FRED Barber has tipped Gary Megson to win his battle with the Reebok boo boys.

The only surviving member of Sam Allardyce’s coaching staff, Wanderers’ goalkeeping guru thought he had seen it all in 13 years working at the club.

But he says he has been shocked by the amount of abuse the manager has had to endure from the terraces during his year in the hot seat.

Megson has come under fire from Wanderers fans almost since he arrived at the club last October.

The negativity has intensified in recent weeks, prompting an appeal for calm by several of the club’s staff and players.

Yet Barber sees similarities between Allardyce’s early days at the Reebok, and has backed the current manager to come out fighting.

“Sam had the same sort of thing that the gaffer is going through now,” he said.

“People wondered whether he was the right person for the job when he came in, but he went on to big things.

“Sam had seven years here and a lot of success. But he took time to change things round at first.

“Gary has had 12 months now. To stay in the Premier League was a great achievement last season and looking at the points we have already, that’s not bad either.

“I don’t think people have really appreciated what he has done in the last 12 months, which is basically turn the club around.

“He probably wasn’t everyone’s first choice to replace Sammy Lee but I know what he can do. If people give him the time he deserves I think we can go on to bigger and better things.”

Barber feared for his own position 12 months ago and said both he and Jussi Jaaskelainen had considered leaving what had become an unstable environment at the club after Allardyce’s departure to Newcastle.

“I might have been one of the people who went under Sammy Lee. People seemed to be coming and going every single day,” he said. “Something like 30 staff left the club.

“One of the biggest factors in Jussi staying was Gary’s arrival. There was quite a while where he was thinking ‘shall I stay, shall I go’ because the club was upside down. I was in the same boat. I could have gone to a couple of clubs. Another Premier League club had come in for me and I wasn’t under contract at Bolton.

“But I met Gary at Bayern Munich, knocked on his door and had a good chat with him. I knew he was the right man.

“Since then the whole atmosphere around the club has stabilised. It’s fantastic compared to 12 months ago.

“There was whingeing, moaning, it wasn’t a nice place to come to work.

“The complaining and bitching has gone and you’ve got to say the gaffer has steadied the ship.”

Barber has remained a constant while the entire backroom staff was shuffled in the summer. And the long-serving coach has been pleasantly surprised by some of the new faces.

“There has been a lot of change but we have all knitted together,” he said.

“The assistant manager Chris Evans is another unsung hero.

“People don’t really see him and I’d be surprised if fans knew who he was.

“But they are both in here at 7am every morning and don’t leave until 7-8pm at night “They are a good pair to work for and they have brought in people like Alan Cork and Steve Wigley who really know their stuff as well.”