SAM ALLARDYCE will be jobless after an amazing blunder over
his decision to quit Bolton. Sport of the World understands he
resigned at the Reebok after being ASSURED he would become the new
Manchester City boss. But Allardyce was MISLED into believing his
pal and former City star Ray Ranson is guaranteed to take over the
Premier club.
However, we can reveal former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra dramatically emerged as favourite to take charge at City
after a rival £100 million offer was submitted. He is unlikely to
hire Allardyce, preferring to look for a top European coach in the
mould of Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho. Allardyce handed in his
resignation to Bolton chairman Phil Gartside last week. Gartside
was livid and immediately sent Allardyce home on gardening leave.
But in a bid to cover up the astonishing behind-the-scenes row, Big
Sam joined his squad at Stamford Bridge for the clash with
Chelsea.
Significantly, Bolton assistant boss Sammy Lee faced the press
after the game, with no sight of Allardyce. He said: "It's just
speculation. Sam has been ill and didn't travel down with the team
that came down this morning. That is ONE of the reasons for my
appearance."
Allardyce has a £2m escape clause in his current Bolton deal, which
his pal Ranson was prepared to pay. But Allardyce was unaware of
the interest from former Thai PM Shinawatra, thinking Ranson's £90m
bid already had the support of influential City director Dennis
Tueart.
However, the decision over who wins control of the club - and
therefore Allardyce's future rests with City's major shareholders,
John Wardle and David Makin. Unfortunately for Big Sam, they remain
unconvinced by Ranson's business plan and his ability to plough
enough money into rebuilding the club, even if he takes over.
As revealed last week, they wrote to Ranson informing him of their
concerns. But the former City player continued with his plan-and
even convinced Allardyce he would replace current boss Stuart
Pearce. Wardle and Makin own nearly 30 per cent of the Premiership
club. The next largest shareholders are Mark Boler, who owns 18.75
per cent, BSkyB who own 9.9 per cent and Francis Lee who owns
around seven per cent. Ironically, Tueart owns no shares.
Lee is believed to be ready to back Ranson and has told him he will
sell his shareholding-and possibly join his takeover team-but with
Wardle and Makin refusing to sell, that support is irrelevant.
Sport of the World has also learned that City have reported Ranson
to the Takeover Panel citing concerns over comments made through
the media.
They feared that his public approach could affect the share
price-particularly as they had still not received a formal approach
by 5pm on Friday-when the Stock Exchange closed. Shinawatra's bid
will be discussed at an emergency City board meeting this weekend.
His bid is highly attractive to the Eastlands board and is almost
certain to be backed.
