Big Sam couldn't turn water into wine, but he did the next best thing - he signed Okocha

It was nothing short of stunning when Sam Allardyce convinced Augustine Jay-Jay Okocha to sign for Bolton Wanderers in 2002. The Nigerian superstar was playing for Paris Saint-Germain at the time, but the charismatic miracle-worker still decided to at least try it.

"We gave it a shot, not thinking we had any real chance. But if you don't ask you don't get. We flew out to Paris before the World Cup. We never really got any real response in that meeting, but to our surprise after the World Cup, and after a long conversation, we went back out there and struck a deal in the airport."

Although Bolton is nowhere near as glamourous as Paris (and that's an understatement), the chance of testing himself in English football was too good not to take. Allardyce profited from the changes football was going through at the time. The rest, as they say, is history. Okocha gave Bolton fans four memorable seasons.

"The main objective was for Okocha to play in the Premier League. Players were coming from all over the world in the early 2000s because it was clearly the best place to be, the best place to play football and the best place to get paid as well. He wanted to broaden his experience in football — and in culture, if you like. He'd experienced the German way, then Turkey, then France, then he wanted to come to England."

Jay-Jay Okocha and Big Sam are dancing again! Suffering Bolton fans got to remember their old stars

These days, Big Sam is out of work and Bolton are out of the Premier League. They finished ninth in the EFL League One table last season and would need another miracle worker to get them back into the top division.