Never again, says Megson
GARY Megson finally celebrated Premiership survival last night and insisted he would do all in his power to ensure relegation battles are a thing of the past.
Matty Taylor's last-gasp equaliser at Chelsea meant Wanderers finished 16th, a point clear of the drop zone, leaving Reading and Birmingham relegated alongside already doomed Derby.
Now, after all the trials and tribulations of his seven months at the Reebok, the Bolton boss is looking forward to putting his own stamp on the club - from a position of strength.
"We have problems that need sorting out," Megson said, "but I'm delighted we can sort them out as a Premiership club because, going down and coming straight back, as everybody says, is a real task.
"I've done it at West Brom and I'm really pleased I don't have to do it here at Bolton."
Megson confirmed that his Reebok bosses would give him money to spend in the summer and that he aimed to strengthen the squad which, in the main, he inherited when he replaced Sammy Lee last October. But he said he already had Premiership quality players who would give him a head start.
"We've got some great assets at the club, which we've got to try and maintain and we have to add to them," he said.
"We've now got the summer to try and work on that.
"The good thing is that everybody is buying into that. I expect us to have a busy summer, not just in terms of player acquisitions but by using what's happened to us this season to make sure it doesn't happen again and that we move the club forward."
And in a veiled response to the criticism former Wanderers boss Sam Allardyce levelled at the club he left a year ago, Megson said the problems he inherited stemmed back almost 18 months.
Allardyce accused Wanderers of dismantling what he had built over the previous seven and a half years. But the current Bolton boss suggested cracks were already starting to appear before he left.
"A lot of the problems that exist at Bolton haven't just come about this season," he said.
"Since January 2007, we have only managed to beat two teams in the top half of the table: that was Manchester United and West Ham.
"These things haven't been going right for a long time.
"You're not down at the bottom a point below Derby with a quarter of the season gone for no reason."
Realistically, Megson does not expect Wanderers to be challenging the dominance of the Big Four but says they should not be fighting survival battles either.
"Bolton is always going to be a mid-table team which in any really good season can finish sixth or seventh and possibly get into Europe," he said.
"But if it doesn't go quite right, they should be able to make sure of finishing seventh or eight from bottom and not in the cart we've been in.
"There will be money spent because everybody's singing from the same hymn sheet. We know everything in the garden is far from rosy but we have assets which we have to build on and move the club forward from what has been a very precarious position - but one we are delighted to have got away from."
9:15pm Sunday 11th May 2008
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