Bolton 4 Charlton 1

AS THE final whistle brought his wretched afternoon to a close, Charlton manager Alan Curbishley stood by the entrance to the players' tunnel.

Hands on hips, he fixed each and everyone of his players with an icy glare as they left the field. None approached him and their caution was commendable.

Coaches get it wrong, players fail to perform, football teams lose. It happens all the time. But when expectations are so high and defeat is accompanied by dishonour, then players must expect a savage and searching inquest - even on the opening day of a season.

For this was abject, a display to rank with Charlton's most wretched of recent years. Devoid of shape, ideas and inspiration, they were not only second, they were a distant second, fortunate to escape a far heavier defeat.

Bolton won in a contemptuous canter and four goals represented a miserly reward. It was the kind of defeat which calls into sternest question the spirit and character of the side.

Curbishley avoided conventional cliché and told the truth. Last season, his side had opened with a 3-0 defeat against Manchester City on the first day and recovered to finish seventh - their highest in the Premier League. The manager was having none of it.

He said: "Though we lost that day, we performed. We can't take anything from today's game because that was a shadow of any Charlton team we've ever put out.

"There were so many uncharacteristic performances out there, that it is hard to comprehend. From my point of view, I will accept I changed the shape and that the first goal was a wonder strike.

"The rest, the players can take on the chin because we were second best in everything we did. If we had turned up for a race with Bolton we would have lost by a furlong.

"They had more aggression, desire and commitment - the very characteristics usually found in our side. Bolton played to their strengths and we couldn't cope."

He added: "I feel sorry for our supporters and everyone connected with the club. I don't think Bolton manager Sam Allardyce would swap any of his players for any of mine."

From the 10th minute, when Bolton skipper Jay Jay Okocha chose to celebrate his 31st birthday with his club's supporters by driving in a wonderful angled 25-yard free kick past the startled Dean Kiely, Charlton were dazzled by the Nigerian's array of superlative skills.

Having failed to score in any of Bolton's Premiership games last season, Okocha was desperate to make up for lost time.

The midfielder then turned goalmaker with a slide-rule pass to play in Henrik Pedersen for Bolton's second in the 29th minute, by which time Charlton were heavily into damage limitation.

Okocha made it 3-1 in the 59th minute with a 20 yard drive that beat Kiely on his near post and would have completed a hat-trick in the 64th minute had striker Shaun Bartlett not helped out his overrun defence with a goalline clearance.

Kevin Lisbie opened his account for the season with a 66th minute headed goal from debut-making Danny Murphy's corner. But the respite was brief as Pedersen added a fourth in the 72nd minute from a pass by the excellent Gary Speed.

As he stood and counted his players in at the end, you could not have blamed Curbishley for counting in Bolton's, just to make sure there was no numerical advantage.