SAM Allardyce took a swipe at Mark Fish today, accusing the departing South African international of "not wanting to play for Bolton Wanderers".
As the former Reebok fans' favourite was completing the formalities of his £700,000 transfer to Charlton, the Bolton boss said he'd been left no option but to sell him ... six weeks after they had shaken hands on a new contract.
"I don't like what happened," Allardyce said. "He's left, he's gone, he's history now. We couldn't hold onto him any longer after his performances since the contract business broke down. I just didn't want to play him any longer."
Fish's move to The Valley - four months after a £1.5 million deal dramatically collapsed - will be rubber stamped as soon as his application for a work permit is approved (his Wanderers' permit is not transferrable). For the player it means the fulfilment of his burning ambition to return to the Premiership, where he played with Wanderers in his first season in English football following his £2.5 million transfer from Lazio in August 1997.
Allardyce had hoped he could persuade him to stay but, despite offering the 26-year-old centre-back a lucrative three-year extension to his contract which was due to expire at the end of the season, he was left frustrated and angry.
"I spent such a long time on it," he explained. "He said so many things and we did so many things ... then he failed to sign the contract, for whatever reason.
"You accept that but then his performances have shown everybody at the club that he doesn't want to be here. I had to act very, very quickly. I moved him on as quickly as I possibly could."
The manager's frustration came to a head at the weekend when he substituted Fish in the 56th minute of the 1-1 draw at Birmingham. He criticised his performance and questioned his commitment.
"I felt he let everybody down on the day," Allardyce reiterated. "He would deny it but that's how I saw it.
"He knew about the Charlton situation. I knew they were in for him and he knew they were in for him and it looked like he didn't want to play for us.
"I continued to play him because I didn't want to cut off my nose to spite my face. He'd made it clear he wanted to go elsewhere but Michael Johansen signed a pre-contract agreement with AB Copenhagen last season and played a fantastic season for us.
"We were looking for Mark to do the same but I feel we were led down the garden path."
Allardyce, who has targeted Coventry's out-of-favour Scotland international Colin Hendry as a replacement as well as looking for a wide player and a striker to replace Isaiah Rankin, who has returned to Bradford after completing his loan, admits £700,000 will not compensate for the loss of such a talented player.
"I'd have preferred Mark Fish to stay with us until the end of the season and play the way I know he can play," he stressed. "The money we've got won't replace him. It will be a long hard search for a player of Mark Fish's ability but it's good money for a player who didn't want to play for us."
Fish was unavailable for comment this morning but his spokesman said: "Mark has always maintained he wanted to play in the Premier League but he loved playing for Bolton and I have no doubt, knowing the professional Mark is, he would always give 100 per cent for whoever he played for.
"I do know that he was very disappointed by certain reactions from some of the fans to the news of his move."
Wanderers' Reserve game at Port Vale, scheduled for Wednesday, has been postponed because of a waterlogged pitch.
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