Gartside suggested shortly before the match that Allardyce's departure from Bolton near the end of last season came at the right time because the fans had become bored with his team's direct style of football.

So Allardyce had every reason to enjoy Newcastle's excellent performance as they started the season with a 3-1 win against a team now managed by his former assistant Sammy Lee.

It is not the first time this summer that Gartside has criticised Allardyce, who said: "If that's what he thinks, then I don't know why.

"He has been saying an awful lot about Sam Allardyce since I left, but I have left this club in a very healthy state - the best it has ever been.

"He hasn't moved on, but I've moved on and left a great platform for Bolton. I don't know why he's so angry, but that's life.

"I've been disappointed with a lot of the comments he's made, but my actions speak louder than words.

"I've kept my mouth shut and now we've come here and played them off the park and that says everything for me. I'm looking forward, not back, and I want to improve Newcastle."

Charles N'Zogbia opened the scoring for Newcastle in the 27th minute before an Obefemi Martins double put Allardyce on the road to victory before half time.

Allardyce has been keen to launch a complete overhaul of his squad and he believes he is moving in the right direction.

"We are 40 per cent towards where I want to be," he said. "There's another 60 per cent to go. I've got to buy time to get there and I can only do that by winning matches.

"That's why this is a great start for us. It's been a great day for me, bringing a new team back to my old club. I certainly felt a bit more edgy and nervous before the game.

"I hoped my players would go over the white line and produce committed and quality football, and that happened in a very good first 45 minutes when we killed off the opposition stone dead.

"It was about seeing the game out in the second half and we did it extremely well apart from the slip-up when they scored their goal."

Nicolas Anelka claimed Bolton's consolation goal in the 50th minute of a second-half which gave Lee some encouragement.

The Bolton manager said: "I was disappointed by the result, but if I can take any positive from the game it came in the response I got in the second-half.

"If we hadn't got that response, I would be even angrier than I am at the moment.

"We just didn't start the game and I can't explain it, but I will be looking for reasons why it happened."

Bolton's players were unhappy that they were not awarded a penalty when Newcastle led 2-0, although Lee said: "You can have ifs and buts, but that doesn't disguise the fact we were 3-0 down at an early stage and hadn't started to play."