Bolton shock as Allardyce walks over lack of funds

Sam Allardyce yesterday resigned as manager of Bolton Wanderers, despite not having a new job, after he finally lost patience with the limited transfer funds of the club he has transformed. He described the decision as one of the "hardest I have had to make in my life" and his assistant Sammy Lee now looks the favourite to succeed him.

While Allardyce and club chairman Phil Gartside have not divulged the reasons for the decision, it is understood that after six seasons in the Premiership, Allardyce had grown tired of working on a shoestring budget. With no promise of extra funds next season, despite the increase in television revenue, he is believed to have decided to cut his losses and make himself available to other clubs during the summer.

The 52-year-old has become one of the Premiership's most outspoken managers, not to mention one of the most successful, and, with Bolton in fifth place, he was poised to achieve the highest Premiership position this season by an English manager. Allardyce was devastated to miss out on the England manager's job last year and has taken something of a step into the unknown by resigning with immediate effect.

It has not gone unnoticed by Allardyce that other managers like Martin O'Neill and Alan Curbishley who have taken breaks from the job in the recent past - especially after successful periods - have found themselves highly sought after. Keeping Bolton in the top flight has not proved easy and he feels it is better to leave with his stock still high. It would not be beyond the realms of possibility that Allardyce might be considered as a successor to McClaren should England fail against Estonia on 6 June.

He has been linked heavily with a move to Manchester City, although the current hierarchy at the club could have appointed him when they gave Stuart Pearce the job two years ago and decided against it. There have been reports that Ray Ranson's takeover consortium would favour Allardyce but given how little seriousness City officials have attached to that bid, it would seem unlikely that Ranson will be successful.

Describing Bolton as his "spiritual home for 18 years", Allardyce said in a statement that by leaving immediately he would give his successor the chance to get the maximum experience before next season.

"I believe the foundation of the phase for the next development stage of the club is well and truly in place," Allardyce said. "I feel confident that I am moving on with my life content with the legacy that I have tried to create for this special club."

Allardyce avoided the post-match press conference following his side's typically robust 2-2 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday after the first reports of his impending resignation. Gartside will hold a press conference today having, as he said, "reluctantly accepted" Allardyce's resignation.

Gartside added: "He [Allardyce] has helped lead a fantastic transformation of this famous Lancashire club and has helped design and build an infrastructure that will enable the club to continue the progress that we have undoubtedly made in his period of office."

Following the man who took Bolton up to the Premiership in his first full season in charge, 2000-01, will be no easy task. Allardyce's successor will have to work with a board which keeps transfer budgets minimal and will have to know the foreign markets as well as him. One such example, the Iranian international Andranik Teymourian, picked up at a snip by Bolton, looked an excellent prospect against Chelsea.

The favourite will be Lee, the former England assistant coach, who joined the club in the summer. Lee put forward his own case as delicately as possible at Stamford Bridge. "I have always been ambitious and I have been very fortunate because I have worked under some very good people learning my trade," he said. "I haven't managed before, I would like to one day and it's for other people to make that decision. Sam knew that when I came here, I have not been digging away in any shape or form. He has certainly broadened my horizons and he has certainly broadened my education as regards coaching."