Trotters boss Megson gets new rolling contract

Bolton manager Gary Megson has agreed a new rolling contract, the club have confirmed.

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The 'Ginger Mourinho' has a tough job at Bolton.

The former Norwich and West Brom boss agreed the new deal during the last fortnight and it has already taken effect.

Megson joined Bolton in October 2007 with the team odds-on for relegation but he led them to safety and preserved their Premier League status.

Megson, who still had just over a year of his contract left, has guided the Trotters to 12th in the top flight.

"We're looking to build on the stability that Gary and his team have brought to Bolton," said Wanderers chairman Phil Gartside. "By signing the new contact this is a natural part of the process."

The 48-year-old enjoyed a lengthy playing career with spells at Norwich, Nottingham Forest, Everton and Sheffield Wednesday before moving into management when he took over as caretaker boss at Carrow Road in 1995.

However, the midfielder was unable to prevent the club's relegation from the top flight and revived his playing career with short spells at Shrewsbury and Lincoln before becoming full-time boss at Norwich.

It was though a short-lived sojourn though as he left for Blackpool as former manager Mike Walker returned to East Anglia.

A year later Megson took over at Stockport and steered them to eighth place in the First Division in his first season before moving on to Stoke although he was there only four months before revising after disagreements with the club's board.

West Brom was Megson's next port of call, being appointed manager towards the end of the 1999/2000 season and he managed to keep the club in the championship before guiding the team into the play-offs the following season before being beaten by Bolton.

However, 2002 saw the Baggies claim automatic promotion - although Megson admitted he had differences with chairman Paul Thompson who later stood down.

Just a year later and Albion were relegated before making an automatic return the following season.

However, in October Megson was relieved of his duties hours after revealing he intended to leave the club at the end of his contract in summer 2005.

He was named as Nottingham Forest boss in January 2005 but resigned 13 months later after relegation to League One was followed by a poor start to the next campaign.

A coaching role at Stoke followed before he replaced Martin Allen as Leicester boss in September 2007. However, just a month later he had moved to the north-west.

Chairman Phil Gartside said ''Gary and I get on very well together.

''I know the quality of the work that is going on behind the scenes. He has got a good team behind him, and they have worked hard this year.

''We got into a real transition period, and I think we are beginning to get to the end of that.''

Megson has had to endure a rough ride from some supporters, and the chairman is asking for patience.

Gartside added: ''We have a generation of fans here who have not known anything but Premier League football, and some of them only top-10 finishes.

''But the majority do understand the work that Gary is doing, and a lot of people are happy with that.''