BWFC 24

Allardyce on Referee Mike Riley

Mike Riley has once again caused anger in the hearts of everyone who’s connected with Bolton Wanderers FC, whether you are a fan or the manager, Riley’s usual array of cards against The Trotters is enough to question his competence as a professional referee.

Bolton Boss, Sam Allardyce, had this to say:

“I see it like this. Hidestoshi Nakata committed three fouls and got sent off; Robbie Savage committed three fouls and didn’t get booked, that’s nothing against Robbie Savage. The statistics don’t stand up unfortunately when Mike Riley referees us.

“Give me a minute and I will just prove what the referee has done today and what he’s done in the past. He’s refereed us seven times and we’ve had five players sent off, four in the first half.

“Those stats say it all, it’s blatant inconsistency – in my opinion simply not good enough. The statistics speak for themselves.

“He’s nearly caused a riot here today when our fans decided to jump over the fence. I don’t think that’s caused by players, it’s caused by some of the refereeing.

“It’s nothing against Robbie Savage, or any Blackburn player – you just look for consistency. Then it gets out of hand and the referee loses control, and there’s people flying all over the place. We’ve done very well to keep our heads.”

Allardyce did have praise to give, just not to Mr Riley.

“From a football point of view, it’s a fantastic performance from our boys. A real resilience and determination against all the odds to make sure we got something from the game and then possibly sneak a goal from Vaz Te.

“We were fortunate with the woodwork but I can only give the lads credit under difficult circumstances. They performed miracles.”