 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 winner Youri Djorkaeff, initially on loan from Kaiserslautern.

Joined that year by Ivan Campo from Real Madrid on a loan that became a free transfer, the trio helped turn Bolton from a team struggling to avoid relegation into a leading side with a strong home record.

In 2002-2003, they avoided relegation on the last day of the season - but then went on to finish eighth, sixth and eighth again in their next three Premiership seasons, reaching the League Cup final in 2004 and playing in Europe for the first time in the UEFA Cup last season.

It was all a far cry from the side Allardyce had taken over in October 1999 and who had lost a promotion play-off final to Watford a few months earlier under his predecessor Colin Todd.

A defender who spent most of his playing career with Bolton after joining them in 1969 as a 15-year-old, Big Sam celebrated his arrival as manager by getting them promoted in 2001.

His reputation was such that he was among those considered to succeed Sven-Goran Eriksson as England manager after this year's World Cup.

At the time, he made no secret of his ambition. "It's my dream job,'' he said. ''I'm an Englishman, I'm passionate and I'm very good at what I do and I believe I would be very good at doing it, particularly at this stage of my life."

The Football Association eventually chose Steve McClaren, whose Middlesbrough side had beaten Bolton in the League Cup final in 2004.

Last month, Allardyce persuaded his board to spend a club record £8million to buy French striker Nicolas Anelka from Fenerbahce in Turkey.