A force to be reckoned with

EVERY Premiership manager and coach worth his salt would do well to heed David O'Leary's words.

Wanderers might not be "there or thereabouts" when the dust settles and the race for the title begins in earnest but they are nobody's mugs and, on the evidence so far, they will do more than just survive. Sam Allardyce and his surprise guys, one of the hottest ever tips for instant relegation, are commanding respect.

They are, without doubt, a force to be reckoned with.

Having already left Leicester and Middlesbrough in crisis and forced Gerard Houllier to ditch the "weakest link" in his Anfield armoury, they have now been to Leeds -- another of the championship "contenders" -- and left their highly-rated young manager looking for scraps of comfort in a point he and the rest of football assumed would be three.

O'Leary spoke of his players learning lessons and offered a genuine, generous assessment of Wanderers' tactical expertise and team spirit before consoling himself.

"This was the sort of game we would have lost last year so at least we have learned," he conceded. "We've added another point; that's four games, two wins, two draws ... not bad."

For the manager of one of the most fancied teams in the land -- they have finished in the top five for the last four seasons -- to be talking of "marginal dividing lines" between success and failure and analysing a sliderule decision in the FIFTH minute of overtime which he believes should have gifted Leeds a penalty is a ringing endorsement that Bolton Wanderers have arrived.

They might not stay there -- and nobody is suggesting they will -- but they are top of the Premiership and they are there on merit.

They have surpassed all expectations yet, when O'Leary analysed their strengths and assessed their prospects, he echoed the words of those of us who have been saying all along that Wanderers should not be underestimated.

Like Peter Reid at Sunderland, Big Sam would have his team organised tactically; players would be focused and committed as individuals to work their socks off within the framework of a tried and cleverly-devised system and would use every ounce of his man-management skills to instil a belief and a confidence that, poor relations or not, they have every right to be sitting at the top table of English football.

It will not always be pretty but it will be pretty effective and for any of the so-called purists thinking of peddling the idea that it is negative, Allardyce has been quick to point out: "We've only conceded one goal ... but we've scored eight!"

Indeed, the first scoreless draw in the history of this fixture was the first time in 24 league games that Wanderers have failed to score.

In truth, they did not create much in the way of clear-cut chances, even in the first half when they gave as good as they got.

They managed to force the first four corners of the game, though, and Michael Ricketts was twice within inches of maintaining his goal-a-game record.

A win was never on the cards but the draw was always within their capabilities thanks to committed individuals showing commitment to the collective cause.

They were deeply indebted to Jussi Jaaskelainen for two outstanding saves.

The first was from Jason Wilcox when, for the only time in the game, Wanderers lost their bearings at the back and Mark Viduka was able to send the Bolton-born wide-man into space.

At 6ft 3ins, the Mighty Finn is one of the tallest of Premiership keepers but he got down well to smother the Wilcox shot then, late in the game after fluffing a goal kick, he went low once more to stick out his left hand to stop and hold Robbie Keane's shot, much to the delight and relief of 4,000 Wanderers' fans behind his goal.

O'Leary moaned about the absence of key players -- Lee Bowyer and Danny Mills were suspended, Alan Smith and Michael Bridges injured -- but Leeds' problems paled into insignificance compared to Wanderers'.

Ricardo Gardner was never expected to make the trip after his World Cup exploits with Jamaica but, when the hugely influential Paul Warhurst cried off with a neck injury on the morning of the game and Colin Hendry failed a fitness test on the knee injury that has delayed his start to the season, Allardyce had to make radical changes.

Henrik Pedersen was drafted in -- wide on the left of midfield -- and Gareth Farrelly stepped up for his first start, allowing Per Frandsen to assume the Warhurst role.

And nothing more need be said of the trio's performances than to record that the two regulars were not missed. Farrelly was as efficient as ever and Frandsen matched Olivier Dacourt as the game's most outstanding midfield player while Pedersen's first half performance was a revelation.

If Wanderers got lucky, as the video evidence of Charlton's tackle on the over-acting Harry Kewell would appear to suggest, then they deserved it for the expertise with which they frustrated their more illustrious opponents (Kewell did not deserve it anyway for making a meal of an earlier Frandsen challenge in a disgraceful attempt to win a penalty).

But the Bolton perspective on that incident in the dying seconds, which so angered O'Leary, was that the tackle was fair -- wherever it took place.

Any other decision would have been rough justice on a team in which Mike Whitlow was the personification of a spirit that has put Wanderers on top of the world.