IT may have arrived in mid-November, but Newcastle United had their Premier League lesson finally dished out to them – even if it was at the Reebok Stadium rather than a big gun.

Bolton Wanderers, who many had tipped to drop down to the Championship at the start of the season, were outstanding from start to finish to make the Magpies look every bit a team fresh out of the Championship.

Fortunately Newcastle have had a decent enough start to life back in the Premier League, but this collapse should provide a warning that the rest of the season will not be easy.

From the moment Kevin Nolan, on his return to the ground where he spent a decade, wasted an opportunity to put Newcastle in front inside 60 seconds, Bolton took charge.

Nolan stupidly conceded a penalty in the 17th minute when he used his arm to lift the ball over South Korean Chung-Yong Lee. Kevin Davies converted the spot-kick by sending Tim Krul the wrong way.

It was two with seven minutes remaining until half-time and the scoreline could have been worse for the Magpies.

After a number of chances came and went Bolton's way, Matthew Taylor's free-kick crashed against the bar and Fabricio Coloccini and Danny Simpson got themselves in a muddle on the edge of the box.

Johan Elmander helped the ball on for Lee, who steadied himself before curling left-footed in to Krul's bottom right corner.

For the large contingent of Newcastle supporters in Lancashire, they must have hoped for an improvement after the restart.

But when Lee's pass inside was helped through the defence by Davies, Elmander rounded Krul to claim his first of the afternoon six minutes after the break.

And while Andy Carroll took his goal well after being played in behind the Bolton defence two minutes later, Bolton made sure that did not start a comeback.

With 17 minutes remaining Elmander brushed off the challenge from Coloccini before side-footing neatly beyond Krul to make it four.

And then a similar battle ensued three minutes later on the opposite side, only this time Coloccini used his elbow to stop the Swedish striker and that earned him a red card from referee Howard Webb.

Webb took pity on a crushed Newcastle in stoppage time when Jose Enrique brought down a clean through Davies. Enrique might have been spared a red, but Davies did not spare him a fifth with another finely taken penalty.

A scoreline of 5-1 might sound familiar to Newcastle fans, only this time it represents their heaviest defeat since Liverpool ripped them apart at St James' Park during the relegation season.

Bolton (4-4-2): Jaaskelainen; Ricketts, Cahill, Knight, Robinson; Lee (Rodrigo 86), Muamba, Holden, Taylor (Petrov 77); Elmander (Klasnic 80), Davies. Subs: Bodgan (gk), Steinsson, M Davies, Blake. 

Newcastle (4-4-2): Krul; Simpson, Williamson, Coloccini, Enrique; Guthrie (Routledge 72), Nolan, Smith, Gutierrez (Campbell 76); Ameobi (Lovenkrands 74), Carroll. Subs: Taylor, Perch, Ranger, Soderberg (gk).