Question time with Wanderers boss Phil Gartside

QUESTION: The pundits, critics and the bookmakers were surprised to see Wanderers avoid instant relegation. Were you?

ANSWER: I was not surprised because I was confident we had a decent structure. The people Sam brought in to help him on the football side were all quality people. But I was surprised when I heard the points target the backroom staff set for the team before the season kicked off.

In the end 40 points was enough and I was satisfied with that but they were disappointed. Their target was 57!

They didn't share that with us at the time because it would have put a great deal of pressure on the team but they split the season into four sections and targeted specific games in those sections. We did well in the first section after starting with that 5-0 win at Leicester. Not in our wildest dreams did we expect anything like that and, when we won the next two (Middlesbrough and Liverpool) it was unreal. But we knew it was unreal - we never got carried away.

But we fell behind in the second and third sections and needed a strong finish in the fourth to stay up.

I know they were disappointed with those two middle sections. If anything disappointed me it was failing to pick up any points from Derby and Sunderland and just one from Southampton but, in terms of commitment and application from the players and staff on the football side, staying up was a quite remarkable achievement in my eyes.

They all worked extremely hard and people came in who had never worked in football before - Craig White (strength and conditioning coach) who has gone back to rugby union now, and our new doctor Tim Weighman who worked closely with Mark Taylor (head of sports medicine and science) in upgrading our facilities.

Sam is a manager whose attention to detail is beyond compare and they have followed his lead. The research they do is incredible. They even check out referees and their likes and dislikes - are they sticklers for dissent or do they concentrate on other things?

We had the luck of the draw at times - playing Manchester United on the Saturday between two big Champions League fixtures helped - and I know Sam and his staff will look at the fixture list again next season and plan a campaign accordingly. They'll also use free weekends when there are international matches to good effect like they did this year. Under previous managers we didn't seem to do well after such breaks but last season we always seemed to do well because Sam used the time to regenerate the batteries but I know he is worried that when we had two games in a week - Saturday, Tuesday - we did well in the first but not the second. That's something he well have his people looking at.

Quality wise our backroom staff is as good as any other club in the league. Our training facilities might not be as good as Arsenal's, for instance, which are excellent, and we can't match the £12 million Liverpool spent building their academy. But we have made a start by appointing the best staff - Phil Brown (assistant manager), Neil McDonald (first team coach), Chris Sulley (academy director), Geoff McDougle (academy recruitment officer), Jack Chapman (chief scout), Mark Taylor of course and Matt Hockin on statistics. There are many others too. Their attention to detail is phenomenal and I know they have away days when discussions go on well into the night.

QUESTION: Can you point to one player in particular who has profited from the quality of support at the Reebok?

ANSWER: Paul Warhurst is a perfect example. He played more games last season than he has in previous seasons and that is a credit to Mark Taylor and the treatment he now has to offer. Mark has upgraded the medical facilities - not just for Paul, although he has had the benefit and so have we. Paul is one of our best players and having him play more games is obviously an advantage.

From a football perspective, we are doing everything we can to get the best out of our players.

QUESTION: How will the proposed link-up with Juventus help Wanderers?

ANSWER: We are due to travel to Italy at the end of the week and it really will be a coup if we can pull it off.

But it is a joint venture and it's not just about helping us, Juventus will get a lot out of it. The benefits to us can be fantastic and not just borrowing players, although that could be a big plus. It will take us to a new level of thinking in a variety of ways - training, preparation for games, coaching of kids, the academy development ... and for them there is a lot they can learn from us on the commercial side, where they are very poor. They don't own their own stadium, for instance, all their hospitality is done at local hotels and it's a compliment to us that they think we can offer them something in that area.

But generally, to be associated with one of the top six clubs in the world would be terrific for our profile.

QUESTION: Why should Juventus want a partnership with Bolton Wanderers?

ANSWER: One of the benefits is that we could have the use of players on the fringe of their first team squad who are not getting games because they have no reserve team fixtures. Juventus benefit by sending the player to us to give him match practice, which would keep him sharp and prepare him for a return to their first team.

We have Jason Ferguson (Sir Alex Ferguson's son) to thank for introducing us to Juventus (agents aren't all bad!) and that begs the question why didn't he set up the arrangement with Manchester United? But if you have a striker who is behind Trezeguet or Del Piero, he'd probably have no chance of getting games on loan at Old Trafford or Liverpool. But he'd still be a quality player and, if we could pick him up on that basis, it could work out well for everyone.

QUESTION: You have told us to expect more Bosman free transfers, short term deals and loans next season. Is the club's debt of £34 million making life difficult?

ANSWER: Ironically not. We would rather not have the debt, of course, and we are still trying to secure a mortgage to spread it over a longer period. But with today's interest rates being as low as they are it is only costing us around £2 million a year which could equate to maybe three players' wages! So in that respect it isn't actually restricting us a lot. It is not having a dramatic effect on our lifestyle.

QUESTION: Why have there been so many foreign signings this season?

ANSWER: Simply they are cheaper and much better value for money. If we wanted to buy an average player from a Nationwide League club he would probably cost us a couple of million and we'd be paying him significant amounts in wages over three, four or five years. We could bring in two players from abroad on one-year contracts for much less - players of much better quality too.

Nationwide League transfers are so much more expensive.

That is why we concentrate a lot of our scouting abroad. The staff clock up an incredible amount of miles on foreign trips - and not just Sam, who never seems to stop. Jack Chapman has covered South America, Australia and new Zealand as well as Europe, Phil Brown has recently been to South America ... even Chris Sulley, our Academy director, has covered New Zealand and Brazil. I know Gordon Taylor at the PFA is concerned at the possible expansion of increased numbers of non-EU players being brought in because he fears it will open the floodgates and restrict employment opportunities for his players.

But the current system is restrictive because it makes signing English players so expensive. Why has Bobby Zamora not been snapped up from Brighton yet? Because he will cost a lot of money and might be seen as too much of a gamble.

Another issue at the moment is transfer windows.

I know Nationwide League clubs are worried that if they aren't free to sell their players to bigger clubs, they could miss out on a major source of revenue. I think transfer windows would just concentrate transfers at particular times - and the danger is that, if we don't do it, we might lose the transfer system altogether! And no-one wants a situation of total freedom of contract where a player could just give you a month's notice.

QUESTION: Sam Allardyce has done a fantastic job as manager. Do you worry about losing him to another club?

ANSWER: I have no worries at all about anybody knocking on my door wanting to speak to my manager. Like the rest of us here, Sam is living a dream and I know he wants to end his days in football as manager of Bolton Wanderers having been in charge longer than anyone.

The thrill for Sam is not being just a Premiership manager, it's being the Premiership manager of Bolton Wanderers. That's the beauty of what we have here. Sam came to Bolton as a 15-year-old; he played for the club, made his home here, had his family here and has basically been here ever since.

He's a tireless worker but he has quality friends around him with whom he can relax and a supportive family. But one of the biggest benefits as far as I am concerned is knowing that managing Bolton Wanderers is as much a dream for him as it is for me being chairman.

I've been coming to support Wanderers since I was six and I never in my wildest dreams thought then that I would one day be chairman. So I regard it as a privilege to be going into a second successive season in the Premier League plus, I hope, another 10 at least.

Brett Warburton, our vice-chairman, is living the same dream. Along with his business and his family, this is his life. We all have our priorities - usually in the order of family, work, hobby. But in my case and in Sam's and Brett's, Bolton Wanderers is right up there alongside the others at the top of the list.

And when you also take into account that we have Eddie Davies with us on the board - a man who has done more in terms of financing than any other individual in the history of the club - and knowing he too is living the dream, we think we have something special going here.

Even Alan Duckworth, our chief executive, who is actually a Liverpool fan, now has such a passion for Bolton Wanderers that it's a dilemma for him because he wants to watch our games when Liverpool are playing!

We have a hard job to do but that passion we have for the club makes it so much easier.

QUESTION: Five-nil at Leicester on the first day of the season, the triumph at Manchester United ... what was the highlight of your season?

ANSWER: They were both special - as was getting a point at Arsenal and taking four points off Liverpool. Going over to Holland as a fan and not as chairman of the club to see Michael Ricketts wear the England shirt for the first time was a proud moment for me, as was getting a call from Sam when he went to Paris to watch the France-Russia international where the teamsheet read: "Youri Djorkaeff (Bolton Wanderers)"!

One of my prized possessions is the shirt Youri wore when his goals won the game for us at Charlton but the thing I will remember the season for most will be the support we had here at the Reebok.

We've always had great away support but, in the past, we've had the boos and the jeers and the doubters. But I can't remember any game - even when things were not going well - when the fans really got on our back.

The atmosphere has been great and the support we've had from the corporate side and from the terraces has been fantastic. You expect the stick as chairman but, personally, I've had no complaints from anybody. In fact Sam and the lads pull my leg because, from time to time, I get supporters actually asking for my autograph!

I think people recognise that I'm doing a difficult job. They might not like some of the things I have to do but I think they understand it has to be done and that we are honest and open with them. I thank them for that understanding and for their support.

I have terrific support in the boardroom too and I thank them and all the staff for their efforts.

It is an honour for the club to be associated with Reebok, our main sponsors. They are a super company and we are hoping in the next few days to announce that we will be strengthening our partnership with them even more.

We also have the Council to thank for their endeavours in helping with the Academy, which will greatly benefit the town, and their efforts in assisting with the expansion of the use of the stadium. We hope to announce further developments on that score too in the near future.

And a special word for our new Mayor, Cllr John Walsh, who I'm looking forward to working with. John is a passionate Bolton Wanderers supporter who claims to have missed only six games in 26 years - home and away.

He recalls being at Raith Rovers for a friendly when Henry Mowbray made his debut!

I wish him all the best in his year in office!