SAM Allardyce made it clear today that he still has ambitions to further his managerial career -- and not necessarily with Bolton Wanderers.

Newcastle might have been the right club at the wrong time but, sooner or later, another big club will come calling and Big Sam will be unable to resist the temptation.

Loyalty can only stretch so far. He yearns for the chance to be ranked alongside the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger but accepts there are limits to what he can realistically achieve with Wanderers.

Eventually, he has suggested, he will be forced to leave.

"If I want to be great, I can't do it here," Allardyce said. "I can be good, really good even, but not great. The only way you can do that is by working with great players.

"That is why Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger are great. They are at clubs who can attract the best players and their management skills get the best out of them.

"Eventually, you hope the financial constraints ease so you can spend more money on the team but we all recognise this club has a ceiling which is cannot push through without someone like Jack Walker or Roman Abramovich being involved.

"Hopefully the directors will match my drive to make Bolton better by finding more finance.

"What happens after that will be decided by other people. I am comfortable with my situation at the moment but somewhere along the line something might happen to change it."

Allardyce's decision not to encourage Newcastle when they came calling was partly down to his belief that there is unfinished business at the Reebok and the fact that he feels a loyalty to the club he has steered from the bottom half of Division One to the upper reaches of the Premiership in just five years. Halfway through a 10-year contract, he still believes he can achieve more with Wanderers, despite the limited resources, although he refuses to speak publicly of his ambitions for fear of adding to the weight of expectation he already carries.

"I don't want to hang myself out to dry by saying what I think we can achieve, because just round the corner there's the big black hole ... there could be a better finish than last year or there could be a relegation dogfight.

"I have to be careful about what I say about what we can achieve because I don't want to make myself look like a real plonker. But I have dragged this club out of the First Division and financial ruin to the heights of the Premiership. When you've worked hard for five years to get to this position, it takes a lot of giving up.

"When you get a 10-year contract and your chairman asks you to see it through, you have a decision to make.

"It's not just about ambition, but also morals and loyalty.

"I am looking no further than trying to get this club to at least finish eighth as we did last season -- anything less would be a failure now."

Meanwhile, Allardyce has his sights on a derby triumph Saturday that would put Wanderers seven points clear of their arch-rivals and dent United's hopes of challenging Arsenal for the title. With the Gunners looking formidable, he suggests their seven-point lead over United is already a significant advantage. "You're talking about Arsenal losing three games and United winning three to get past them," he added, "and that's a daunting task."