Six months before he slips his stopwatch into his top pocket for the last time, Alex Ferguson is unlikely to change the habits of a lifetime by acknowledging what everyone else is thinking, that Manchester United are making a fine mess of his final year in office.

Any questions about his side's wonky defence have antagonised United's manager to the point where the Reuters correspondent has apparently joined the Press Association, the Daily Mail and several others in being excluded from his weekly press briefings.

By stubbornly refusing to recognise the glaring deficiencies, Ferguson has therefore done a passable impression of the chap who knows his son has been naughty at school but tells the teachers it must have been someone else.

Sooner or later he must concede, privately at least, that United may need re-inventing if his last hurrah is not to end in a disappointing dead-end.

This was the first time since 1992 they have lost a league match after taking the lead at Old Trafford, but, most pertinently, it was a reminder that their reserves are not equipped to see off domestic competition all the time.

As long as Ferguson persists in making mass changes from one week to the next this could become a recurring theme. And as long as they continue to lack leadership and cohesion in defence the more shocks and spills there will be.

Whereas teams used to come here starved of self-belief, Bolton's willingness to attack at every opportunity epitomised the gathering notion that the best way to take on the champions is to seek out their Achilles heel.

Certainly, Sam Allardyce had identified beforehand that by selecting his quickest front players he could exploit United's frailties at the back.

"It did come up in the week that they had already conceded 19 goals this season," he said. "It's not for me to comment why. But the fact is that, as a unit, they are not as strong as they used to be. The players know that and it gives you a little bit more hope."

While the suspicion lingers that the glue is coming undone at the Theatre of Dreams - and it is probably better to reserve judgment than rush to any premature evaluations - it would be a terrible shame for Bolton if their valorous performance were overshadowed.

Once Juan Sebastian Veron had punctuated a drowsy opening with a Beckhamesque free-kick, Old Trafford sat back and waited for Bolton to be taught their lesson.

Instead, Ferguson and his players were to be greeted at the final whistle by the most voluble dissent they will have heard from their supporters for longer than they will care to remember.

Not only did Allardyce's intelligent use of Paul Warhurst, a rock just in front of defence, restrict United to only a smattering of half-chances, but it was Bolton who carried the greater verve in attack.

Admittedly, Allardyce could look back on Jussi Jaaskelainen's audacious double save to keep out Paul Scholes and, somehow, Andy Cole as a crucial platform to their success.

But on all three occasions when an attacking player went through on goal it was Fabien Barthez who was suddenly exposed.

Wayward finishing rescued him the first couple of times but, when Wes Brown inexplicably tried to control a long punt from Jaaskelainen, when a simple clearing header would have sufficed, it was a gift wrapped in pink ribbon for Michael Ricketts.

The way he muscled Brown out of contention before bearing down on Barthez and beating the Frenchman with a rising shot was testimony to Allardyce's claim that the 22-year-old Brummie has all the attributes of Emile Heskey "except he's actually a better natural finisher".

Added to the way Kevin Nolan, outstanding in midfield, had levelled the score after 35 minutes with a searing volley that was still rising as it hit the back of Barthez's net, the season's biggest shock to date was anything but a fluke.

Every home defeat at Old Trafford is cause for a few howls of panic among their supporters, but to lose two in succession for the first time in five years was enough for the distress signals to go up. It is what happens next that counts.

MANCHESTER UTD: Barthez, Phil Neville, May (Gary Neville 78), Brown, Silvestre, Solskjaer, Scholes (Giggs 66), Veron, Butt, Yorke (Chadwick 67), Cole. Subs Not Used: Carroll, Stewart. Goal: Veron 25.

BOLTON: Jaaskelainen, N'Gotty, Bergsson, Whitlow, Charlton, Hansen (Barness 82), Nolan, Warhurst (Johnson 54), Frandsen, Gardner, Ricketts. Subs Not Used: Banks, Holdsworth, Wallace. Goals: Nolan 35, Ricketts 84.

Referee: G Barber (Tring).