It was meant to be an afternoon of high emotion and it was supposed to be the mother of all battles. In the event, the Battle of the Sams was a no-contest. Bolton Wanderers’ maliciously forgetful fans may have barracked him throughout but Sam Allardyce’s former charges were somewhat more generous, with a first-half defensive horror show gifting Newcastle United a straightforward victory.

Escorted off past the cheering Geordies and jeering Boltonians and into the Reebok by a pair of minders even more burly than himself, Allardyce’s return to the club he transformed before his hasty departure probably came a little earlier than he might have wished.

In truth, since Allardyce’s era, the grass has not grown under Bolton’s feet and not merely because the Reebok has a brand new pitch. New manager Sammy Lee has recruited a whole new backroom, brought in 11 new players, of whom only three started yesterday, and changed his team’s style from Allardyce’s fluid formation into a 4-4-1-1 which, as a result of Ricardo Vaz Te’s inability to avoid drifting into the centre, looked desperately short of width.

And, just to ensure a final break with the past, he felt sufficiently secure to use his maiden programme notes to criticise Bolton’s fitness levels under his predecessor. It almost goes without saying that whereas Allardyce signed his own programme notes “Big Sam”, his diminutive successor decided a curt “Sammy Lee” was enough. After 45 disastrous minutes, it was clear other things have changed too.

If Allardyce could have done without a first-day return to Lancashire, he had an injury list to wring his hands over. Obviously Michael Owen was absent, but so were Shay Given, Joey Barton, Damien Duff, Emre, Albert Luque and Celestine Babayaro, while Kieron Dyer was too out in the cold to even warm the visitors’ bench.

No matter, Newcastle greeted their new dawn with a swashbuckling first half, albeit one aided by lamentable opposition. They drifted ahead in the 11th minute, but by then Mark Viduka had almost profited when two of Lee’s new recruits, Gerald Cid and Jlloyd Samuel, set the tone for a wretched first half by miscommunicating in the penalty area, after lackadaisical Kevin Nolan defending had allowed James Milner the time and space to measure a pinpoint cross.

The opener was as sloppy as they come. From 25 yards out, left-back Charles N’Zogbia curled over an innocent-looking free kick. Newcastle strikers tried to head it home; Bolton defenders attempted to head it to safety. Instead it eluded everyone and Jussi Jaaskelainen’s dive and Bolton were breached.

Before 30 minutes had passed, that breach had become a haemorrhage. After 21 minutes, Nicky Hunt offered Milner yet more space to cross from the left. Samuel and Geremi jumped and missed, before the ball fell to Obafemi Martins, unmarked in the six-yards box. The Nigerian’s overhead kick was spectacular; the challenge to him nonexistent and the lead was extended.

Two down, Wanderers heads began to drop and Wanderers minds began to wander and even when they did fashion a chance, after a drive from Gary Speed, making his 600th career start, whistled through Alan Smith’s legs, Steven Taylor was on hand to clear off the line.

Just when it seemed it couldn’t get any worse for Bolton, it did indeed get worse. Taylor pumped a long ball towards Martins, who evaded Cid’s powderpuff challenge to shoot. Jaaskelainen seemed to have it covered but Abdoulaye Faye stuck a leg out to send his own goalkeeper the wrong way. In his technical area, Little Sam looked at the ground. In the directors’ box, Big Sam remained stone-faced, and just to rub salt into already festering wounds, the travelling hordes chanted “Big Sam’s Barmy Army” as Newcastle swanned their way to half-time.

Tempting though it must have been to make more wholesale changes, Lee restricted himself to introducing El Hadji Diouf for the second half. Curiously the effect was not only to add desperately needed width and unpredictability, but to galvanise the hitherto invisible Nicolas Anelka, who suddenly began to give the hitherto imperious David Rozehnal a torrid time.

Six minutes after the restart, Nolan carried the ball forward, slipped it to Anelka, who showed he was too canny and too fast for Stephen Carr before steering neatly past Stephen Harper.

The start of an epic revival or a fleeting chimera? Neither team panicked. Bolton elected not to swing troops forwards, not least because their defensive frailty meant Speed and Gavin McCann were needed to shore up the backline, while Newcastle picked, probed and swapped Nolberto Solano for Martins, just to batten down the hatches a touch more tightly.

Yet, as Bolton’s grisly afternoon lumbered to a close, their inflexibility meant they were incapable of mounting one last great push. Anelka retreated back into his shell, Diouf’s runs ended un frustration rather that defensive turmoil and, again, Bolton’s absence of width meant an absence of options and Harper was barely troubled again.

By the end, as the home support fled in droves fearing for the future, the travellers sang their way to three points and had Jaaskelainen not reacted smartly to foil Geremi’s free kick, they might have scored the fourth the gulf between the sides warranted. Bolton Newcastle 7 Shots on target (incl goals) 5 4 Shots off target 2 2 Blocked shots 3 4 Corners won 3 16 Total fouls conceded 15 0 Offsides 4 1 Yellow cards 1 0 Red cards 0 63% Possession 37%

Star man: James Milner (Newcastle) Player ratings: Bolton: Jaaskelainen 6, Hunt 4, Faye 4, Cid 4, Samuel 4, Nolan 6, McCann 7, Speed 6 (Alonso, 76min), Vaz Te 4 (Diouf, ht), Davies 5 (Helguson, 58min; 4), Anelka 6 Newcastle: Harper 6, Carr 6, Taylor 7, Rozehnal 6, N’Zogbia 6, Geremi 7, Butt 6, Smith 7, Milner 7 (Ramage, 86min), Martins 7 (Solano, 66min), Viduka 6 (Amoebi, 72min) Referee: C Hoy Attendance: 25,414