Allardyce was replaced by his assistant Sammy Lee, who secured Bolton's qualification for the 2007–08 UEFA Cup. After gaining only one league win in eleven matches, Lee left Bolton in October 2007 and was replaced by Gary Megson. Megson set about making changes to the squad and accepted a £15 million bid from Chelsea for Nicolas Anelka, using the money to rebuild the squad signing Tamir Cohen, Grétar Steinsson, Matthew Taylor and Gary Cahill.
Megson guided Bolton to survival with a 16th place finish, their safety being confirmed on the final day of the season, as they went on an unbeaten run for their final five games, as well as taking them to the last sixteen of the UEFA Cup. During the European run, Bolton gained a famous draw at former European champions Bayern Munich as well as becoming the first British team to beat Red Star Belgrade in Belgrade. They also defeated Atlético Madrid on aggregate before being knocked out by Sporting Lisbon.
The new manager broke Bolton's record transfer fee with the signing of Johan Elmander from Toulouse on 27 June 2008, in a deal which cost the club a reported £8.2 million and saw Norway striker Daniel Braaten head in the opposite direction. Bolton's season started slowly, winning their opening game against Stoke City 3–1 then going on a run of 5 games without a win. November was undoubtedly their best month with four wins from their five games losing only to Liverpool. January saw former fan favourite Kevin Nolan leave the club to relegation bound Newcastle United in a £4 million deal, with Mark Davies and Sébastien Puygrenier the only positive signings coming in. Mixed results across the rest of the season left Bolton flirting with relegation but they finally finished 13th on 41 points.
Over the summer Megson signed Sean Davis, Lee Chung-Yong, Zat Knight, Paul Robinson (on-loan from West Brom) and Ivan Klasnić (on loan from Nantes). The 2009–2010 season started where the last one was headed, with only four wins from their opening 18 fixtures, notable losses including a 0–2 home loss to Blackburn and a 1–5 drubbing at Aston Villa. With no clean sheets since May the Bolton fans were clearly unhappy with the results, negative football, poor tactics and numerous excuses from the manager. On 30 December 2009 Bolton Wanderers FC announced that Gary Megson had been sacked by the club due to a run of poor performances. His last game in charge, the night before his sacking, was a 2–2 draw at home to Hull City after letting slip a 2–0 lead. On 8 January 2010, Owen Coyle was announced as Megson's replacement as manager. Coyle marked his first game in charge with a 0–2 loss to Arsenal but winning his next home match against former employers Burnley.
Coyle steered Bolton to survival as they finished 14th with 39 points, while his old club went down with 30 points following a terrible loss of form following his move to the Reebok Stadium. This secured a tenth successive top flight campaign for Bolton.
On 10 November 2010, the club announced a loss of £35.4 million for the year ending 30 June 2010, with debt increasing to £93 million.
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