Wanderers 0 Newcastle 4

WHEN he raises a glass or two on Friday to celebrate his 47th birthday and his second anniversary as manager of Bolton Wanderers, Sam Allardyce will look at the league table and reflect on a job well done - unbelievably well done.

On the day Colin Todd walked away, Wanderers were 20th in Nationwide Division One; today, 111 games after the directors finally gave him a crack at the job he had craved for 14 years, they stand ninth in the Premiership.

Three semi-finals in his first season, promotion against the odds in his second and now preparing to take on the might of Manchester United in a derby duel for a slice of local pride ... he has surpassed all expectations, even his own!

But Big Sam is not a happy man. The reality of the situation for him is that, despite being sensible about their aspirations for this season - finishing fourth from bottom will be deemed a magnificent success and should earn their young manager the Freedom of the Borough - Wanderers could be sitting even prettier, at least three points better off, and every point counts.

Footballing fate and their own shortcomings are conspiring to undo all the good work they did in the record-breaking early weeks of the season and the prospect of going to Old Trafford to play whatever side Sir Alex Ferguson chooses to turn out is a daunting one.

It was always too much to expect them to maintain the heights they hit during that flying start. A slide was inevitable; the only question was how dramatic would it be when it came?

On the face of it, their worst fears were confirmed at the Reebok on Saturday when they crashed to the heaviest defeat since Allardyce's appointment. On one of those fateful afternoons when Murphy's Law applied, a fiercely disputed goal and an uncharacteristic rush of blood by Jussi Jaaskelainen sent them crashing to their third consecutive home defeat.

They should have known it! Going into the game with no goalkeeping cover - a situation forced on them with regular and reliable number two Steve Banks and youth teamer Chris Williams injured and no one suitable to draft in on loan - was always a gamble.

It was a risk Allardyce was prepared to take but it was to prove their undoing when the in-form Finland international was panicked, under pressure from Alan Shearer, into using his hand outside his area.

The manager insists the real damage was done when referee Mike Riley and his assistant allowed Nolberto Solano's goal to stand three minutes before half-time, despite the Peruvian being in an offside position when he got the telling touch to Shearer's unselfish knock down. And he maintains he has no regrets about putting five outfield players on the subs' bench.

But the fact remains that until Laurent Robert compounded the misery and put the free kick resulting from Jaaskelainen's folly out of the reach of stand-in keeper Bo Hansen, Wanderers were still very much in the game. They did not have a Robert a Solano or a Shearer but they had matched Bobby Robson's Magpies in the first half, both creatively and statistically in terms of scoring chances. For while Jaaskelainen had to be at his best to foil Craig Bellamy in two one-on-ones and at his luckiest when Nikos Dabizas shot wide, Dean Holdsworth, Hansen and Ricardo Gardner all missed chances to silence the Geordie hordes at the other end.

And despite their fury at Mr Riley and his assistant - heightened when they saw a re-run of the incident in the dressing room at half-time - they conjured up two more glorious opportunities for Gardner within 12 minutes of the restart.

What happened after Jaaskelainen's dismissal was to be expected. Wanderers were fighting a losing battle and Newcastle took full advantage with Shearer producing a copybook header from Robert's cross for the third then delivering the pass for Bellamy to get behind a despairing Gudni Bergsson for the fourth. It could have been much worse ... Hansen made cracking saves from the two front men.

Wanderers in freefall then? Not at all! Not judging by the volume of support they generated from a Reebok crowd that was infuriated by the officials, inspired by the performance and galvanised by the adversity.

The noise level could not have been more inspiring or uplifting if the scoreline had been reversed.

The one complaint about the Reebok since it was opened in 1997 is that it lacks atmosphere. Well, it might have taken a heavy defeat to bring it to life but there is electricity there. Ask Bobby Robson who described the crowd as "intimidating and partisan". Now that is what we want to hear.

The wise and respected former England boss also reckons Wanderers have what it takes - a durability and some early points - to beat the drop.

That would do nicely. For while Big Sam knows he must address the goalkeeping situation, which has been bugging him since he was priced out of a deal for Matt Clarke in the summer, and that he must get his team back to the basics - organised and mean at the back and more ruthless in front of goal - Wanderers still have everything to play for.

We could see changes. Bruno N'Gotty and Colin Hendry will be in the reckoning when Mike Whitlow serves the suspension due after picking up his fifth booking for a foul on Shearer (yet another harsh decision against the luckless defender) and once Per Frandsen and Gareth Farrelly are over their injuries the manager might consider their experience and expertise more effective than the enthusiasm and endeavour of Gardner or Johnson. And Michael Ricketts and Rod Wallace offer options at the sharp end where Holdsworth all too often found himself desperately outnumbered by the Newcastle back four.

Wanderers have taken a spanking and now it is the players' turn to eat humble pie - or some even less palatable fare - but their morale has not been undermined. In fact on Saturday's evidence they have been unified on and off the field.

Paul Warhurst's performance and the passion with which he reacted to events showed on the one hand that they have the talent and on the other that they have a fierce determination to ride whatever storms are ahead.

There is no reason why Sam Allardyce's celebrations should be muted on Friday night - just as long as he has a clear head to pit his wits against Fergie on Saturday afternoon.