Gary Megson may be on the brink of becoming the new manager of Bolton Wanderers, but there appears to be little appetite among the club’s supporters for the appointment.

A damning poll conducted on the website of The Bolton News yesterday revealed that only 1.7 per cent of fans were in favour of the former Leicester City manager succeeding Sammy Lee, who was dismissed last week after only 5½ months in charge.

Megson parted company with Leicester last night, drawing a stern rebuke in the process from Milan Mandaric, the Coca-Cola Championship club’s chairman, and could be named as Bolton manager as early as today. Megson is expected in the stands at the Reebok Stadium this evening to watch Bolton play Braga, of Portugal, in their opening Uefa Cup group F fixture and he should take charge of his first match at home to Aston Villa in the Barclays Premier League on Sunday.

“Despite my best efforts to retain his services and turning down two formal approaches from Bolton, Gary left me with no choice [on Tuesday evening] when he informed me that he wanted to leave Leicester and talk to the Premiership club,” Mandaric said.

“I made it abundantly clear that Bolton’s interest was neither welcome nor invited, but it was evident to me that following a meeting with Gary following [Tuesday’s] home defeat by Sheffield United, his loyalties and heart lay elsewhere.

“Naturally, I am very disappointed. My objectives were to stand firm in the face of mounting interest from Bolton and intense media speculation over Gary’s future, but in the end these completely undermined my firm determination to retain his services.”

Nonetheless, Mandaric’s remarks are thought to mask the belief that he had made a mistake in the first place six weeks ago when he appointed Megson, but the Leicester chairman may not rue that too much given that the club is expected to pocket about £300,000 in compensation from Bolton.

Regardless of the breakdown in Megson’s relationship with Mandaric, however, the belief that his position at the Walkers Stadium had become untenable was confirmed during the 1-0 defeat by Sheffield United when he was barracked by supporters. Whether he receives a better reception from Bolton fans remains to be seen.

Megson attracted only 12 of the 699 votes that were cast in the internet poll, by far the fewest of the four listed contenders, but regardless of the prospect of a backlash, Phil Gartside, the Bolton chairman, remains undeterred.

Steve Bruce, Graeme Souness and Chris Coleman received 21.7 per cent, 10 per cent and 9.2 per cent of the votes respectively, but a staggering 57.4 per cent of voters said that they did not want any of the candidates on the list.

Paul Jewell was the preferred choice of most supporters, but the former Wigan Athletic manager was understood to have turned down the opportunity to take the job.

Megson’s managerial record hardly makes for happy reading and Bolton supporters will be dismayed no doubt by his inability to keep West Bromwich Albion in the top flight during the 2002-03 season after starting the campaign in similar fashion, with only one win in their opening ten Premier League matches.

On the flip side, Megson, twice won promotion to the top flight with West Bromwich, but he hardly covered himself in glory during other managerial stints at Norwich City, Blackpool, Stockport County, Stoke City and Nottingham Forest, while some have cast aspersions on his ability to handle a team littered with temperamental foreign players.

It is unclear whether Archie Knox, who has been in temporary charge of first-team affairs at the Reebok Stadium since Lee’s departure, will be asked to stay on by Megson, but the Scot insisted yesterday that it was time that the players started to accept some of the responsibility for Bolton’s position.

One thing is for certain. Megson will have his hands full.

How they line up

Bolton Wanderers (probable; 4-1-2-3): J Jaaskelainen – J O’Brien, A Meïté, A O’Brien, R Gardner – I Campo – K Nolan, G McCann – K Davies, N Anelka, E-H Diouf.

Braga (possible; 3-4-3): D Mallo – Vandinho, Frechaut, P Jorge – A Madrid, Wender, J Pereira, C Peixoto – Jorginho, Zé Manel, R Linz.

Referee: D Ceferin (Slovenia).

Television: Live on Setanta Sports 1 from 7.30pm (kick-off 8pm).