The opening day of the previous two campaigns had seen Bolton Wanderers on the end of a four nil hammering but this time the tables where turned as the Trotters dished out a thumping to Charlton Athletic on the opening day of the Premiership season.
Wanderers seemed to start off the new term pretty much in the same way as they had ended the last one with some free flowing confidence in their play and in all fairness there was only one winner at the Reebok Stadium today as the away side found themselves on the backfoot for most of the contest.
Nigerian playmaker Jay-Jay Okocha was back to his inspirational best for the home team and was at times breathtaking as Charlton failed to cope with the Bolton captain throughout the afternoon.
With less than a minute on the clock Bolton gave a warning sign of what was to come when striker Kevin Davies fired a powerful low shot into the hands of Charlton keeper Dean Kiely following a good header by new signing Gary Speed on the edge of the area.
Speed himself worked tirelessly throughout and looks to be another superb addition by the Bolton manager Sam Allardyce who adopted a different strategy to last season preferring to use both Davies and Henrik Pedersen in attack and this worked a treat as the latter played arguably his best game in Wanderers colours since joining from Silkeborg three years ago.
On four minutes Wanderers tested the Addicks again but the solid Bruno N'Gotty failed to head cleanly at the far post following a free kick from former Real Madrid ace Ivan Campo. Charlton could not find their rhythm and in the early stages failed to break out of the Bolton half.
Okocha who turned 31 today gave Bolton the lead on 11 minutes with a free kick which was to be worthy of the occasion. Having failed to score a goal in the Premiership all season last time around this one was worth waiting for, no swerves, no curls just a direct shot into Kiely's top left hand corner from 25-yards out. An Okocha special some might say!!!.
Charlton were forced into an early change when skipper Matt Holland was forced to depart through injury and this enabled new boy Bryan Hughes to make his debut making his first appearance since a Bosman move from Birmingham City.
The afforementioned Pedersen looked sharp and on 18 minutes he saw his long range shot turned away by Kiely who managed to save well to his left to deny the Danish international his first goal of the new season. The Dane fired over the bar soonafter from a difficult angle following a long Okocha throw but it wasn't to be long before the forward was to get off the mark.
On the half hour mark Bolton doubled their advantage when a sublime through ball by the excellent Okocha and a slip by a Charlton defender Mark Fish allowed Pedersen to strike the ball over the advancing Kiely for a 2-0 scoreline and it was no more than the Trotters deserved. Charlton on the other hand where asking themselves questions as to their organisation but to their credit they kept plugging away in an attempt to make things happen and this nearly paid dividens when Jamaican international striker Kevin Lisbie forced Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen into a close reflex save in the 33rd minute.
The half time whistle was signalled by referee Phil Dowd and this couldn't have come at a worse time for the Wanderers who where flying. The Addicks on the other hand welcomed the interval and manager Alan Curbishley was pondering whether or not to introduce new signings Dennis Rommedahl and Francis Jeffers into the proceedings.
Both Davies and Pedersen saw early chances go begging the second of which in particular from Pedersen was very unlucky not to make the scoreline 3-0 flashing marginally past the post.
Former Liverpool man Danny Murphy had a relitavely quiet debut for Charlton but a near perfect volley on 58 minutes was just inches over Jaaskelainen's crossbar.
Just when they thought the day couldn't get any worse Charlton's misery was complete when birthday boy Okocha added his second and Bolton's third on 59 with an effort from the edge of the area which caught Kiely off guard. In fairness to the Republic of Ireland keeper he had a mass of bodies in his area which did block his vision but the shot from Okocha was once again a sign of how important the Super Eagles star is for Bolton.
A few minutes later the Nigerian could have had a third goal but the Charlton defender got a block in the way and was able to hack the ball off the line to safety denying the Bolton captain the chance of getting the first Wanderers hat-trick in nearly two and a half years.
On 67 minutes Charlton pulled themselves back into the contest and this was to give them renewed spirit. A corner kick from the left was headed home by Lisbie and this appeared to pick the London side up and thereafter arrived Jeffers and Rommedahl in an attempt to pull themselves further back into the game.
Sam Allardyce's team continued to push and the fourth goal was unlucky not to come with 20 minutes left on the clock. First Julio Cesar and then Kevin Nolan had attempts cleared off the line but despite Charlton's resiliance the fourth goal eventually came from the impressive Pedersen who cut inside from the right hand side to strike the ball into Kiely's bottom right corner.
Bolton then introduced the experienced Les Ferdinand for his first official opportunity in Wanderers colours in place of the hardworking Davies whilst Euro 2004 hero Stelios Giannakopoulos was brought on to replace last season's leading scorer Kevin Nolan.
Another new arrival Tal Ben-Haim also entered the fray during a seven minute spell and the Israelian international soon got to grips with Charlton substitute Dennis Rommedahl who's pace looked like it could cause a late stir.
Gary Speed fired over for Wanderers and Ben-Haim unchallenged did likewise whilst sub Giannakopoulos was unlucky to miss out on a last minute fifth goal following a fine header across goal from the veteran striker Ferdinand.
This has been the best opening day success for Bolton since the 5-0 demolition of Leicester City three years ago. The Trotters tonight will lead the Premiership table ahead of Aston Villa on goals scored and although we aren't expected to remain there long it is nice to get off to a good start and greater testimony that Sam Allardyce is willing to take Bolton to further dizzy heights in the Premiership. As for Charlton they are a good side on their day and will no doubt be aiming to put this defeat out of their minds for the next game.
Wanderers seemed to start off the new term pretty much in the same way as they had ended the last one with some free flowing confidence in their play and in all fairness there was only one winner at the Reebok Stadium today as the away side found themselves on the backfoot for most of the contest.
Nigerian playmaker Jay-Jay Okocha was back to his inspirational best for the home team and was at times breathtaking as Charlton failed to cope with the Bolton captain throughout the afternoon.
With less than a minute on the clock Bolton gave a warning sign of what was to come when striker Kevin Davies fired a powerful low shot into the hands of Charlton keeper Dean Kiely following a good header by new signing Gary Speed on the edge of the area.
Speed himself worked tirelessly throughout and looks to be another superb addition by the Bolton manager Sam Allardyce who adopted a different strategy to last season preferring to use both Davies and Henrik Pedersen in attack and this worked a treat as the latter played arguably his best game in Wanderers colours since joining from Silkeborg three years ago.
On four minutes Wanderers tested the Addicks again but the solid Bruno N'Gotty failed to head cleanly at the far post following a free kick from former Real Madrid ace Ivan Campo. Charlton could not find their rhythm and in the early stages failed to break out of the Bolton half.
Okocha who turned 31 today gave Bolton the lead on 11 minutes with a free kick which was to be worthy of the occasion. Having failed to score a goal in the Premiership all season last time around this one was worth waiting for, no swerves, no curls just a direct shot into Kiely's top left hand corner from 25-yards out. An Okocha special some might say!!!.
Charlton were forced into an early change when skipper Matt Holland was forced to depart through injury and this enabled new boy Bryan Hughes to make his debut making his first appearance since a Bosman move from Birmingham City.
The afforementioned Pedersen looked sharp and on 18 minutes he saw his long range shot turned away by Kiely who managed to save well to his left to deny the Danish international his first goal of the new season. The Dane fired over the bar soonafter from a difficult angle following a long Okocha throw but it wasn't to be long before the forward was to get off the mark.
On the half hour mark Bolton doubled their advantage when a sublime through ball by the excellent Okocha and a slip by a Charlton defender Mark Fish allowed Pedersen to strike the ball over the advancing Kiely for a 2-0 scoreline and it was no more than the Trotters deserved. Charlton on the other hand where asking themselves questions as to their organisation but to their credit they kept plugging away in an attempt to make things happen and this nearly paid dividens when Jamaican international striker Kevin Lisbie forced Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen into a close reflex save in the 33rd minute.
The half time whistle was signalled by referee Phil Dowd and this couldn't have come at a worse time for the Wanderers who where flying. The Addicks on the other hand welcomed the interval and manager Alan Curbishley was pondering whether or not to introduce new signings Dennis Rommedahl and Francis Jeffers into the proceedings.
Both Davies and Pedersen saw early chances go begging the second of which in particular from Pedersen was very unlucky not to make the scoreline 3-0 flashing marginally past the post.
Former Liverpool man Danny Murphy had a relitavely quiet debut for Charlton but a near perfect volley on 58 minutes was just inches over Jaaskelainen's crossbar.
Just when they thought the day couldn't get any worse Charlton's misery was complete when birthday boy Okocha added his second and Bolton's third on 59 with an effort from the edge of the area which caught Kiely off guard. In fairness to the Republic of Ireland keeper he had a mass of bodies in his area which did block his vision but the shot from Okocha was once again a sign of how important the Super Eagles star is for Bolton.
A few minutes later the Nigerian could have had a third goal but the Charlton defender got a block in the way and was able to hack the ball off the line to safety denying the Bolton captain the chance of getting the first Wanderers hat-trick in nearly two and a half years.
On 67 minutes Charlton pulled themselves back into the contest and this was to give them renewed spirit. A corner kick from the left was headed home by Lisbie and this appeared to pick the London side up and thereafter arrived Jeffers and Rommedahl in an attempt to pull themselves further back into the game.
Sam Allardyce's team continued to push and the fourth goal was unlucky not to come with 20 minutes left on the clock. First Julio Cesar and then Kevin Nolan had attempts cleared off the line but despite Charlton's resiliance the fourth goal eventually came from the impressive Pedersen who cut inside from the right hand side to strike the ball into Kiely's bottom right corner.
Bolton then introduced the experienced Les Ferdinand for his first official opportunity in Wanderers colours in place of the hardworking Davies whilst Euro 2004 hero Stelios Giannakopoulos was brought on to replace last season's leading scorer Kevin Nolan.
Another new arrival Tal Ben-Haim also entered the fray during a seven minute spell and the Israelian international soon got to grips with Charlton substitute Dennis Rommedahl who's pace looked like it could cause a late stir.
Gary Speed fired over for Wanderers and Ben-Haim unchallenged did likewise whilst sub Giannakopoulos was unlucky to miss out on a last minute fifth goal following a fine header across goal from the veteran striker Ferdinand.
This has been the best opening day success for Bolton since the 5-0 demolition of Leicester City three years ago. The Trotters tonight will lead the Premiership table ahead of Aston Villa on goals scored and although we aren't expected to remain there long it is nice to get off to a good start and greater testimony that Sam Allardyce is willing to take Bolton to further dizzy heights in the Premiership. As for Charlton they are a good side on their day and will no doubt be aiming to put this defeat out of their minds for the next game.