COLIN Todd is setting his sights high as he prepares Wanderers for a second crack at becoming a Premiership force.

"This time I'm convinced we will hold our own," the manager predicts without hesitation.

"I'm not talking about consolidating. I think we are better than that.

"We are better prepared and better equipped than we were two years ago. We have good players already in place and we have more to come; the football club is on a sound footing and, unlike last time, there's been no turmoil. "In fact, everything is running smoothly so I see no reason why we shouldn't do extremely well."

The bookmakers agree. In contrast to 1995 when they accurately tipped them for instant relegation and forecast that Todd's partner Roy McFarland would be the first Premiership manager sacked, the bookies reckon Wanderers are a better bet to stay up than West Ham, Coventry, Crystal Palace, Derby, Leicester, Southampton and Barnsley.

The impressive manner in which they bounced straight back after the bitter blow of relegation, their convincing Championship success, the move to the magnificent Reebok Stadium and their growing financial muscle has seen Wanderers' stock rise appreciably.

Todd acknowledges all these factors but believes it's the lessons learned from the summer of 1995 that have stood him in good stead as he prepares to establish a foothold in what he refers to as "the best league in Europe."

Drawing on the experience of the 1995-96 campaign, he says confidently: "The Premiership holds no fears for me or the players.

"We've been there before but circumstances this time are completely different. Last time we weren't organised.

"There'd been a lot of problems. We didn't know whether Bruce (Rioch) was staying or going and that worked against the club. When he left, the directors advertised and eventually appointed Roy and myself as joint managers.

"It's been well-documented since then that the chairman and the board made a mistake. The joint management approach didn't work and I felt they'd made a mistake not appointing me from the word 'go'.

"But like a lot of things, it proved a learning curve for us all." Despite the huge efforts made by Todd and McFarland to pick up the pieces after Rioch's departure, they had little time to sign the players they knew they needed to give Wanderers a fighting chance in the top flight. On top of that they found their position being constantly undermined by the speculation surrounding Jason McAteer and Alan Stubbs.

"That was the worse thing that could have happened to us," Todd says, recalling the affair that ran to countless column inches in the tabloids.

"The longer McAteer was at the club, the more the players resented him. He clearly didn't have the club at heart.

"I learned from it and I knew at the end of that season that I had to resolve the situation with Stubbsy quickly. And I had to be decisive again when a similar problem arose with Sasa Curcic.

"In the end, he wanted to play in the Premier League but that didn't come to a head until a couple of weeks before the start of the season. When I knew what Sasa really wanted, I acted quickly."

Selling Curcic to Aston Villa for £4 million on the eve of last season put Todd in the firing line of furious fans. But those same fans soon discovered the manager had been fully justified in his decision.

"Supporters who criticised me then have never come back and said I was right," he says pointedly.

"These things happen at every football club. Who would have thought Cole would leave Newcastle or that Shearer would leave Blackburn?

"But nobody is bigger than the club and, when a player clearly wants to leave, why should a manager have that constantly on his mind when he has so many other players to think about?" The suggestion that Wanderers are destined to live life among the smaller fry of the big league takes Todd on a trip down memory lane, recalling his two Championship successes with unfashionable Derby County in the Seventies.

"You never know who will emerge from the pack and spring a surprise. Who would have thought Derby could have won the old First Division title?" he ponders.

"Yes, you need money. But good man management comes into it. Last season the Premiership was a more open league than it has ever been and I hope it's going to be the same again this season.

"It's going to take a lot of hard work and a lot of organisation but we have some superb talent.

"So far we've brought in Neil Cox - a young player who has a lot of experience. We already have players here who are in that category - Taggart, Frandsen, Pollock, Blake, Johansen and Thompson. Some who have been there before and done it, some who maybe let themselves down.

"On top of that we've got the experience of Sellars, Bergsson, McGinlay and Sheridan.

"We set ourselves tremendous standards last season and, although that's history now, I see no reason why we can't keep the confidence and momentum going.

"It's a great challenge but I believe we are geared up for it."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.