BOLTON Wanderers have never had it so good.

Sam Allardyce rates his team as the best ever seen -- at Burnden Park or the Reebok -- and has hailed inspirational skipper Jay-Jay Okocha as the most skilful player ever to pull on the famous white shirt.

And today, as Wanderers stood just 90 minutes away from a place in the Carling Cup Final, one of the club's greatest stalwarts put the manager himself in the same star category.

Roy Hartle, the legendary full-back of the Fifties and Sixties, said Allardyce deserved to be ranked among the managerial greats for what he has achieved for the club since taking the reins in October 1999.

"Somewhere along the line this big man has got to take a lot of credit for what he's done for Bolton Wanderers," Hartle said. "I know a lot of people had their doubts to begin with but, for me, he's proved himself.

"This guy was a bit like me

as a player; he was a journeyman but, as a manager, he has hit the highest levels. He's assembled world class players and they are playing for him.

"I went on record at the start of the season that I thought this team was the most skilful we had ever had -- with Jay-Jay, Youri Djorkaeff, Ivan Campo and Bruno N'Gotty -- but now they are showing a bit of steel and bite to go with the skill. They showed that when they came back from 3-1 down to win at Blackburn and again the other night with the way they responded when Villa got it back to 3-2. They were looking a bit shaky at the time and it looked like it could go either way but they came again and finished strongly to achieve a fantastic victory.

"For 25 minutes in the first half, Villa looked a very good side going forward but I think we've done enough now. I fancy us to go there and finish the job."

Hartle played right-back in Wanderers' 1958 FA Cup triumph over Manchester United and was a member of the 1953 side that is widely regarded as the best Bolton Xl of all time. Nevertheless, he not only agrees with Allardyce that the current Premiership squad tops the lot but also that Okocha heads the club's all-time talent chart.

"He's got to," said Hartle, who was a notorious tough-tackling defender. "He does things with the ball you just don't see anybody else doing in the Premiership. Nobody comes near him.

"I felt sorry for the Villa players the other night because they didn't know what to do. They defended poorly but how can you defend against Jay-Jay without fouling him? I don't know how I would have coped -- the red mist would probably have come down!

"I find it difficult to put him on a pedestal but he is phenomenal. It's easy to dwell in the past but I look at him and players like Youri, who is less flambuoyant but happens to be my favourite, and I know we've never had a more talented team."