There's a bit too much revisionism going on with Allen here. He was excellent for the first 3-4 months of the season, his form subsequently dipped, he got injured and the response is that he's now shit. Had his seas one the other way around, we'd have been all raving about him.
He's still a top quality footballer.
The same can't be said for Jay Spearing who was with us for half a dozen years and was never good enough. Just cos he played well for Bolton in a league below means fuck all really. He wouldn't even have gotten games for us, so your point is irrelevent.