WHAT has Mike Riley got against Bolton Wanderers and their supporters?

Whenever he has officiated in a Bolton fixture we always seem to suffer unduly and Saturday was no exception.

If I performed as well in my job as he does in his I would expect to be handed my P45 on Monday.

Conspiracy theories aside (after all Bolton are an 'unfashionable' and 'small' side in the big boys' league) I and thousands of others have paid good money for our season tickets and we do not expect to see a match potentially ruined as a spectacle after on 23 minutes by the referee.

I am not denying that Paul Warhurst's challenge in particular deserved a card, but as with traffic lights I expect a yellow before a red....and in any case was it really any worse than Savage's late stamp on Colin Hendry a few moments earlier which didn't even merit a word from the inconsistent Mr Riley.

That the poor standard of refereeing did not ruin the game completely was down to a valiant, never-say-die performance from Big Sam's side.

Notwithstanding the dismissals, Bolton gifted a poor Leicester side a two-goal advantage they should never have surrendered

In the end a point gained but it really should have been three and probably would have been so but for the man in black. Let's hope we've turned the corner and that 2002 will prove to be a happy new year. Man of the match: Kevin Nolan.