THERE was something distinctly familiar about the way Wanderers upset Manchester United at the Reebok last weekend.

In fact there have been signs in every performance since Gary Megson arrived that the Whites are looking more like their old selves: organised, uncompromising and hard to beat with a never-say-die attitude and a smattering of class just when it is needed.

That it all came together in the fixture Bolton fans love to win more than any other made Megson's first victory all the more memorable.

How ironic, though, that the fans who showed their appreciation to the new manager with affectionate chants of "Ginger Mourinho", should taunt the man who masterminded so many similar upsets with a chorus of "Are you watching Allardyce?"

For Megson has, indeed, paid fulsome tributes to the work of his predecessor and adopted many of the principles he adopted during his seven-and-a-half year reign.

And yes, we have all drawn comparisons: Wanderers have got back to doing what they do best.

But the fans are right. This is no longer Sam Allardyce's team any more than it's Sammy Lee's. And if there are similarities in the way they are playing now, it's because that is the Megson way. That is why he was recruited.

The brief was simple: it doesn't matter how you do it, just keep Wanderers in the Premiership.

And that is precisely how he has set his stall out. And, since it's his neck on the block, it's churlish to suggest that all he is doing is replicating another man's style.

Megson is very much his own man and makes that clear with his assertion: "We're not trying to be the Bolton of old, we're not trying to re-invent the wheel, we're just trying to win football matches."

The formation is the same, as is much of the personnel, and the fact that Nicolas Anelka's winner against United came from a set-piece led many to draw obvious parellels.

But Wanderers have become considerably more solid at the back than they were in the second half of last season, largely due to the addition of Andy O'Brien, and they've become feistier in midfield with Danny Guthrie there.

Kevin Davies is just as effective, Kevin Nolan and Nicky Hunt have made bigger contributions and, if anything, Jussi Jaaskelainen is playing better than ever.

Ivan Campo looks more like his old self now that he's been restored to the role he made his own.

They were all Allardyce men, but now they are Megson men. Such is football life.

Being the dyed-in-the-wool pragmatist that he is, the new manager is too focused on the job in hand to concern himself with comparisons.

"There would be people who would have much more of an idea than I have as to whether it's the Bolton of old or not," he said. "But there's certainly a lot of the players who weren't here in the Bolton of old."

What is clear is that, Megson has encouraged a greater self-belief in the players, a unity of purpose that appears to have transmitted to the supporters. He gives all the credit to the team and solicits none for himself, but he is no spin merchant.

When Wanderers played poorly and were grateful to Stelios's last-gasp equaliser against Aris Thessaloniki on Thursday, he said they were poor, and offered no excuses for the performance. Play like that when they go to Red Star Belgrade on Thursday, he warned, and they won't get the win they require to qualify for the last 32.

But would that be a bad thing?

Megson was challenged over his decision not to play Anelka and Diouf from the start against the Greeks, but he made it clear he wanted them rested ahead of tomorrow's trip to Liverpool.

And he left no one in any doubt as to his priorities when he put progress in Europe into its true perspective.

"It would be an absolute disaster for us if we won the UEFA Cup and went down," he said.

"We don't want that. Everything's got to be geared to staying in this division."

That's Megson's brief and that is the Megson way.