NEIL Lennon should keep his eye on the post box for a letter from the Football Association – but under no circumstances should he lose the passion that Bolton fans have instantly identified with since he walked through the door.

I fully expect the powers that be to write to him and warn him of his future conduct after getting sent off in his first game against Birmingham on Saturday.

I noticed after the final whistle he said he would have to adapt to the English game and he’s right – in the Football League he will come up against inexperience on a weekly basis, and that won’t be easy.

Back up in Scotland Lennon will have been used to top-class FIFA referees as fourth officials because his team, Celtic, were involved in the big games each and every week.

At Championship level the only time you get referees as fourth officials are for the live games. And in this case, Amy Fearn just wasn’t experienced enough to handle that situation.

You are talking about top managers with emotions and frustrations riding high. What Lennon did was nothing more than a bit of over-enthusiasm and he’s been sent off for it.

In my view, it just shows how we’re losing a bit of empathy with the players on the pitch and with the managers on the touchline.

If that was me – and I did this to many top managers in my time – I’d have grabbed him after the game and said: “Crikey Neil you’re going to get me into trouble. Calm it down a bit.”

That would have been the end of it.

He wasn’t being abusive and to my knowledge his opposite number Lee Clark didn’t have an issue with him stepping on to the pitch to get a word out. If it had happened in the 54th minute I could understand the need to set boundaries but when he went on the pitch the final time it was right at the end of the game, he must have thought the game was sorted at 1-0 and he only wanted to change his penalty taker.

You’ve also got to remember that the technical areas at St Andrew’s are quite shallow, not set right back like some of them.

I don’t want to make excuses for Neil, and he will learn that there are things he might have got away with up in Scotland that he might not down here. But I also hope officials start using a little bit more common sense when dealing with situations like that. Sometimes a quiet word after a game is worth much more than making a song and dance of it out on the touchline.

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YOU have got to feel for Michael Oliver – who after awarding one of the bravest penalties you’ll see, made an error that spoiled his whole day at Stoke.

Giving a penalty on Sunday for holding against Ryan Shawcross was a good decision – and one it definitely wasn’t easy to give at the Britannia Stadium, which is one of the most hostile places I can think of for a referee.

Michael’s game was spot on until he went and gave a penalty at the other end against Angel Rangel for a foul on Victor Moses, which Swansea boss Garry Monk later branded a “dive”.

I wouldn’t go that far – and I think Moses felt a little bit of contact and went to ground. But that is where Michael just needed to take a bit of time, digest it and play on.

Instead he gave a penalty and attracted a whole host of bad headlines.

That can be your life as a referee. It’s a bit like being a goalkeeper. You can make 10 saves in a game and then let one through your legs in the last minute and that’s the one they’ll all be talking about.

I feel for Monk too – he has my sympathy after a few really big decisions have gone against him recently.

He was clearly upset judging by what he said after the game but I think he should learn from that and know when it’s a good idea to let your assistant go out there and do the talking for you.

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WATCHING telly on Saturday, I was amazed to see that Match of the Day and BT Sport didn’t make more of Frank Lampard’s involvement in Manchester City’s first goal.

Surely they could see he was offiside. He jumped over the ball right in front of the keeper before Sergio Aguero put it into the net and was definitely interfering with an opponent. The goal should have been ruled out.

Both TV channels get technical advice from referees’ body the PGMOL, who sit at Media City in Salford and offer their opinions.

And in this case, it seems like a bit of misdirection on their part.

It was the same with Fazio’s sending off. Was Aguero going to get to that ball? No he wasn’t.

Before they start waving a red card about, referees are asked to look at a few things: the location of the ball, the location of the foul, the direction of the ball, the chance of the player gaining control of the ball and what other players are in the vicinity. They are the criteria on whether to send someone off in that situation.

I’d be amazed if Spurs don’t appeal but anyone watching at home would have had their minds made up for them.

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I’D like to wish Tony Kelly the best of luck on his 50-mile walk this weekend.

I did 900 miles from Land’s End to John O’Groats and the one thing I can tell Tony for definite is that after five miles his feet will be sore.

He’s a great lad and I hope the people in Bolton donate towards his £5,000 target for worthy causes, which are the Bolton Wanderers Community Trust, the Hillsborough Family Support Fund and the Gary Parkinson Trust.

It doesn’t surprise me one bit that they are starting it at the Burnden Park Pie Shop but then I suppose he’ll need the energy.

You can donate to Tony’s target at justgiving.com/TonyKellyBWFC/