I HAVE never criticised a referee in this column's four-year history but Barry Knight makes life difficult even for the tolerant likes of me.

Bolton, of course, will never forgive the Kent official after he sent two off, booked another eight and awarded three penalties against them in the play-off semi-final against Ipswich two years ago.

No cards were shown to Ipswich players or penalties awarded to Bolton which seemed a little lob-sided by anyone's standards given it was a game between two teams of equal standard.

I would be absolutely staggered and a little bit concerned at the FA's thinking if Mr Knight was ever to referee a game at the Reebok again.

As a man who supports referees with the stubbornness that Alex Ferguson supports Roy Keane I am torn when it comes to Mr Knight who has now caused a disturbing level of ill feeling on a number of occasions.

His name is also still mud at Preston even though it is two years since his controversial decisions to send two Preston players off and award two penalties to Nottingham Forest aided a 3-1 defeat.

Then on Saturday at Maine Road he almost caused a riot by sending off Shaun Wright-Phillips with more than an hour to go for what he and nobody else on earth saw as a professional foul.

To be fair to him at least he was big enough to admit he was wrong and revise his decision from a red to a yellow card on appeal but questions have to be asked about the ability of a man who gets such an obvious decision wrong.

If there is one thing you can say about Mr Knight it is that he is a referee with great vision...he can see a red card where no other ref can.

Do you have a Barry Knight story you want to get off your chest? E-mail Chris Sudlow, Internet Editor, on csudlow@boltoneveningnews.co.uk