IF survival had hinged on next Saturday's final Premier League fixture at West Ham, Wanderers would have screened the game live at the Reebok.

Nothing new in that, of course. "Beam backs", as they are known, were a popular feature of the old days at Burnden Park.

The action never featured anything more gruesome than a crude challenge, maybe a gashed head or a bruised shin or two - certainly nothing to turn the stomachs of the squeamish.

But future beam backs will show players on the operating table, going under the surgeon's knife - with all the gory details.

It is the latest ground-breaking venture being planned by Wanderers' medical support staff who, encouraged by Sam Allardyce, see no limits to the development of advanced techniques that could give players the benefit of the world's leading medical and physical authorities, with distance no object.

Operations carried out by the likes of Richard Steadman and his world famous team in Vail, Colorado, who repaired the damaged cruciate knee ligaments of Ricardo Gardner and Jussi Jaaskelainen, could be screened "live" at the Reebok where Allardyce's backroom team will get a greater understanding of the methods and the recommended rehabilitation programme.

"We do have plans to have beam backs from operations," Wanderers' chairman Phil Gartside confirmed. "Where Ricky Gardner and Jussi had their operations, they've promised to do a 'live' operation for us. It's not something I'd fancy watching but it's what they are going to do."

Prompted by Allardyce, Wanderers refuse to set limits on the advancement of their support sector. The manager has pledged that his players will want for nothing and is committed to offering the best - whether it be coaching techniques or physical and mental welfare. He does not just employ physiotherapists, nutritionists, dieticians and fitness coaches but he has a resident psychologist, chiropractor ... you name it!

Such an extensive support staff does not come cheap but neither do Premiership footballers and the chairman believes the investment makes sound financial sense.

He says: "If you've got a footballer who's got a bad injury and he's got six months on a bed, you want him off there as quickly as possible

"If you consider these days that you've got a footballer earning the sort of money that these are earning, the investment on the medical side is nothing.

"You can soon recover it in wages by getting the player back on the field quicker."

Eyebrows were raised two years ago when Wanderers sent Gardner to the United States to have reconstruction surgery on his damaged knee.

But the decision was justified when the Jamaican international returned to reserve team action within six months and was back in the first team a month later.

"Here they said he was going to be out nine months," the chairman recalls. "Three months on his wages is worth saving. It cost us £20,000 to send him and it was well worth the expense. And it proves it works."

That Wanderers have expanded into all fields of sports science and medicine - expertise which is available to the public following the launch of Allmed UK as the latest subsidiary of Burnden Leisure plc - is no surprise to the directors who interviewed Allardyce before handing him the manager's job in October 1999.

But the chairman admits to being stunned by the rate of expansion into an area in which few English managers had previously ventured - unlike their French counterparts.

"Sam went on at length about his views on the way the professional game was run," he recalls, "and one of the things he was keen to tell us about was this idea of diets. Fulham were up to all sorts of tricks, Arsenal have been into all these things, Liverpool were employing dentists ... he said he understood all that and wanted to bring that culture to this club - and you didn't need a bunch of Frenchmen to do it

"He's done exactly that. He brought these ideas in, as he said he would, but I'm surprised how quickly we've got up to that level of professionalism.

"I think he obviously had people in mind when he did it and they've all followed him so it shows the great strength of the man."

The Reebok-based Allmed Clinic is now just one of a number of impressive facilities Wanderers believe will give them an important edge when trying to attract top stars to the club.

"If we bring a player to this club now, we show him the facilities we've got," Gartside said proudly. "You take him round the stunning ground , book him into the hotel for the night, show him the clinic ... you can attract players of quality when you show them what they are coming to.

"Players like Youri Djorkaeff have liked what they've seen and hopefully more will follow him."