BOLTON chairman Phil Gartside has issued a hands-off warning to Newcastle over Wanderers boss Sam Allardyce.

Speculation has been rife that Magpies manager Graeme Souness could soon be on his way out of St James' Park and Allardyce has been tipped as a possible replacement.

However, Gartside said: "I've already decided that if (Newcastle chairman) Freddy Shepherd wanted to talk to Sam about the Newcastle job he would be denied permission to do so.

"I've explained my thinking to Sam. He accepted my decision and he is fully committed to Bolton Wanderers.

"The only way I would be prepared to consider allowing Sam to leave the club - and he has three years left on his contract - is if the England job came up."

Bolton shrugged off the absence of several key players to beat Watford 3-0 and cruise into the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Wanderers were without El-Hadji Diouf, Rahdi Jaidi and Abdoulaye Faye, who were on African Nations Cup duty, as well as suspended duo Kevin Nolan and Kevin Davies and the injured Gary Speed.

But after only 11 minutes, Mexico international Jared Borgetti gave Bolton the lead.

Malky Mackay failed to clear Ricardo Gardner's left-wing cross properly, and Borgetti was on hand to fire a left-footed shot past Ben Foster from 12 yards.

Any hopes Watford had of taking advantage of a Bolton side missing key players evaporated completely after Stelios Giannakopoulous scored the second 23 minutes later.

Ricardo Vaz Te raced on to Fadiga's through-ball on the left, and from his cut-back Borgetti allowed the ball to run to Giannakopoulous, who steadied himself before rifling into the roof of the net from 12 yards.

Watford improved after the break, but Bolton always seemed to have an extra gear, and they found it through Vaz Te, who hit a well-taken third after 72 minutes.

BOLTON: Walker: Untroubled afternoon 7. O'Brien: Another mature performance 7. N'Gotty: Dealt comfortably with the Watford attack 7. Ben Haim: Solid at the back 7. Gardner: Threat going forward 7. Fadiga: Missed out on the African Nations Cup but Bolton benefited from his experience 8. Nakata: Answered Allardyce's plea to improve his form 7. Stelios: Hardworking display capped with the second 7. Borgetti: Has not lost his eye for a goal, scoring the opener 7. Okocha: Good game before leaving for African Nations Cup 7. Vaz Te: Showed his talent by sealing the victory 7. Subs: Fojut (Fadiga 79), Sissons (N'Gotty 84), Ashton (Borgetti 90). Not used: Buval, Sinclair.

WATFORD: Foster, Stewart, Doyley, Carlisle, Mackay, Mahon, McNamee, King, Eagles, Henderson (Gill 72), Diagouraga. Not used: Chamberlain, DeMerit, Bouazza, Grant.

Goals: Bolton: Borgetti (11mins) Stelios (34) Vaz Te (72)

Referee: U Rennie.

Attendance: 13,239

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