Leeds Utd - 2 Bolton Wanderers - 4 "What on earth is going on?" chanted the Elland Road crowd, or words to that effect. Their anger was entirely justified. Five home defeats in seven Premiership matches, with none surely as abject as the one suffered against Bolton yesterday, leave Terry Venables' much trumpeted return to management in deepening crisis.

This was the Wanderers against the wanderers - a Leeds side of wandering minds and questionable spirit, as indicated by the concession of three goals in the last 10 minutes that took Bolton off the foot of the table. Against ineffably weak defending they could hardly have failed to accept the invitation.

Leeds were stricken by injuries. Nine senior players were absent. But in West Yorkshire such excuses will be given short shrift. Venables is widely disparaged as a southern import imposed by a distant board; the coach Brian Kidd, whose appointment has coincided exactly with Leeds' unarrestable decline, is caricatured as a Manchester United double agent. The chairman, Peter Ridsdale, who stands for re-election at the club's a.g.m. on November 29th, will be the first to feel the fall-out.

Leeds had won twice in a week and Alan Smith's four goals against Hapoel Tel Aviv had kept them in Europe. "I had thought that maybe we had turned the corner," Venables complained. "But now we are back to square one."

Attacking limitations had been at the root of Leeds' earlier home debacles but this rag-tag side fell because of weak defending. They finished with Jonathan Woodgate and Michael Duberry in central defence and it might have helped Leeds' cause had they occasionally communicated. Since the departure of Rio Ferdinand Woodgate has shown little sense of personal leadership.

For Venables the January transfer window brings promise of a breath of fresh air in a season turning stale. But his prime assets are losing value by the week. Mark Viduka is so immobile that presumably the luminous strips he wore on his boots yesterday were in response to government advice to the infirm to ensure they can be easily seen on winter evenings.

The warnings were sounding for Leeds at 1-1 when the Dane Henrik Pedersen comfortably evaded Woodgate's flaccid challenge to strike Paul Robinson's far post 15 minutes from time, but few imagined that their capitulation would be so marked.

Youri Djorkaeff played a tight one-two with Pedersen to shoot Bolton ahead nine minutes from time. For the second time in the match Leeds' response was almost immediate as Harry Kewell for once showed a killer instinct as he drilled in left-footed from Smith's pass.

But Bolton had scented the possibility of a first victory since their win at Old Trafford two months ago. Robinson had to save from Djorkaeff; then, faced again by an absent defence, he brought down Michael Ricketts, who with a jig and a stutter converted the penalty.

Stig Tofting had supplied that pass and it was his cross that also gave Pedersen a second goal in injury-time. Sam Allardyce, Bolton's manager, proclaimed: "I've been saying all week that this was a good time to be playing Leeds."

Which time has not been? Leeds have looked a soft touch all season.

LEEDS UNITED: Robinson, Kelly, Woodgate, Lucic (Duberry 81), Wilcox, Smith, Barmby, McPhail (Milner 68), Burns, Kewell, Viduka.Subs Not Used: Martyn, Bridges, Richardson.Booked: Burns, Kewell. Goals: Smith 4, Kewell 84.

BOLTON WANDERERS: Jaaskelainen, N'Gotty (Tofting 59), Campo, Barness, Mendy, Okocha, Frandsen, Nolan (Ricketts 77), Charlton, Djorkaeff, Pedersen. Subs Not Used: Poole, Holdsworth, Smith. Goals: Pedersen 3, Djorkaeff 80, Ricketts 89 pen, Pedersen 90.

Referee: A Wiley (Staffordshire).