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.