Leicester City 0 Wanderers 5 The Monday Verdict by Gordon Sharrock

COUNTLESS visions have been conjured up in the minds of Reebok fans since their team's memorable triumph at the Millennium Stadium in May but not even the most creative of imaginations could have come up with this.

Jubilant players leaving the Filbert Street pitch to spine-tingling applause from their delirious followers, shellshocked and humiliated Leicester supporters calling for the head of their manager Peter Taylor and the league table showing Bolton Wanderers top of the Premiership.

Not bad for the team just about everybody outside the Reebok has been tipping to finish bottom of the pile.

Sam Allardyce has other ideas, of course, but even he never thought he would be coming home from Leicester warning his players not to get carried away!

"Not in my wildest dreams," was the manager's honest reaction after Wanderers had recorded their best ever Premiership win and their biggest away win for 73 years!

Such was the magnitude of the achievement.

The performance was assured, the football exhilarating and the finishing awesome.

Leicester were swept aside so convincingly and comprehensively that the game was over as a contest by half-time after Kevin Nolan, who started the game as a relative unknown but ended as a new teenage sensation, had sparked a scoring spree with the first goal of the new Premiership season. Michael Ricketts, Nolan again and the impressively influential Per Frandsen turned it into a rout.

They had the Foxes on the run and there was nothing Taylor could do to prevent the slaughter. His team had capitulated under the onslaught and, although the second half didn't live up to the sky high standards of the first in terms of creativity, the midfield remained organised and competitive, the defence stayed rock solid and Jussi Jaaskelainen wasn't stretched once.

And, just for good measure, Man of the Match Frandsen managed to add more gloss with a second stunning free kick eight minutes from time.

They are realistic enough at the Reebok to know that it will not always be as easy as this.

Mike Whitlow, who had a smile on his face for the entire 90 minutes as he enjoyed a hugely impressive and enormously satisfying performance against his former club, rejoiced in the victory but hinted at disappointments to come when he suggested: "We're going to end up having that done to us somewhere down the line."

No doubt they will when they come up against the handful of star-studded teams chasing the title - all considerably better teams than Leicester City.

Nevertheless, they can draw confidence and encouragement from having reduced two of the Premiership's most combative midfield players - Dennis Wise and Robbie Savage - to ineffective, almost anonymous, bystanders.

And for those critical of the club for not investing enough in new players, they did it almost entirely with last season's team - and not the best team at that!

As they had feared throughout the week building up to the big day, Colin Hendry and Gareth Farrelly failed fitness tests and Dean Holdsworth only made the subs' bench. Then Saturday morning brought another blow when Djibril Diawara, who was expected to start at centre-back, was ruled out with an injury picked up in training.

Leicester might have been encouraged but they soon discovered to their cost the power of the never-say-die spirit Allardyce has generated since his arrival and the effectiveness of a system that delivered a club record 14 away wins last season. It might have been different had Matt Elliott not planted a close range header wide of Jaaskelainen's left hand post after only two minutes. But, even if that had gone in, it is hard to imagine Wanderers surrendering so pathetically as Leicester did once Frandsen had outstripped Savage to deliver an amazing cross at full-stretch for Nolan to loop a header out of Tim Flowers' reach.

It was a dream start but it got better. Allardyce has always said Ricketts will score in the Premiership and the 22-year-old Brummie delivered on 32 minutes, collecting Ricardo Gardner's pass and leaving Gary Rowett in a heap before hitting a stunning right footer across Flowers into the top corner.

Leicester were a beaten side from that point on, much to Ian Marshall's surprise. The former Filbert Street favourite, who received a rousing ovation from the City fans when he replaced Gudni Bergsson 15 minutes from the end, was shocked to see his old team throw in the towel.

"When I was here the team spirit was fantastic," he recalled. "But when that second goal went in their heads dropped and it was never like that when I was around.

"It did surprise me. We thought we would win but not that easily. I don't think the scoreline flattered us. We could have had more."

As Allardyce was quick to point out, Wanderers have major tests to come with Liverpool, Leeds, Arsenal and Manchester United among their next nine fixtures. But they know now that they have the measure of a team that finished 13th last season.

They have no reason to be overawed by the challenge of the Premiership, having scored a major tactical triumph and a powerful, psychological victory in their opening fixture.

With the potency of their finishing and the execution of their set-pieces - Nolan's second came from a well-rehearsed routine and Frandsen's pair were trademark free kicks - they will always be a threat. And with more to come from the existing squad plus the scope for more signings, they should have nothing to fear in the bottom half of the table.

"It was beyond our most optimistic expectations," Bergsson admitted. "We have to admit that. I don't think we will maintain this kind of scoreline away from home but at least it gives us a great boost. We know it will be tough this season but the important thing is to be solid.

"We have to enjoy it while it lasts but we can't let ourselves get carried away."*