A goal from substitute Ricardo Gardner sealed a 1-0 victory against Newcastle at the Reebok Stadium to cap a good day for Megson, who revealed he had finally signed a 12-month rolling contract 16 months after arriving.

He said he only did so because the Barclays Premier League had forced the club's hand on the matter.

Megson explained: "I had been working up until 10 days ago without signing anything although obviously I have been getting paid.

"It is not such a big thing. It was just a pre-requisite from the league. So I had to do what I was supposed to do.

"There is no difference to the way I have been working and gone about things. All I have done now is sign a bit of paper."

Megson feels Bolton are on the right path after he managed to steer the side clear of relegation against the odds last season.

He said: "I do not want to harp on about it but we were in a mess 16 months ago.

"I think 22 players have left and maybe 10 or 11 have come in to replace them. We are actually in the black.

"We have to get it right on the football pitch and financially. I feel we are doing that but we can't afford to make too many mistakes financially. We can't go bananas in one go.

"We are doing a little bit better than last season and have the opportunity to finish strongly and I certainly hope we do that."

Gardner broke Newcastle's resistance with a superb strike following a cross from Matt Taylor in the 46th minute.

That was enough to give Bolton victory and put them in good heart for the trip to Stoke on Wednesday.

Megson said: "I was quite pleased with our performance in the first half although we did not show enough penetration. But we looked quite solid.

"They did not cause us too many problems from set-pieces. We obviously got off to a great start in the second half and scored.

"But after that we didn't pass the ball well enough and did not keep it enough. However we made the point before the game that the result was all-important and it was the right one."

Chairman Phil Gartside told Setanta Sports: "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."