HOW good is it to see Eidur Gudjohnsen back in a Bolton Wanderers shirt?

I can’t wait to see how he goes on for Neil Lennon and whether he’s still got that spark which made him such an exciting player for Colin Todd and Sam Allardyce at the start of his career.

I just hope if I bump into him at the Macron Stadium that he hasn’t got such a long memory.

Way back in the day I gave him his first-ever red card in a game at St Andrew’s against Birmingham City.

I had to send him off for an awful challenge on Martin Grainger and it caused absolute mayhem on the pitch, I can tell you.

Thankfully he’s calmed down with age, and I can’t see him doing anything like that these days. We’ll put it down as the exuberance of youth.

I reffed him many times after that for Chelsea and he never stopped whingeing. I can’t imagine that has got any better as he got older!

Another of my old Bolton acquaintances is back in work too, as I read Owen Coyle has taken over at Houston Dynamo.

I think it’s a good move for him. Owen is a good bloke and I’m sure he’ll make a success of things over there. Put it this way, if he wants an official for any practice games he might be playing, he knows where I am.

It’d be interesting to get his thoughts on the FA Cup third round draw after two of his old clubs Bolton and Wigan were pitched together.

I’m sure the Latics will want a bit of revenge after they were turned over 3-1 a few weeks back but I know my mate Malky Mackay will have them fired up.

It could have been very different, of course, because Malky was interviewed for four hours for the Bolton job not too long ago. He could very easily have been sat in the opposite dugout.

The cup adds an extra little bit of spice to what is already a very competitive game, so whichever referee gets it will have to be on their toes. It won’t be one for the faint hearted.

As referees, we look forward to the third round of the cup as much as anyone. And I’m sure officials up and down the country were watching the draw on Monday and keeping their fingers crossed that they would get a tie with a chance of an upset. There are a few good games in that respect.

The Select Group boys will know they have a game and certainly the ones that pit a smaller club against one of the big boys are a pleasure to officiate.

I remember doing a League Cup semi-final between Owen Coyle’s Burnley and Tottenham – what a game that was. I felt so sorry for the Clarets, who ended up going out of the competition in extra time because of a strange away goals ruling they used back then.

They recovered from it and got to the play-off final that year, eventually getting promotion to the Premier League.

I’m sure that will be where Neil Lennon is aiming for after improving things at Wanderers since he took over. A cup run could give them a bit of momentum, so I wish him the best of luck.

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DID anyone else see Enter the Dragon the other day, or was it just me?

I don’t remember Bruce Lee wearing a Manchester City shirt in that particular film but that’s what it felt like with some of the challenges coming in.

I can’t believe Andre Marriner has not given Ellaquim Mangala a red card for his karate kick on Samuel Eto’o. In fact, I’m convinced he wouldn’t have even booked the City defender had his fourth official or assistant not had a quiet word – he was already running back the other way.

Then you saw Fernando go in head-high on Gareth Barry – another challenge that warranted more than a caution in my opinion.

Our referee’s recognition of careless, reckless and excessive force just isn’t good enough at the moment.

I really don’t think City could have seriously complained if both players had seen red cards.

They might think it’s a case of “what goes around, comes around” after Sergio Aguero got booked for simulation last weekend on what was a nailed-on penalty. Manuel Pellegrini might feel his side were due the rub of the green.

But that issue of recognition seems to be a problem right across the board.

How did Jamie Vardy avoid a red card for Leicester City against Aston Villa?

His challenge on Ashley Westwood was clearly a case of excessive force endangering a player’s safety. To make matters worse, the Villa defender left the pitch on a stretcher, which no-one wants to see.

Everyone wants to see 11 versus 11 but distinguishing those challenges that are careless, reckless and have excessive force is what the referees are out there to do.

It’s about managing the players and managing the game. It’s no wonder people get so frustrated when they can see clearly that wrong decisions are being made so often.

I watched the City game at the Etihad with a delegation of referees from Nigeria – and I thank the club for their excellent hospitality on the day.

After the game we had a question and answer session and – without being prompted – they could not believe the inconsistencies they had seen.

It goes to show, it’s not just me!

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SOMETIMES refereeing is about spotting the little things, so that the big things can be prevented.

Case one: If Chris Foy spots that Diafra Sakho handled the ball on Sunday as he went past Luis Fabianski playing for West Ham against Swansea then the keeper does not get sent off.

Fabianski is narrowing down the angle, not trying to foul him. Sakho controls the ball with his hand, gets around him and hits the post.

Chris had already blown his whistle and decided the Swansea man had denied a clear goal-scoring opportunity before Sakho even shoots at goal, which is odd.

On a separate note - I’m absolutely amazed they lost their appeal.

Case two: If Andre Marriner stops the game for a foul on Sergio Aguero by Seamus Coleman after about a minute of Saturday’s Manchester City v Everton game, the Argentine striker doesn’t get injured a few seconds later.

Instead, City are missing their most important player for quite some time after he did his knee in a challenge with Muhamed Besic.

Andre will be refereeing Fleetwood Town v Sheffield United at the weekend, which tells its own story.

He’s one of our most experienced referees and everyone is entitled to have a bad day at the office – but we have to be looking to improve.

It can’t always be about highlighting mistakes, though, and I think Martin Atkinson deserves a pat on the back for a great advantage played in the Newcastle United v Chelsea game in the build-up to the Magpies’ second goal.

You don’t get much glamour as a referee but when you get a decision spot on like that and the team go through to score, you do feel like doing a little celebration yourself.

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I HAD to rub my eyes when I saw rookie referee Craig Pawson had been put in charge of a game like Leicester City v Aston Villa.

Two Midlands rivals scrapping at the bottom of the Premier League – it’s a fixture that would test the most experienced of us.

They are pushing Craig to the limit by giving him these big games and not letting him gain those crucial minutes under his belt. Sooner or later, he’ll break.

Sure enough on Saturday he ended up making a mistake by sending off Paul Konchesky – apparently for a headbutt after he had reacted to a challenge by Alan Hutton. I only saw a brush of heads and it’s no surprise Konchesky appeal was successful.

It looked like a situation that would have been better handled with a yellow card apiece, and a few more years in the game would have taught Craig that.

But the PGMOL just aren’t thinking on their feet with their appointments at the moment.

Sunday’s televised game between Swansea and Tottenham will be refereed by Robert Madley, who has about half a dozen top flight games in the last few years. It’s ridiculous.

On the other side of the coin, some of the smaller clubs can complain that they don’t have access to the top referees.

I spoke to Sean Dyche at Burnley the other day and he was saying his club seem to get all the new refs coming into the top flight part of the way through a season.

He had Jon Moss at the weekend, who he felt was poor, and handed out seven or eight cautions even though there wasn’t a bad foul in the game.