By Mark Heys
June 30 2007

Former Bolton Wanderers manager Sam Allardyce has accused Trotters chairman Phil Gartside of being "sad and bitter" over his decision to quit the UEFA Cup contenders for Newcastle United earlier this year.

Allardyce resigned from Bolton after seven and a half years in April and subsequently replaced Glenn Roeder as manager of Newcastle, with the Wanderers appointing their assistant manager Sammy Lee to the role of Manager.

At the time of Lee's appointment, Gartside remarked that had Allardyce applied for the Bolton job now then he would have been unsuccessful and this is something which Big Sam has been quick to refute.

"Gartside reckoned I wouldn't have got the Bolton job if I was applying for it now and we would never have signed El-Hadji Diouf or Nicolas Anelka if it wasn't for Sammy Lee," said Allardyce to the Sun

"He also claimed Sammy did more of the coaching than me and was basically the better man.  I began to wonder whether I'd done anything at Bolton. Did we dream Bolton came from nowhere to become a top Premier League team and qualify for Europe? Was it an illusion or something?.

The 52-year old beleives he was right to quit Bolton in light of Gartside's comments to the media.

"Gartside just sounded sad and bitter. If I'd ever had any doubts about leaving Bolton, that justified to me that I was right to go."