And like so many great adventures there have been twists, turns and other unforeseen ventures down avenues where the answer to the Trotters problem seem to lay, but to no long-lasting avail.
The signing of Dean Holdsworth for a club record fee of £3.5 million from Wimbledon in 1997 was hoped to fill the void that McGinlay would soon leave.
Yes, Holdsworth had been struggling to find form at the tail end of a six-year stint with the ‘crazy boys', but the potential to rejuvenate a striker the Wanderers fans would come to adore was there - a player who could score goals to keep the club in the top flight during the rocky 1997-98 season.
Although fans took to ‘Deano', his and the team's efforts weren't enough to save Wanderers from relegation on the last day of the season at Stamford Bridge.
The next three seasons in Division One ensured more league games and starts for Holdsworth who averaged only 11 goals a season.
His glaring miss in the 2000 F.A Cup Semi Final against Aston Villa would confirm fans suspicions that Holdsworth simply wasn't the player it was hoped he could have been.
Pivotal to that FA Cup run was a little unknown striker from Iceland who had once spent time playing up front with Brazilian ace Ronaldo at PSV Eindhoven.
Eidur Gudjohnsen had joined Bolton from KR Reykjavik on a free transfer in 1998. He proved to be a good signing scoring five goals in 14 games during his first season with the club.
But it was his consistent performances during the 1999-2000 FA Cup run that caught the eye of bigger teams from around the country.
He was eventually sold to Chelsea in the summer of 2000 for £4 million after spending two seasons with Bolton.
In the same year a £400,000 signing from Walsall was making a name for himself at Wanderers.
Michael Ricketts, the supersub, netted 24 goals in his debut season as Bolton clinched promotion in the 2000-2001 season.
The forward continued scoring in his first season in the Premiership hitting 15 goals.
His form had begin to dip when Sven Goran Eriksson gave Ricketts his first England call up for a friendly against Holland in 2002.
Yet in his first 45 minutes of International football he failed to make much of an impression. Ricketts was to fall out with Sam Allardyce before being sold to Middlesborough in January 2003 for £3.5 million.
And so Wanderers were once again on the lookout for a striker and were prepared to look further a field.
Continental signings such as Youri Djorkaeff and Jay-Jay Okocha had taken to life in the Premiership with much success. Perhaps another player from overseas whose career had been on the rocks could have his fortunes resurrected at Bolton.
Mario Jardel had been touted as one of the best South American forwards in recent history. Not only had Jardel scooped two European Golden Boot awards, but he had also been Europe's top goalscorer for three years in the 1998-99, 1999-2000 and 2001-2002 seasons.
Yet in his first seven games for Wanderers he failed to score a single goal in the 2003-2004 campaign. Jardel's fitness, stamina and finishing were clearly not up to standard and his short career with the club ended with few goals.
Kevin Davies, El-Hadji-Diouf, and Jared Borgetti have yet to end their time at the Reebok Stadium and have all enjoyed comparative success. But Big Sam knows the signing of a goal scorer will be essential if Wanderers are to progress as a force in the Premiership.