FIRST it was Newcastle, now it is Manchester City. For the second time in less than a month, Sam Allardyce's status as one of the Premiership's top managers has led to fears that he might leave the Reebok for pastures new.

Sources claiming to be close to Manchester City reckon the Wanderers boss will be on the Blues' wanted list when - and they stress when, rather than if - Kevin Keegan is axed.

Former Coventry and Southampton manager Gordon Strachan is said to be the favourite to succeed Keegan, but reports suggest Allardyce has admirers on the City board, and even claim that, if approached, he would accept the invitation.

Allardyce is, understandably, declining to comment on speculation linking him with another manager's job but, having turned down Newcastle's offer three weeks ago to continue the good work he is doing at the Reebok, he did not sound as though he was ready to walk away when he gave an enthusiastic progress report following Saturday's 2-2 draw at Arsenal - his 200th league game in charge of Wanderers.

"I've got the best squad I've had in five years," he said unequivocally.

The feeling at the Reebok is that, even if he was offered the City job, the answer would echo the words that left Newcastle looking elsewhere: "Thanks, but no thanks."

Why would a man who is re-writing the history books with Bolton Wanderers and believes there is still so much to be achieved, leave for a club that is so beset by financial problems and perennially tormented by the success of its big city neighbour, that every manager since Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison has faced a thankless task?

Allardyce knows he is under pressure from the weight of expectation after leading Wanderers to their highest league finish for 44 years.

But he believes the squad he has now assembled can take the club into territory it has not occupied for almost half a century. "Expectations got higher when the last whistle blew at the end of last season and we'd finished eighth," he said. "Straight away all the fans began saving up for their season tickets and looked forward to this year being equally successful, if not more so.

"That's the pressure you have to live under when you've been really, really successful. They (supporters) won't rest. They want even more and more. They demand that, and our job is to try and give it to them.

"At the moment we've continued where we left off last year, which is important for us."

Allardyce believes the quality of his substitutes at Highbury - Henrik Pedersen and Les Ferdinand who helped put the Arsenal defence under pressure in the second half, and Fernando Hierro, who proved a calming influence in the Campo role late on - justified his claim that he has never had a better squad.

But he puts the success to date - 11 points from six games, five of which have come from games against Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal - down to the majority of his first team squad having a wealth of Premiership experience.

"We've worked very hard to put this squad together," he said with a sense of satisfaction. "When we make substitutions we're going to improve the side more often than not.

"Most of the players are very experienced in what's needed in the Premiership now. We've introduced Radhi Jaidi this year, and one or two other new players like Fernando Hierro and Julio Cesar, who are getting used to the Premiership, but who we don't have to rely on week in and week out.

"But it's our experience of the Premiership over the last three years with most of the players, plus the experience of having Gary Speed in the fold, that has made us as good as we are."

Allardyce suggested Wanderers were helped on Saturday by Arsenal not being "up to scratch" due to fatigue from their midweek Champions League victory over PSV. But he was, nevertheless, proud of the way they twice came from behind to be the first side this season to take a point off the champions.

And he was particularly pleased that, having conceded two goals to corners in the 2-2 draw with Manchester United in the previous game, Wanderers actually scored from two set-pieces - the first equaliser headed home by Jaidi from Jay-Jay Okocha's corner, Pedersen's second equaliser coming from a free kick knocked on by Ferdinand.

"That's the best way of scoring against Arsenal and and we've taken full advantage," he said.