Paul Robinson has backed Sam Allardyce for the vacant manager's job at Bolton Wanderers. The former Leeds United boss has been linked with an emotional return to the League One club.

Allardyce enjoyed a highly successful eight-year spell with the Trotters from 1999, leading them to the top flight two years after taking charge of the Lancashire outfit. He also led them to the 2004 League Cup final and UEFA Cup qualification.

Many Wanderers supporters have for the 70-year-old to be considered by the club as they hunt for a replacement for Ian Evatt, who left by mutual consent last week. Allardyce has been out of management since his short spell at Elland Road in 2023.

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In an interview with Betfred TV, ex-United shot-stopper Robinson said: “It just seems like a good fit doesn’t it? "It’s one of them that puts a smile on your face. I worked with Sam for a number of years at Blackburn and he’s one of the best man-managers that I’ve ever worked for.

“He gets a lot of criticism for the way that he plays, but he deals with what he’s got, the players that he’s got and he’s very effective. Sam was at the forefront of sport science and surrounded himself with very clever, intelligent members of staff who were the leaders in their field.

"Every week we are talking about set-plays in the Premier League. We’ve got set-play coaches on the touchline, standing next to managers and there’s a lot of teams putting so much emphasis on set-plays, but Sam was doing this 20 years ago, but he gets called a dinosaur because his teams were putting players in the box and lumping it. Now we have specific coaches in the Premier League, it’s ‘revolutionary’, but Sam had been doing it for years.

“I think Sam back at Bolton would be a great fit. We don’t know if that will wet his appetite or not because of where he is in his career and everything he’s achieved, but I think there might be some sentimental value there for him. It’s a nice story isn’t it? I hope he does.”

Speaking on his podcast No Tippy Tappy Football, in association with Footy Accumulators, Allardyce offered his services to the Trotters but made it clear he would not be returning as a manager. “My passion for Bolton is always there,” he said. “I was born in the Midlands but Bolton is my town and my club, and everybody knows that because of the great times I had as a player and as the manager.

“If I can help I would, if they asked me to, not as the manager though. I think that needs to go to somebody that is ready to take the club to the next level and the board is hopefully there to support him.

“I wouldn't want the job, the fear of them thinking if I went back into help that I would be there to take their job is just total nonsense. If I wanted to go back and I wanted the manager's job, I'd say ‘Well, I'd like to go back to Bolton’. But I wouldn't. I'd like to go back and help him if I could but not as the manager.”

Wanderers kicked off the post-Evatt era with a hard-earned win at Huddersfield Town yesterday.